Kickstarter PBC Annual Public Benefit Statement 2020
Summary
The Kickstarter PBC Annual Public Benefit Statement 2020 opens with a letter from Kickstarter CEO Aziz Hasan on creative work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter states that the number of projects launched on the platform ground to a near-halt at the outset of the crisis, while Games, Publishing, Comics, and Art continued to thrive and Dance, Theater, Music, and Film were hit much harder. It reports that nearly 3.5 million people pledged a total of $777,750,950 to independent creators in 2020 and funded 18,744 creative projects. From 2009 through 2020, nearly 19 million people pledged over $5.4 billion to more than 190,000 projects. The closing pages list community organizations and a $10,000 donation to the Brooklyn Community Bail Fund.
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“Kickstarter PBC Annual Public Benefit Statement 2020.”
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Kickstarter
PBC Annual
Public Benefit
Statement
2020
Table of
Contents
03 A letter from Kickstarter
CEO, Aziz Hasan
07 Article III of Our Charter
11 Our mission is to help bring
creative projects to life.
29 We operate responsibly.
Creative expression
remains essential
to a healthy and
vibrant society.
A letter from Kickstarter CEO, Aziz Hasan:
Throughout all of the major upheavals in history, people have
continued to create: whether it was making tabletop games
during World War II, photographs during the Dust Bowl,
literature during the plagues of the Middle Ages, or even
mermaids on parade post-Hurricane Sandy.
Many creative fields were ravaged by the effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Kickstarter’s mission to help bring
creative projects to life felt all the more urgent as galleries
and museums closed, theaters and music venues halted
3
programming, and bookstores and comic shops shuttered. We saw that
creators were hesitant to try to fund their work at the outset of the crisis.
The number of projects launched on our platform ground to a near-halt.
We learned directly from creators that their ability to execute their
Kickstarter projects suffered, and that they were facing a loss of income
that would impact their ability to develop creative work.
Record pledge volume
2020 2009-2020
3,465,769 $777,750,950 18,744 $5.4B $13.5B
backers pledged creative projects pledged estimated
economic impact
Yet we also saw that the desire to support creative work on Kickstarter
never wavered. Backers remained eager to contribute, and after a few
months, we began to see more people launch projects again. The folks
behind the beloved Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn found tremendous success
by using Kickstarter to connect with their community while they were
closed. The Wide Awakes marched through cities across the United
States to build a joyful, creative, hopeful movement for a better world.
Meanwhile, projects that were funded in previous years came to life
in 2020, and reminded us of what’s possible. Hair Love, a heartwarming
short film that tells the story of a Black father learning to style his young
daughter’s hair, won the Oscar for Best Animated Short.
COVID affected some creative fields more than others. Games, Publishing,
Comics, and Art continued to thrive on Kickstarter, while forms that rely far
more on in-person collaboration and performance—Dance, Theater, Music,
and Film—were all hit much harder and have yet to fully recover, more than
a year later. (See the section on Creative Projects Funded in 2020 for
more detail.)
4
While fewer creators came to the platform in the wake of
COVID, those who did launch saw more support than ever from
backers. Collectively, these backers—50 percent of them new
to Kickstarter—pledged more money to fund creative work in
2020 than ever before. Nearly 3.5 million people pledged a More money
to fund
total of $777,750,950 to independent creators. Together, they
creative work
funded 18,744 creative projects.
These numbers feel especially profound in a year when nothing could be
taken for granted, and they add to the cumulative impact of what’s been
realized through the Kickstarter platform since our founding. From 2009
through 2020, nearly 19 million people pledged over $5.4 billion to more than
190,000 projects. $4.8 billion went to projects that reached their funding
goals, and of that total, $4.6 billion went directly into the hands of creators.
Every dollar pledged has had exponential ripple effects. Kickstarter projects
are estimated to have created 750,000+ part-time jobs, 80,000+ full-time
jobs, more than 20,000 companies, and $13.5B in additional economic
impact. (See the section on Economic Impact for more information).
Kickstarter
projects created
$4.8 billion an estimated
collected from
2009 through 2020
830,000+
$4.6 jobs
billion
has gone directly
into the hands of 20,000+
creators between
companies
2009 and 2020
$13.5B
economic impact
This progress toward our mission is what’s most important to us. We took
the radical step of incorporating as a Public Benefit Corporation in 2015
to legally bind ourselves to the pursuit of our mission—and to protect
5
ourselves from the legal obligation that most corporations have:
to maximize profit above all else.
When we did this, we also made commitments to create additional public
benefits and ensure our operations are fair and responsible. As part of
our commitment to fight inequality, we publish our executive and CEO
pay ratios. The average CEO earns at least 320 times that of the median
worker at the same company. In 2020, our ratio was 2.8 to 1. To limit our
environmental impact, in 2020 we encouraged more creators to detail
their own environmental commitments on their Kickstarter project pages;
as a result, 49 percent of eligible projects did so, a dramatic increase
from the 18 percent we saw in 2019. And to support a more creative and
equitable world, every year we donate five percent of our after-tax profits
to programs and organizations addressing systemic inequality. In 2020, a
year that marked a turning point in the conversation around racial injustice
in the United States and around the world, $475,000 went to this purpose.
Kickstarter creator Steve Locke wrote, “Whether created for mass audiences
or an individual working alone in their studio, artists manifest the culture in
which we all live.” At Kickstarter we believe that art and creative expression
are essential to a healthy and vibrant society. They bring beauty, humor, and
joy into our lives. They challenge us and authority. They help us face, and
escape, the truths of our world. The value of creative work is intrinsic and
unchanging. I felt it more than ever in 2020, and looking back at the year on
our platform, I know I’m far from alone.
Aziz Hasan
CEO
Kickstarter
6
Article III
of Our Charter
Kickstarter’s mission is to help bring creative
projects to life
a. Kickstarter will create tools and resources that help people
bring their creative projects to life, and that connect people
around creative projects and the creative process.
b. Kickstarter will care for the health of its ecosystem and
integrity of its systems.
c. Kickstarter will engage beyond its walls with the greater
issues and conversations affecting artists and creators.
Kickstarter’s operations will reflect its values
a. Kickstarter will never sell user data to third parties. It will
zealously defend the privacy rights and personal data of the
people who use its service, including in its dealings with
government entities.
b. Kickstarter’s terms of use and privacy policies will be
clear, fair, and transparent. Kickstarter will not cover every
possible future contingency, or claim rights and powers just
because it can or because doing so is industry standard.
c. Kickstarter will not lobby or campaign for public policies
unless they align with its mission and values, regardless of
possible economic benefits to the company.
d. Kickstarter will not use loopholes or other esoteric but
legal tax management strategies to reduce its tax burden.
Kickstarter will be transparent in reporting the percentage
of taxes it pays and explaining the many factors that affect
its tax calculation.
e. Kickstarter will seek to limit environmental impact. It will
invest in green infrastructure, support green commuting
methods, and factor environmental impact when
choosing vendors. Additionally, Kickstarter will provide
recommendations and resources that help creators make
environmentally conscious decisions on tasks, like shipping
and packaging, that are common to the use of its services.
Kickstarter Charter 8
Kickstarter supports a more creative and
equitable world
a. Kickstarter will annually donate 5% of its after-tax profit
towards arts and music education, and to organizations
fighting to end systemic inequality as further defined in
sections 4(c) and 5(c) below (the “5% pledge”).
Kickstarter is committed to the arts
a. Kickstarter will always support, serve, and champion
artists and creators, especially those working in less
commercial areas.
b. Kickstarter will foster a supportive environment for
employees to work on their own creative projects,
including time off to pursue them.
c. Half of Kickstarter’s 5% pledge will be devoted to arts
and music programs for children and young adults, with a
primary focus on underserved communities in New York
City. Funds will be distributed to 501(c)(3) organizations,
public schools, or via programs developed by Kickstarter.
Kickstarter Charter 9
Kickstarter is committed to fighting
inequality
a. Kickstarter will provide opportunities and paid time off for
employees to provide professional mentorship and skills
training to people from groups underrepresented in the
worlds of art, business, or technology.
b. Kickstarter will report on team and leadership
demographics, executive and CEO pay ratios, and
programs and strategies employed to build a diverse,
inclusive, and equitable organization.
c. Half of Kickstarter’s 5% pledge will be devoted to
organizations addressing systemic inequality. Kickstarter will
primarily focus such contributions on 501(c)(3) organizations
fighting to end prejudices against and increase opportunities
for people of color, women, and LGBTQ individuals.
Kickstarter Charter 10
Section 1
Our mission
is to help bring
creative projects
to life.
18,744 Creative Projects
Funded in 2020
Record amount of
money pledged
3,465,769 $777,750,950 18,744
backers pledged creative projects
First and foremost among the public four months, eventually reaching over
benefits we create is the impact 90% of the usual levels and staying there.
we make toward our mission. One way
we measure that impact is by looking at The total amount pledged to the average
the number of creative projects that find successful project in 2020 was 22
the funding they need on our platform. percent higher than it was in 2019, in
part due to a new feature that allows
While fewer projects launched in 2020 backers to pledge for multiple rewards
than in 2019 (38,214 in 2020 compared within a single campaign. The success
with 42,028), ultimately, nearly the same rate climbed to an all-time high in 2020,
number of projects successfully funded: with 49 percent of projects hitting their
18,744. Dollars pledged to creative funding goals. (Our average success rate
projects in 2020 reached a record high: from 2009 through 2020 was 39 percent.)
3,465,769 people pledged a total of
$777,750,950 to independent creators. Games, Publishing, Comics, and Art saw
significant increases in the total amounts
We saw a significant decline in projects pledged, number of individual pledges,
launching on Kickstarter from March to and number of projects funded in 2020
June 2020; the number of projects on the compared to 2019—while in Dance,
platform fell nearly 40 percent year-over- Theater, Music, and Film, the same figures
year. Projects slowly returned after about decreased compared to 2019.
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 12
Kickstarter pledges/backers/successful projects,
year over year:
Year Amount Pledged # of Backers # of Successful
Projects
2020 $777,750,950 3,465,769 18,744
2019 $653,017,053 3,177,588 19,408
2018 $607,549,032 3,020,498 19,005
2017 $648,870,441 3,291,290 19,531
2016 $658,056,747 3,566,001 19,120
2015 $686,981,155 3,813,255 22,035
2014 $529,852,190 3,299,846 22,243
2013 $480,637,987 3,067,871 19,919
2012 $320,961,500 2,241,250 18,108
2011 $99,892,784 960,260 11,840
2010 $27,875,883 322,588 4,101
2009 $2,471,818 33,638 405
Total: 2009-2020 $5,493,917,540 18,754,424 194,459
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 13
2020 backings by category:
$294,120,594 Games
$189,411,234 Design
$133,205,023 Technology
Publishing $32,575,724
Comics $26,851,157
Art $23,235,352
Film & Video $19,975,959
Food $18,093,779
Fashion $18,009,720
Music $13,322,962
Photography $3,894,016
Crafts $2,267,245
Journalism $1,406,984
Theater $737,395
Dance $385,476
$0 $150,000,000 $300,000,000
$777,492,619
Total
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 14
Improving Our Value
2020 was a record setting year for the value that Kickstarter provides to creative
projects on the platform. On average, creative projects received nearly half of their
funding (more than $343 million in total) from backers who came to the project
through Kickstarter channels, such as our project discovery pages, newsletters, email
alerts, and social media. We work to build a dynamic ecosystem in which backers can
discover and return to projects they’ll love. In 2020, successful projects received a
median of 48 percent of their total funding (30 percent if you exclude on-site search
and pledges driven through watched project notifications) through these efforts to
connect backers to projects (10 percent higher than in 2019).
We also developed new ways to introduce backers to projects, including:
Notifying backers who opt in with an email about a new project from a creator
they’ve backed in the past, if they aren’t already following the creator or
subscribed to their pre-launch page.
Making personalized project recommendations via email, offering projects similar
to those a backer has supported in the past.
Creating a module on our homepage called “On the Horizon,” which highlights
Projects We Love and other selected upcoming projects, allowing backers to get
notified when a project launches with one click.
Of the nearly 19,000 successfully funded new projects this year, 66 percent were
from first-time creators, a slight decline from 68 percent in 2019.
Our team provided hands-on guidance to nearly 1,700 projects by both new and
repeat creators. This number is down from approximately 2,200 projects supported
last year, largely due to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the number of
projects launched and our team size. These connections felt all the more important
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 15
as our team and the creators they supported did their
work from home.
We extended the scale and reach of our support by
providing a range of resources—from practical information
for those grappling with manufacturing hurdles and
factory closures, to emotional guidance for Staying Calm
Saint Vitus
and Centered via The Creative Independent.
Stays Home
The folks behind the
We also launched two initiatives in April 2020 to
popular Brooklyn metal
encourage creators to keep going, and to inspire
and extreme music venue
backers to support them. Lights On invited creators Saint Vitus raised more
to use Kickstarter to help sustain their creative than $130,000 via an
businesses during the COVID-19 crisis. As part of the unconventional use of
open call, we saw music venues and small businesses Kickstarter during the
COVID-19 closure. Their
offer rewards like live streams, limited-edition swag,
success inspired us to
and other exclusive content. As of June 2021, 124
develop Lights On, in
projects launched with the Lights On tag with over which we invited cultural
$1 million pledged from backers worldwide, providing spaces and independent
relief to business owners from Tokyo to Halifax, and businesses to continue
Brescia to Brooklyn. connecting with their
communities—and
supporting themselves—
Inside Voices highlighted small projects created from
by getting creative with
home during pandemic lockdowns. As of June 2021,
Kickstarter rewards.
backers pledged $2.3 million to small projects ranging
from customized notebooks made from cassette tapes
to an album of lullabies recorded from a balcony.
Finally, to advocate for the importance of creative
work, we commissioned a series of statements and
manifestos from more than a dozen creators, including
poet Eileen Myles, musician Matt Berninger, and visual
artist Steve Locke, for The Case for Creative Work.
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 16
Creating Tools to Help Bring
Creative Projects to Life
We supported creators by launching new tools, and by making the
platform available to creators in new geographic locations.
Launching our new
add-ons feature
In the fall of 2020, we started testing a product feature called “add-ons”
to streamline and simplify the experience of backing for bundled rewards.
Add-ons allow backers to increase their pledges in exchange for additional
rewards, such as accessories, game expansion packs, movie posters,
or copies of an earlier publication—any extra item that complements the
primary reward.
We approached the rollout thoughtfully, testing it out with hundreds of
creators to better ensure the feature would meet creator and backer needs,
and not detract from the creators’ focus on fulfilling rewards, before making
it available to all creators in February 2021. We found that the desire of
backers for add-ons resulted in higher average pledges and overall project
funding, and made the process of organizing backers’ rewards simpler for
creators. We have not seen any signs of negative impact on a creator’s
ability to fulfill the primary reward, or on backer sentiment.
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 17
Welcoming new creators in Europe
In October 2020, we were excited to officially welcome creators
based in Poland, Slovenia, and Greece. Now, creators in these
countries—as well as the 22 other countries where Kickstarter
was already available—can launch projects using their local bank
accounts and find support from Kickstarter’s global community
of backers.
In the last three months of the year, nearly 150 projects launched
in these countries, funding all kinds of creative work from powerful
short films to innovative games to modern furniture design.
We also introduced more currency flexibility for creators in Europe.
Creators from Poland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland
now have the ability to choose to fund their projects in their local
currency or in euros.
Streamlining aspects of reward fulfillment
Address
In 2020 we made a number of improvements to streamline reward
fulfillment, including:
Allowing backers to save shipping addresses in their settings,
and select a saved address when filling out backer surveys.
Auto-populating surveys with preferred address information.
Allowing backers to update multiple open surveys at once.
Automatically creating a new saved shipping address any time
a backer uses an address that isn’t already saved.
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 18
Connecting People around
Creative Work
We host open calls to encourage creators to launch projects and to gather
backers around them. In 2020, we reprised Make/100 and Zine Quest, and
developed these new open calls:
Long Story Short (filmmakers)
Last year, we invited filmmakers to run a
campaign to fund a short film in the month of
March and join a cohort of brilliant, creatively
ambitious filmmakers doing the same. Over 130
projects (88 percent first time creators) launched
between February 10 and April 1. Despite the
pandemic upending the effort partway into
March, which caused many projects to delay
and other live projects to struggle to hit their
target or cancel, the figures still tell a good story.
Projects participating in the initiative saw a 51.9
percent success rate, compared with 38 percent
for the Film category. The projects received
$1.1 million in pledges from 16,000 backers (in
the same period in 2019, short films generated
approximately $380,000).
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 19
Signs of Change
(printed materials)
In March 2020, we invited creators to launch
a project to get their message out into their
communities with posters, signs, zines,
broadsides, and other ephemera. 47 creators
participated, creating work from a mental health
zine library to signs encouraging voting.
As mentioned above, we also launched Lights
On and Inside Voices to encourage cultural
spaces, small businesses, and individual
creators to persevere during the pandemic.
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 20
Caring for the Integrity of
Our Systems
In 2020, we launched and iterated on product features to promote the
integrity and health of our platform. We:
Proactively and explicitly communicated our expectations for how
carefully creators must handle backers’ personal data. All creators
and collaborators accessing the backer report page for the first time
receive an onboarding screen with three important takeaways to
check off and acknowledge before they’re able to view any backer’s
personal data.
Closed off access to backer personal identifying information (real
name, email, and survey data) one year after the project’s last
estimated reward ship date. For projects that have run late or well
beyond their anticipated ship dates, we offer a process to request
extended access as needed to fulfill their campaign, which is
reviewed and vetted by our Trust & Safety team. T&S received and
processed a total of 1,496 creator requests for access to expired
backer reports in 2020.
Launched a Project Update Request feature that gives backers
the ability to request a project update with the click of a button.
We hope this will promote healthier and more sustainable forms of
communication on the platform, reduce stagnated communication,
and reduce the number of public comments requesting updates.
Nearly 18,000 projects had at least one Project Update Request and 31
percent of creators who received a request posted an update within
seven days.
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 21
Improved visual elements of Project Pulse, which launched at the end
of 2019 and allowed backers to more easily provide feedback on creator
communication and fulfillment.
2020 was the second year we measured user loyalty and satisfaction via
our Net Promoter Score, or NPS, a scale which can range from -100 to
+100. For 2020, our creator NPS was 50.9 for successful creators (up from
40.1 in 2019) and backer NPS was 19.9 (down from 25.2 in 2019). We’re still
in the early stages of collecting this data, and are investigating new and
strategic ways to understand and improve the backer experience.
We also continue to focus on the safety and security of those using the
platform. For example, our Trust & Safety team suspended 211 projects in
2020 that were found to have violated our rules.
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 22
The Creative Independent
The Creative Independent (TCI) is a Kickstarter-published resource of
emotional and practical guidance to help artists of all types bring creative
ideas to life. TCI’s content focuses on the challenges and victories of
people living all kinds of creative lives, featuring diverse perspectives and
wisdom, including:
Singer-songwriters Matt Berninger and Phoebe Bridgers discuss
what goes into their lyrics, what doesn’t, and why everything means
everything all the time.
Artist and writer Cortney Cassidy’s soft manifesto on the anti-capitalist
values that helped her launch Mail Blog, and a set of principles you can
apply to your own values-driven art making.
How to start a cooperative: a guide to founding a company that’s
collectively owned by its workers, customers, or both—written by
Austin Robey.
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 23
Writer Jia Tolentino talks about what she learned from spending years
writing for the internet, learning how to fully disconnect from the world
in order to be productive, the value of hard edits, and why writing itself
is its own best reward.
How to write a poem: a guide to reading and writing poetry for people
who don’t (yet) read or write poetry, by T. Cole Rachel.
In 2020, TCI pieces received more than 2.4 million views (nearly 1
million more than the year before) and TCI’s subscriber list grew to over
50,000 (compared to about 20,000 in 2019). We view this significant
growth as a testament to the support and positivity TCI provides to
creative people of all kinds, and to the resonance of these resources in
a particularly challenging year. In 2020, TCI published 212 articles, 10
guides, and 10 essays; reprinted four print zines; and published one new
book in collaboration with Pioneer Works and Are.na. TCI also added 12
publications to our free PDF lending library.
In 2020, TCI also:
Launched the TCI IRL series, including the creation of the “Quarantine
Supercut” with Drew Daniel of Matmos: an original audio composition
made from crowdsourced quarantine sounds, which was featured in
The New Yorker;
Collaborated with MoMA PS1 for eight installments of Room Tone,
featuring studio visits with some of our favorite musicians, who ended
each episode with a short performance or audio presentation; and
Partnered with Basilica Hudson 2020, Liz Harris/Grouper for her
publication PRESENCE, and Kickstarter on the aforementioned Signs
of Change initiative.
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 24
The Creative Independent changed my life.
I wasn’t happy with my work, and reading
through the archive gave me a lot of clarity
on where I’d gone wrong and what I needed
to do going forward. It was (well, is) like
the dearest friend to me - the happiest
memories I have are the days where I’d
walk to a coffee shop early in the morning,
and oftentimes, the entire walk would be
filled with rain but I remember having my
headphones in and feeling euphoric and
alive. I’d order coffee, say hi to anyone
I knew, and then settle in with my phone
and read interview after interview before
walking home to work on music with a new
feeling that I still can’t quite put words
to. More than anything, I felt able to love
music again, and I had hope for a more
beautiful world again. I learned, over time,
to say no to opportunities that weren’t
right. To love my craft so very much, so
sincerely, and find the meaning and joy in
creating.
—a TCI reader
===================== =
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 25
Economic Impact
Kickstarter campaigns have effects that extend far beyond each individual project’s
creators and backers. They impact the economy and creative ecosystems at large,
enabling businesses to launch and hire employees, and resulting in additional revenue
that supports the production of more creative work.
In a 2016 University of Pennsylvania study examining the
Estimated
long term impacts of funding on Kickstarter on the creative
economic
economy, Professor Ethan R. Mollick found that for every
growth,
1,000 projects funded on the platform, there were 83
2009-2020
businesses founded and 272 full-time staff or founders
employed. For every dollar raised on Kickstarter, on 16
bus
,000
average creators saw an additional $2.56 in revenue after ine
s
fou e
nde s
their campaign ended. d
By applying these figures to to 2020 data, we can estimate
the second-order impact that the projects funded in 2020 54
new , 0 0
are likely to have on the creative economy: these projects cr 0
car eative
are likely to result in the founding of more than 1,500 eer
s
businesses, 5,000 full-time staff or founders employed, and
approximately $1.87 billion in additional revenue to creators.
$1
From Kickstarter’s founding through 2020, nearly $5 billion in t 7.2
of c
h B
eh
a
had been successfully pledged to creators, ultimately rea nds
tor
s
putting an estimated $17.2 billion in the hands of creators.
Using Mollick’s ratios, we can estimate that from 2009–
2020, 54,000 new full-time creative careers have stemmed
from Kickstarter projects: 16,000 businesses have been
founded, where 37,000 founders work alongside an
$5.4B
estimated 16,000 employees. pledged to
creators
(2009-2020)
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 26
2020 National Design Award
In 2020, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
recognized Kickstarter with the National Design Award for
Design Visionary. This was the inaugural year for the Design
Visionary category, awarded in recognition of an individual,
company, or organization who has made a profound
contribution to advancing the field.
To celebrate this prestigious recognition, we highlighted
the kinds of creative work that can come to life on our
platform, from CW&T’s independent practice building modern heirlooms
to Danielle Trofe’s environmental lamps grown from mycelium, as a part of
a digital pop-up shop at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
Time magazine also recognized Kickstarter as an engine for innovation;
five Kickstarter projects made their list of best inventions in 2020: Cuzen
Matcha, Kiri Toys, Oura Ring, Narwal Mop, and Yoto Player.
Engaging Beyond Our Walls
Kickstarter commits to engaging beyond our walls with the greater issues
and conversations affecting artists and creators. In 2020, Kickstarter
signed on to a petition for “Federal Policy Requests in Support of the
Creative Economy Workforce” by Americans for the Arts, advocating for
the support of the creative sector in a second stimulus plan.
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 27
Fostering a Supportive
Environment for Employees’
Creative Endeavors
To foster a supportive environment for employees to work on their own
creative projects, we provide benefits, stipends, and time off to pursue
creative endeavors.
In 2020, members of our team utilized their $500/year education stipend
in a number of ways, including banjo lessons, sourdough baking class,
materials for sewing and crafts, virtual writing classes, and memberships
to cultural institutions like the Met and the New York Botanical Gardens.
We also saw several staff members (including our CEO) run successful
campaigns for their own creative projects on Kickstarter, including hand-
embossed posters, linocut prints of mountains, sci-fi adventure novellas,
and an album of songs for kids.
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. 28
Section 2
We operate
responsibly.
Transparency in Pay Ratios
and Team Demographics
Kickstarter has committed to reporting annually on our team and leadership
demographics, executive and CEO pay ratios, and programs and strategies employed to
build a diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization.
Pay Ratios
Kickstarter’s CEO makes 2.8 times that of the median non-CEO salary. A 2019 study by
the Economic Policy Institute examining the executive pay gap found that the average
CEO earns 320 times that of the median worker at the same company.
The executive pay gap
2.8x 302x
Kickstarter Disparity Between Average Disparity Between
CEO and Median Employee CEO and Median Employee
Median non-CEO salary
Ratio of CEO and Exec Team pay to entire company
without with
equity equity
CEO to Mean Non-CEO 2.63 20.71
CEO to Median Non-CEO 2.82 23.60
Mean Exec to Mean Non-Exec 1.91 4.34
Median Exec to Median Non-Exec 1.93 2.03
We operate responsibly. 30
Full Team Demographics Gender Identity
Kickstarter had a team of 90 people at the end of
2020, all working to build and improve its service
and to help creators use it. Before the COVID-19
pandemic, the vast majority of our team had
been based at our headquarters in Greenpoint,
Brooklyn, with other staff working remotely
around the United States, as well as around the
globe in Canada, Mexico, and Europe. • Female 57%
• Male 37%
* Non-binary/gender fluid/gender non-conforming
The following numbers were taken from optional * Transgender
self-identification in a demographic survey sent
in January 2021 with 88 percent participation
Race/Ethnicity
response rate to at least one survey question.
Important note: Staff were able to select as many
options as appropriate, so percentages will not
add up to 100. Any item noted with an asterisk *
has between one and five responses, which has
not met the anonymity threshold of at least six
responses for our reporting to protect individual
disclosure. • White/European 71%
• Asian 24%
• Hispanic or Latinx 9%
• Black/African/Caribbean 7%
* Prefer not to say
* Middle Eastern/North African
* Indigenous/Native American/Alaska Native
* Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander
* Other
We operate responsibly. 31
Sexual Orientation Disability Identification
• Straight/Heterosexual 76% • No 67%
• Bisexual 13% • Yes 8%
• Queer 11% * Prefer not to say
* Gay or Lesbian
* Prefer not to say
* Other
Caregiver Status Age Range
• None 29% • 30-39 71%
• Shared care of child under 18 43% • 40-49 29%
• Primary care of child under 18 29%
Education
• Advanced degree 57%
• 4 year college degree 29%
• High school or GED equivalent 14%
We operate responsibly. 32
Board demographics Gender Identity
The following numbers were taken from optional
self-identification in a demographic survey sent
in February 2021 with 100 percent participation
response rate from 7 members of the Board. Board
members were able to select as many options as
appropriate, so percentages may not add up to 100.
• Man/Male 71.4%
• Woman/Female 14.3%
• Non-binary, Gender Fluid, or
Gender non-conforming 14.3%
Race/Ethnicity Sexual Orientation Disability
• White/European 57.1% • Straight/heterosexual 71.4% • No 100%
• Asian 14.3% • Queer 28.6%
• Black/African/Caribbean 14.3%
• South Asian/Bangladeshi 14.3%
Caregiver status Age range Education
• None 57.1% • 30-39 28.6% • Advanced degree 57.1%
• Shared care of child under 42.9% • 40-49 14.3% • 4 year college degree 42.9%
• 50-59 28.6%
• 60 or older 28.6%
We operate responsibly. 33
Taxes
Kickstarter works to be a fair and ethical platform by being a good global
citizen. We pay our taxes without exploiting loopholes. In 2020, we paid a
combined federal, state, and local effective income tax rate of 21 percent.
For context, the biggest corporations pay an average effective tax rate of
11.3 percent according to a study by the Institute on Taxation & Economic
Policy (ITEP).
Kickstarter’s estimated federal, state, and local income taxes for 2020
came out to a combined effective tax rate of 21 percent; our effective
federal income tax rate was 20 percent. Our tax rate was reduced by the
Federal Research and Development Tax Credit, a general business tax
credit which offsets development costs incurred in the United States.
Without the R&D tax credit, our effective federal tax rate would have
been 21 percent. As we have in the past, we’ve taken advantage of
two tax credits: the R&D federal tax credit (for our innovative Research
& Development initiatives, and the NYC REAP tax credit (for our prior
relocation from Manhattan to Brooklyn). The effective state and local rate
is about 1% as a result of the NYC REAP credit benefit. Without the REAP
Credit, the state and local rate would be about 4 percent.
We operate responsibly. 34
Legal Claims
We also respond to copyright and trademark claims, and balance user
privacy and law enforcement needs when we receive government requests
for information. Here’s a look at what we did in 2020:
In 2020, Kickstarter processed 250 total copyright claims involving 229
distinct projects. We rejected 70 of these claims. We reject claims when
they are incomplete, or when they involve material that isn’t protected
or its use isn’t restricted under applicable copyright or trademark laws.
We removed 139 projects from public view in response to copyright
claims. We returned nine of those projects to public view after the
creators filed challenges to the claims, or after the creators made
modifications to address the claims.
In 2020, Kickstarter processed 73 total trademark claims involving 63
distinct projects. We rejected 18 of these claims. We reject claims when
they are incomplete, or when they involve material that isn’t protected
or its use isn’t restricted under applicable copyright or trademark laws.
We removed 25 projects from public view in response to trademark claims,
and 20 remain hidden. We avoided removing 29 other projects from public
view by encouraging those making the claims to resolve the dispute
directly with the project creator, or make a modification to their projects.
Millions of people, who are represented by hundreds of local and federal
governments, use Kickstarter. In instances where a government or
law enforcement agency requests private information about one of
our users, we’re committed to protecting that person’s information,
complying with the law, and acting transparently. For more on how we
handle law enforcement requests, see our Law Enforcement Guidelines.
We operate responsibly. 35
Limiting Environmental Impact
We’re committed to limiting our environmental impact within and
outside our walls. We provide recommendations and resources that
help creators make environmentally conscious decisions. We invest in
green infrastructure, support green commuting methods, and factor in
environmental impact when choosing vendors.
In 2020, we:
Began encouraging Tabletop Games and Fashion creators to outline
their environmental commitments on their project page. (Previously
this feature was only available to Design and Technology projects.)
After this expansion, we saw 49 percent of eligible projects launch with
environmental commitments, a dramatic increase from the 18 percent
we saw in 2019.
Transitioned to 100 percent renewable energy for our office and
reduced the carbon footprint for our cloud computing utilization by
14 percent.
Joined B Labs Net Zero 2030 commitment, standing with and
supporting the community of B corps who are leading the way to
become more sustainable (Note: Kickstarter is already a Net Zero
organization via its certification by Climate Neutral).
Donated 727 lbs of redundant tech equipment via the Revivn project
to benefit Digital Girl, Inc., Refugee Transitions, and Women’s Prison
Association.
We operate responsibly. 36
Staff Volunteer Hours
Our volunteer policy gives employees 25 hours of paid time per year
for employees to provide professional mentorship and skills training to
people from groups underrepresented in the worlds of art, business, or
technology. In 2020, we added eight additional hours of volunteer time for
staff to use for civic engagement.
This year, our staff logged 386 hours of paid volunteer service as a company
(Note: this doesn’t account for time spent volunteering outside of work hours).
com
Freepik.
Image:
We operate responsibly. 37
Internal Programs
and Strategies
As a part of our commitment to build a diverse, inclusive, and equitable
organization, our People team led a number of programs and strategies
across our company, including:
Conducting a company-wide interview training to support staff with
fair and consistent interview processes.
Rolling out an anonymous and optional candidate demographic
survey during our interview process to help the recruiting team better
understand and address misrepresentation in our job applicant pool.
Investing in the Affinity Group program to support the needs of staff.
Holding company-wide trainings with Project Inkblot and Shift,
introducing concepts and approaches in service of racial equity.
Programming a Juneteenth Day of Focus for staff to learn and ideate
on how to support Kickstarter’s Black creator community.
We operate responsibly. 38
Our Annual
5 Percent Donation
Everyone deserves equal opportunity to bring creative work into the world.
Kickstarter is a place where creative work should be able to come to life,
free of barriers that restrict access to funding. 2020 served as a critical
moment to reflect on our long-term commitment to support a more creative
and equitable world.
We’ve pledged to donate 5 percent of our after-tax profits towards arts and
music education and to organizations fighting to end systemic inequality.
Each year, our staff nominates organizations committed to doing this work,
and a staff-run committee researches each nominee and votes on how our
donations will be distributed. In 2020, we contributed a total of $475,000
to the following organizations:
Arts and Music Education
AbleGamers Foundation
AbleGamers Foundation utilizes fun to bring inclusion and
improved quality of life for people with disabilities through the
power of video games.
The Black School
The Black School’s mission is to promote and extend the legacy
of art in Black radical histories by providing innovative education
alternatives centered on Black love. Through youth art workshops,
community-wide events/programming, and our student-staffed
art and design studio, we use art to transform social realities while
celebrating Black people’s history and the beauty and ingenuity of
our ever evolving culture.
We operate responsibly. 39
Child’s Play
Child’s Play is a game industry charity dedicated to improving the
lives of children with toys and games in our network of over 185
hospitals worldwide.
Dream a Dream Project (Vangeline Theater/New York
Butoh Institute)
The Dream a Dream Project is a dance workshop for incarcerated
men and women, which reaches members of the incarcerated
population at correctional facilities in New York.
Edible Schoolyard NYC
Edible Schoolyard NYC’s mission is to support edible education for
every child in New York City. We partner with New York City public
schools to cultivate healthy students and communities through
hands-on cooking and gardening education, transforming children’s
relationship with food.
Found Sound Nation
Found Sound Nation (FSN) is a creative agency that uses music-
making to connect people across cultural divides. We believe that
collaborative music creation is a deeply effective way to become
aware of the beauty, trauma, and hidden potential in our communities.
Girls Write Now
Girls Write Now mentors underserved young women and gender
nonconforming youth to find their voices through the power of
writing and community.
The Laundromat Project
The Laundromat Project brings art, artists, and arts programming
into laundromats and other everyday spaces, thus amplifying the
creativity that already exists within communities to build community
networks, solve problems, and enhance our sense of ownership in
the places where we live, work, and grow.
We operate responsibly. 40
NYC Salt
NYC Salt’s mission is to engage, inspire, and empower underserved
youth in New York City to reach their full potential through
photography, video and an understanding of the visual industry.
Publicolor
Publicolor is a stay-in-school youth development program that
engages disaffected students in their education 3 days a week for
4-6 through a continuum of design-based programs that mentor
them for success in school, college, career, and life.
Fighting Inequality
Adopt A Native Elder
The Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program supports the traditional Elders
who live in the cultural and spiritual traditions of The Dine (Navajo)
People, providing food, simple medicines, clothing, fabric and yarns
to help these Elders live on the land in their traditional lifestyle.
Bed-Stuy Strong
Bed-Stuy Strong is a mutual aid network of over 4,000 people
from across Bed-Stuy who are supporting each other and our
communities during the COVID-19 crisis. They crowdsource
donations and use them to provide no-contact grocery deliveries for
vulnerable members of our Bed-Stuy communities.
The Black Feminist Project
The Black Feminist Project enriches the lives of, restores agency,
justice, joy and health to Black womxn, girls and non-men, often
referred to as marginalized genders or MaGes and the children they
care for - with an emphasis on mother-led families.
We operate responsibly. 41
Black Women’s Blueprint
Black Women’s Blueprint works to place Black women and girls’
lives, as well as their particular struggles, squarely within the
context of the larger racial justice concerns of Black communities.
Brown Girls Doc Mafia
Brown Girls Doc Mafia is an initiative advocating for over 3,300
women and non-binary people of color working in the documentary
film industry around the world.
First Nations Development Institute
First Nations Development Institute improves economic conditions
for Native Americans through direct financial grants, technical
assistance & training, and advocacy & policy
Food Bank for New York City
Food Bank for NYC works to end hunger in NYC by organizing food,
information and support for community survival, empowerment,
and dignity.
For the Gworls
For the Gworls is a Black, trans-led collective that curates parties to
fundraise money to help Black transgender people pay for their rent,
gender-affirming surgeries, smaller co-pays for medicines/doctor’s
visits, and travel assistance.
GEMS
Girls Educational & Mentoring Services is the nation’s leading
organization for empowering commercially sexually exploited and
domestically trafficked girls and young women.
Little Manila Queens
Little Manila Queens works towards creating a series of community
conversations and public art activations that celebrate and engage
members of the Filipino diaspora.
We operate responsibly. 42
LSA Family Health Services
LSA Family Health Service strengthens and empowers vulnerable
families and children by meeting their basic needs for food,
healthcare, education and a safe home, in the belief that affirming
families in their own dignity improves the entire community.
Make the Road New York
Make the Road New York builds the power of immigrant and working
class communities to achieve dignity and justice.
Montefiore Hospital’s Supporting Healthy Relationships Program
Montefiore’s Supporting Healthy Relationships Program is a free
program designed to empower couples to achieve success within
their families and finances.
NYC Books Through Bars
The Black School’s mission is to promote and extend the legacy NYC
Books Through Bars is an all volunteer-run group that sends free,
donated books to incarcerated people across the nation.
Third Wave Fund
Third Wave Fund resources and supports youth-led Gender Justice
activism to advance the political power, well-being, and self
determination of communities of color and low-income communities.
UPROSE
UPROSE is an intergenerational, multi-racial, nationally-recognized,
women of color led, grassroots organization that promotes
sustainability and resiliency through community organizing,
education, leadership development and cultural/artistic expression
in Brooklyn, NY.
We operate responsibly. 43
You Gotta’ Believe
You Gotta Believe exists for one reason... to work toward the day
when no young person leaves foster care without the unconditional
lifetime commitment of a family.
Additionally, we made a $10,000 donation to the Brooklyn Community Bail
Fund, working with the support and guidance of the Black at Kickstarter
Affinity Group.
We operate responsibly. 44
kickstarter.com/benefit-statement
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