“In our new charter we spell out our mission, our values, and the commitments we have made to pursue them”, it said. Kickstarter has been a voluntary B-corp (benefit corporation) since past year , but by becoming a Delaware PBC it’s turning an optional pledge into company law. Kickstarter said only 0.1 per cent of USA businesses are registered in this way. In addition, they must produce an annual benefit report that assesses their efforts in these regards. “Positive impact on society becomes part of a Benefit Corporation’s legally defined goals”.
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In its new charter, Kickstarter says it will “seek to limit environmental impact”, “invest in green infrastructure”, and donate 5 percent of its after-tax profit annually to arts education and organizations that “increase opportunities for people of color, women, and LGBTQ individuals”.
“From Kickstarter’s inception, we’ve focused on serving artists, creators and audiences to help bring creative projects to life”, the founders wrote in the blog post. Much of the push has been driven by millennials, both as consumers and employees, who are looking for companies to make social responsibility a part of everyday operations. The company tells The New York Times that it has returned profits of between $5 and $10 million in each of the last three years, after having received about $15 million in funding.
Delaware, where Kickstarter is based, introduced the ability for companies to becomes a Public Benefit Company in 2013.
Chen explained that Kickstarter chose to become a public benefit corporation because “there’s a huge difference between a values document and the legal foundation of your company”. Kickstarter has no plans of going public ever, according to Kazmark.
“It’s not going to be a huge lottery ticket”.
PBCs are created under a USA specific piece of legislation, and an exact analogue doesn’t exist in the UK. Yet, they said, they still must answer to investors. Board members must also take that public benefit into account when making decisions, and the company has to report on its social effect.
“As younger companies come up and think about how they operate and how they want to be structured, maybe they won’t be so easily be swept up by all the usual choices”, Chen said.
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“[Kickstarter] is a fast-growing, highly profitable enterprise. When the time is right, I’m confident that Kickstarter will return cash to their loyal shareholders”. The first one will be available February 2016. How will that influence the types of projects it hosts on its site?
