Crowdfunding Ratings Criteria
Crowdfunding allows businesses to raise money from investors by launching an online campaign. Crowdfunding is an excellent way for businesses to meet their capital needs without the stringent requirements of a traditional business loan.
- Merchant Maverick has been reviewing crowdfunding platforms since 2017.
- We’ve evaluated 20+ crowdfunding platforms.
- Each review involves 10-15 hours of initial research, followed by 5-10 hours of research for each review update.
- We update our reviews at least every 12 months, though most reviews are updated twice a year.
Our expert writers engage in independent research and testing for each crowdfunding review. When determining the star rating for a vendor, we score the following areas:
- Terms & Fees
- Project Qualifications
- Application Process
- Sales & Advertising Transparency
- Customer Service
- User Reviews
The scores for each section are displayed openly and are combined to create a holistic rating for the product out of 5 stars.
Read on for a more detailed explanation of how we determine the individual section ratings.
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Terms & Fees
25% of the total score
The Terms & Fees score is broken into two sections:
- Affordability (70% of the total section rating)
- Campaign Terms (30% of the total section rating)
Our expert reviewer looks at several things when calculating this score, including the account fees, the transparency of account fees, and the maximum duration of crowdfunding campaigns launched on each platform.
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Project Qualifications
25% of the total score
The Project Qualifications score is broken into two sections:
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- Availability (60% of the total section rating)
- Transparency (40% of the total section rating)
For the Project Qualifications score, we evaluate the availability of crowdfunding by location and project type. We also evaluate the transparency of all qualifications and requirements.
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Application Process
25% of the total score
The Equipment score is broken down into two sections.
- Prescreening & Application (70% of the total section rating)
- Campaign Funding (30% of the total section rating)
We consider several factors when evaluating the Application Process, including the ease of the application process and processing times. We also evaluate if a “Keep What You Raise” model is used and the timeline for receiving funds at the end of a campaign.
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Sales & Advertising Transparency
25% of the total score
The Sales & Advertising Transparency Score is broken down into two sections:
- Sales Practices (60% of the total section rating)
- Web Presence (40% of the total section rating)
For this section, we evaluate the sales ethics and marketing style of the vendor being reviewed. We also evaluate web presence, specifically looking at each vendor’s social media presence and website disclosures.
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Customer Service
10% of the total score
The Customer Service score is broken down into two sections.
- Personal Support (70% of the total section rating)
- Self-Service (30% of the total section rating)
When scoring customer service, we pay the most attention to the number of support options available (phone, email, in-person, etc.), the quality of personal support received, and the availability of self-service support options.
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User Reviews
5% of the total score
The Customer Reviews score is comprised of two sections.
- User Feedback (50% of the total section rating)
- Review Site Aggregate (50% of the total section rating)
We scour the internet for user feedback on all the products we review, looking for positive and negative feedback. Merchant Maverick is not a user review platform, so for part of this total rating we rely on aggregate user scores from review sites such as GetApp, TrustPilot, the App Store, the Play Store, and more.
