Silver surfers lead crowdfunding revolution

Pensioners are three times more likely to pledge on projects than Britain's digital youth*, says Crowdfunder

The UK's No1 crowdfunding platform has revealed that Britain's senior citizens could be leading the huge growth in crowdfunding as they are more likely to pledge money on projects more than any other age group.

Analysis from the alternative funding website found that in the month of March over 12.5 % of people who pledged on the site, were aged 65+, compared to just 9.3% of 18-25 year olds.

The biggest pledgers overall were the 45-55 year old market, who pledged more money on the platform than any other age group.

"It's a really interesting trend we're seeing." said Phil Geraghty, MD of Crowdfunder. "Although crowdfunding is widely perceived as a relatively 'new' digital activity, crowdfunding has a broad appeal across every age band - and it's great to see the older generations getting behind great ideas, and helping turn them into reality.

"The UK crowdfunding market grew by 388% last year and these figures also  suggest there is a huge growth potential for crowdfunding as more generations discover how to turn their ideas into reality."

"The figures support some of the anecdotal evidence we have seen," said Plymouth University's Crowdfunder In Residence, Heather Forster. "In my role as a crowdfunding coach, I have visited some residential homes and seen lots of older people become really interested in crowdfunding using their ipads to get them connected."

Crowdfunder has to date raised over £4.5million - and unlocked millions more - for over 4,000 business, charity and community projects across the UK. Crowdfunder helps people turn their great ideas into reality by asking people to back their project with pledges of cash in return for rewards.

Crowdfunder's partners include Nesta, Creative England and Plymouth University, as well as Virgin StartUp and Axa.