THE CALCULATION OF CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN SOCIAL MEDIA COSTS

Problem. More companies than ever are using crowdfunding campaigns to raise funds and test their ideas. While one of the most important success factors of a crowdfunding campaign is the usage of social media during the campaign, yet there has not been proposed a formula that could help to calculate the estimated costs of social media activities needed to successfully launch a crowdfunding campaign. Research aim. The aim of this paper was to develop a concept for a formula that can help crowdfunding campaign creators calculate the estimated costs of social media activities during a crowdfunding campaign. Research methods. To achieve the aim of the paper several research methods were applied: (1) Theoretical analysis to determine what social media and crowdfunding cost calculation methods are there; (2) Secondary data research method was applied to: a. Collect Kickstarter technology category campaign data; b. Collect data from Kickstarter campaign Facebook and Twitter accounts. Statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) was used to conduct a correlation analysis and descriptive analysis of the collected data. Main results and findings of the study. In the result of the research, a formula was developed that can help crowdfunding campaign developers calculate the estimated costs of social media activities during a crowdfunding campaign. Theoretical and practical implications of the work. In practice, this paper can be used to calculate how much funds a crowdfunding campaign creator will have to invest in social media to increase the chance that their crowdfunding campaign will be successful. The theoretical contribution of this paper is that this paper can be used as a basis to develop a new crowdfunding cost calculation method.