# Researchers reveal which phrases work best on Kickstarter

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/01/17/researchers-reveal-phrases-work-best-kickstarter/
- Published: 2014-01-17T15:10:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Researchers at the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology
in the USA have analysed which words and phrases are likely to contribute to success
on crowdfunding site Kickstarter.

Researchers Tanushree Mitra and Eric Gilbert examined 45,000 crowdfunded projects,
analysed 9 million phrases and 59 other variables commonly present on crowdfunding
sites.

Language alone does not assure successful funding on sites like Kickstarter. The
researchers looked at other variables such as the duration of the campaign and the
presence of a video, but still found that:

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> “The language used in the project has surprising predictive power— accounting 
> for 58.56% of the variance around successful funding.”

The words that are typically seen on successful Kickstarter pitches will not surprise
many fundraisers or marketers. They make use of principles such as reciprocity, 
scarcity, and social proof.

## Positive tone

Words that conveyed a positive tone were more likely to be found in projects that
were successfully funded. “Also receive two” and “mention your”, indicating a benefit
to the supporter, were both positive predictors of funding. Other positive indicators
such as “we can afford” and “the project will be” suggested authority and confidence
from the project owner.

Conversely, “not been able”, “later i”, and “hope to get” were also predictors of
projects that are not funded. Words that suggested desperation or low expectations
were also associated with projects not being funded. These included “goes a long
way, “lose it all”, and “short of our goal”.

One phrase that cropped up often on funded projects was “good karma”. That will 
not appear in many charities’ fundraising appeals or funding applications, but might
be more appropriate to the online world.

 

[⌊Kickstarter words - by Howard Lake⌉⌊Kickstarter words - by Howard Lake⌉[

Words on Kickstarter.com that are indicative of a project’s likelihood of being 
funded or not funded.

 

## Useful for charity fundraisers?

Kickstarter is not a charity specific crowdfunding platform. Although there are 
creative industry and cultural projects listed, the majority of projects posted 
are for commercial products.

So this research should not be automatically applied to all online fundraising by
charities or online crowdfunding by them. Nevertheless, many of the findings will
undoubtedly ring true with fundraisers and those tasked with crafting written fundraising
communications.

## Better crowdfunding tools from data

 

The researchers are releasing a dataset of 20,000 phrases with their associated 
β weights, in the hope that others will use it to develop “tools to help both backers
and project creators make the best use of their time and money”.

The 13-page research paper, [The Language that Gets People to Give: Phrases that Predict Success on Kickstarter](http://comp.social.gatech.edu/papers/cscw14.crowdfunding.mitra.pdf),
can be downloaded as a PDF.