Reward-Based Crowdfunding Data

This dataset consists of two files, both containing metadata of randomly selected crowdfunding projects from the Kickstarter platform that were launched on or after January 5, 2022, and completed by March 8, 2024. The EU dataset includes 2,272 projects, while the global dataset comprises 15,006 projects. Both files are fully processed and feature self-explanatory variables. They are specifically designed to illustrate the geographical distribution of backers and creators, providing insights into home and local biases.
Below is a list summarizing all relevant variables in the datasets, along with their descriptions.

ID: Project identifier within the datasets;
Start_Date: Start of the financing period;
End_Date: End of the financing period;
Duration: = End_Date − Start_Date;
Category: One of five supercategories to which a project belongs;
Success: = 1 if funded successfully;
Funding: Total amount financed in USD (exchange rate on End_Date was used);
Target: Desired financing amount in USD (exchange rate on End_Date was used);
Staff_Pick: = 1 if project was honored with a "Project We Love" badge;
Backers: Number of supporters who backed the respective project by End_Date;
Video_Header: = 1 if project page starts with a video;
Videos_Bool: = 1 if at least one video is included in the campaign text;
Images_Bool: = 1 if at least one image is included in the campaign text;
Description: Word count of the introductory text;
Rewards: Number of reward stages;
Prev_Success: Number of a creator’s previously successful projects;
Backed: Number of projects supported by a creator;
Updates: Total number of updates by a creator at EndDate;
Links: Number of websites linked by a creator;
: Number of supporters from who backed the respective project by EndDate ( represents any country);
EU_Backers_Tot: Number of EU-based supporters who backed the respective project by EndDate;
EU_Backers_Share: = EU_Backers_Tot / Backers;
Same_Ctry_Tot: Number of supporters from the project’s country of origin who backed it by EndDate;
Same_Ctry_Share: = Same_Ctry_Tot / EU_Backers_Tot;
_Bool: = 1 if a project is launched in ( represents any EU member state);
EU_Bool: = 1 if a project is launched within the EU;
Creator_Location: City and country of a project’s origin;
Creator_Coord: Coordinates of a project’s origin: POINT(Longitude, Latitude);
Avg_Dist_EU: Average distance (in km) of EU-based supporters from a project;
Country_Pop: Population of a project’s country of origin as of 2023, reported by Eurostat (2025);
Adjacent_Ctry_Tot: Number of supporters from a country adjacent to the respective project’s origin who backed it by EndDate;
Adjacent_Ctry_Share: = AdjacentCtryTot / EUBackersTot;
Adjacent_Ctry_Backers_Sum: Aggregate number of supporters based in countries adjacent to the respective project’s origin;
Adjacent_Ctry_Count: Number of countries adjacent to the project's country of origin.