Kickstarter Inc. announced that the company is no longer Incorporated. The company has been re-registered as Kickstarter PBC. PBC stands for “Public Benefit Company,” and it is a fairly new way to register a business. PBCs are legally required to consider how their actions will impact society. Corporations, by nature, are out to make a profit and answer to the shareholders, with little regard for the social ramifications.
Kickstarter said it is excited to join this group of forward-thinking businesses, and said that currently, only 0.01 percent of American businesses are registered as Public Benefit Companies. Kickstarter believes this will change in the coming years as more and more people reject the notion of “profit above all.”
Under the new Kickstarter PBC structure, the company has committed 5 percent of its post-tax profits to be donated to arts education programs and organizations fighting for equality. Be donating post-tax dollars, the company is showing that it is not doing this to pad its bottom line. Many corporations would use any means possible to minimize taxes, writing donations off as tax deductions.
The company founders said there wasn’t a single vote against the idea of restructuring as a PBC from any of Kickstarter’s shareholders. The company has always had a focus on serving artists and creators, and it believes that the new Public Benefit Company designation reinforces that mission in the best way possible.
For more information about Kickstarter PBC’s values, the company has posted its full charter online for all to see.
