When starting a business, you need to know the demographic of the market you’re in- starting a crowdfunding campaign is no different. You not only want to bring eyes to your campaign, but you need to understand the demographics of those viewing your campaign so that you can tailor your project in order to bring in the most backers. Below is a guide to the demographics of crowdfunding and a breakdown of the statistics behind successful campaigns.
Demographics of Crowdfunding
Men make up a majority of the crowdfunding backers, representing 64% of the backer pool, while women represent 36%. This doesn’t mean that all crowdfunding projects should be products geared toward the male demographic, it’s just a statistic you should keep in mind when building your campaign. For example, if your product is female-centric, mentioning that it’s a great gift for the woman in your life helps create a tie with the male population on crowdfunding sites.
It’s no surprise that millennials represent the largest group in crowdfunding, which is why technology projects do so well in crowdfunding. When deciding whether you want to start a crowdfunding project, take this into consideration and either make some aspect of your project appealing to the passions of millennials or tailor your campaign page toward this generation. For example, if the product is for an older generation, consider marketing the campaign toward millennials with aging parents.
A majority of millennials are still in the entry-level stage of their careers, which is why it makes sense that 53% of crowdfunders make less than $50,000 a year. Millennials are young and looking for a good deal- as a crowdfunder you should aim to produce a product that can be seen as affordable by someone in this tax bracket. If this isn’t possible, heavily promote a great early bird special. This will bring in more backers early in your campaign because many crowdfunding backers are looking to get the best deal possible.
Crowdfunding Project Stats
There are many variables in crowdfunding that can possibly determine how many eyes will see your campaign and how many will back your campaign. The categories with the most successfully funded projects are Film & Video and Music. But don’t let this statistic discourage you if your project doesn’t fall under these categories- even though Film & Video and Music had the most successful projects, the Technology and Design categories brought in the most money. This could indicate that campaigns in the Tech and Design categories have higher goals than other categories, thus bringing in more money.
The time of year, month, week and day are all factors that can change the likelihood of success. August is the month with the largest quantity of successful projects in crowdfunding, almost doubling the least successful month, January. Bringing in the most donations, Wednesday is the most successful day of the week, whereas Sunday is the least popular day for backing projects. Lunchtime seems to be the key time when backers are most active in crowdfunding because the hours between 12:00 PM EST and 2:00 PM EST get the most pledges. As a rule of thumb, we typically recommend launching your campaign in the middle of the week, Tuesday through Thursday, before noon EST.
While there is no surefire way to market your campaign and make it successful, there’s also no harm in taking the variables and statistics given above and using them to the best advantage. Crowdfunding can be a fickle industry and sometimes the smallest marketing tactics can take your campaign to the next level and make it successful.
Update: November 8, 2018
Indiegogo Demographics
Indiegogo contributors fit the following demographics:
Age:
- 18-24: 11%
- 25-34: 37%
- 35-44: 28%
- 45-54: 10%
- 55-64: 9%
- 65+: 5%
Gender:
- Male: 74.7%
- Female: 25.3%
Top 10 U.S. Cities:
- Los Angeles
- New York City
- Houston
- San Jose
- San Francisco
- Collingswood
- Cincinnati
- Washington, D.C.
- Seattle
- Chicago
Top 10 Countries:
- United States
- Canada
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- Netherlands
- France
- Australia
- Taiwan
- Laos
- Armenia
Could you explain further where you got your information and the methods used while compiling it? I am currently doing research for my undergraduate thesis on Crowdfunding and need more sources.
Hi Chris,
Kickstarter offers tons of stats on their site! Quantcast is another good place to look as well. Hope if helps!
Hello Elizabeth, Were you able to find statistics on project backers? Many thanks for the article.
Since 2013 when equity crowdfunding was born over 1,800 companies have raised over £1.5 billion from everyday investors. What nobody really knows at this stage though is whether this is likely to be a successful form of investment. We all know the success rate of early stage companies is low so it’s reasonable to expect a good few companies in your portfolio to go belly-up leaving you with no return, but will there be enough that shoot the lights out to make for a good overall return?