The warm fuzzies you get have very little to do with it. I'm sure the angel investors who front millions for medical research into a disease get the same rush from their cash as you do, but there is more different between your spending and theirs than magnitude. If you invest in a company you have a legal claim to own part of it, and it's pretty clear that Kickstarter backers own no part of the companies they support.
Whether the cash is given in the spirit of altruism or profit-seeking isn't the real question; the question is whether equity is expected in return or not. Of course people don't expect "significant" equity for their contributions, but a good fraction may think they are really investing.
You're right, but at least in my head there's a _big_ differences between $5 or $10, or even $300 Kickstarter pledges, and the amount of money required before "whether equity is expected in return or no".
Unless otherwise stated, my personal expectation would be that amounts under about $1000 wouldn't possibly be expected to have equity in return.
Other people may have different thresholds, but surely nobody really expects equity for sub $100 "investments"?
> Unless otherwise stated, my personal expectation would be that amounts under about $1000 wouldn't possibly be expected to have equity in return.
For me, I'd expect equity starting at the point where I'm providing something significant, rather than simply part of a mob. If I'm providing the equivalent of living expenses for a year or two, for instance, or enough money to purchase serious infrastructure, like an office. I think the floor for that amount starts at 20k as an extreme minimum.
Whether the cash is given in the spirit of altruism or profit-seeking isn't the real question; the question is whether equity is expected in return or not. Of course people don't expect "significant" equity for their contributions, but a good fraction may think they are really investing.