Hispanic and Latina women own more than 14% of women-owned businesses in the United States, according to The Impact of Women-Owned Businesses report , and their businesses increased average revenue by 10.3% between 2019 and 2024. Yet access to funding continues to limit some founders’ ability to turn ideas into products, expand their operations, and reach new customers.

The difference is visible in the funding opportunities as well. Among Hispanic-owned employer firms that applied for a loan, line of credit or merchant cash advance, 31% were denied, compared with 17% of white-owned firms, according to the Federal Reserve Banks’ 2025 Small Business Credit Survey . The survey included businesses with at least one employee in addition to the owner.

I have previously covered venture-capital firms investing specifically in Latino founders, as well as grants entrepreneurs can pursue. But another path is allowing founders to raise money and demonstrate product demand at the same time: crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding is emerging as an alternative for founders seeking to test demand, raise production capital and speak directly to the communities their products serve. The process, however, is not easier than the other alternatives. It requires founders to build trust around a product that may not yet exist, educate potential backers and sustain attention throughout a limited campaign period.

To explore how that works in practice, I spoke with Estrella Serrato, founder of ongoing initiative Conchas for Kids , a pan-dulce-inspired play set designed to help Latino children see their culture reflected in imaginative play, who is currently using a crowdfunding campaign to finance the product’s first manufacturing run while building a community around its mission.

Turning Storytelling Into Startup Capital

Before launching Conchas for Kids, Serrato spent five years building her personal brand as an online community centered on the experiences of first-generation Latinas navigating college, careers and personal growth. Over time, her audience evolved with her to become, according to Serrato, college students who later became professionals, mothers and aunts. As she entered a similar stage of life, it felt natural to continue documenting her journey and sharing what the transition brought to her and later on, the idea of a Latino culture-inspired toy. “I’ve always been somebody that built in public,” Serrato said.

When she introduced Conchas for Kids, she was presenting it to people who already understood her relationship with culture, family, and identity. That familiarity made it easier for her to consider different ways to raise the money needed to bring the product to life, landing on crowdfunding as a viable option.

The toy idea began when Serrato searched for toys for her nephew and found little Latino representation. “I grew up going to the panadería every weekend con mi abuelo , and those traditions were everything,” Serrato told me in our interview. She worried that her nephew might not have the same opportunities to visit Mexico or spend time with his great-grandfather.

That personal story became central to the campaign and to Serrato’s efforts to build awareness around the product she hopes to manufacture. However, while storytelling is necessary, it does not make fundraising automatic. “Crowdfunding, it’s not easy,” Serrato said. “You are selling preorders of a project that doesn’t exist yet, but it will.”

Her Kickstarter campaign uses an all-or-nothing model, meaning the project must reach its full goal before Serrato receives the pledged funds. The process was new not only for her as an entrepreneur but also for many members of the community supporting the project. “Sixty percent of my campaign has been me having to teach my audience how to use Kickstarter,” Serrato said. “Kickstarter is something new for a lot of Latinos.”

Conchas for Kids has a $75,000 fundraising goal based on the estimated cost of molds, manufacturing, design, legal work, distribution, taxes, and Kickstarter fees, according to Serrato, a number that challenges her as she has “never seen that number in her bank account,” but it has been storytelling the way to promote the product. It allowed her to explain its cultural purpose, educate potential backers and connect a personal memory to a concrete financial goal.

How To Start A Crowdfunding Campaign In 5 Steps

Publishing a crowdfunding campaign page does not guarantee that people will support it. Serrato’s experience with Conchas for Kids and the crowdfunding experience I previously reported on for Rachel Rodgers, who was crowdfunding for the filming of the Rachel Rodgers show for entrepreneurs, point to five steps founders can take when preparing to crowdfund an idea.

1. Determine What The Money Must Cover

The fundraising goal should reflect the actual cost of completing the project, not simply an amount the founder believes will be easy to raise. In order to set up the page, there must be a prototype and the cost associated with it.

For Conchas for Kids, Serrato developed the prototype and calculated that she would need approximately $75,000 to cover molds, manufacturing, design, legal expenses, distribution, taxes and Kickstarter fees. “You can’t just say you’re going to do it one day and then do it the next day. You have to plan,” Serrato told me.

Founders should also account for expenses that arise after the campaign, including packaging, shipping, platform charges, and the cost of fulfilling backer rewards.

2. Build An Audience Before The Launch

Crowdfunding works best when founders do not wait until launching day to introduce themselves or their ideas. Serrato spent five years building Cafecito con Estrellita before launching Conchas for Kids. That gave her a community already familiar with her cultural identity, personal story, and history of documenting projects publicly.

Rodgers also entered crowdfunding with an established audience developed through Hello Seven, her books and her work as a business educator. Her Kickstarter campaign sought $155,000 to produce a creator-owned travel and business series. It ultimately raised $169,578 from 330 backers, which was 109% of its goal.

3. Show Backers What They Are Funding

Potential backers need enough information to believe that an idea can become a finished product. Before launching, Serrato interviewed manufacturers, hired a design team and produced a three-dimensional prototype. Sharing parts of that process helped her audience see that Conchas for Kids was more than an early concept.

Rodgers similarly presented a clear format for her project: a travel-meets-business show featuring entrepreneurs building companies, freedom and generational legacies. The campaign offered supporters a defined vision rather than a general request to fund future content.

A campaign page should explain what the project is, why it matters, how the money will be spent, and what supporters can expect to receive. Visuals, prototypes, and production plans can make an unfinished idea feel more credible.

4. Create Rewards That Invite Participation

Crowdfunding rewards can give supporters multiple ways to participate based on their interests and financial capacity. Serrato’s campaign includes individual play sets as well as classroom packages with multiple sets, lesson plans, and downloadable activities. Rodgers’ campaign offered rewards ranging from digital exclusives to VIP experiences connected to the show.

The rewards should be valuable enough to encourage support but realistic enough for the founder to deliver. Adding too many complicated options can create fulfillment costs and operational demands that reduce the amount available for the project itself.

5. Prepare To Educate And Communicate Repeatedly

Founders should not assume their audience understands crowdfunding. As Serrato said, most of her audience did not know how to use the crowdfunding platform to support the project. She has spent the campaign responding to direct messages, sending emails, and producing content explaining how pledges work. Because this crowdfunding platform uses an all-or-nothing model, she must also communicate that the project will receive the money only if it reaches its full goal.

Rodgers’ campaign showed how an existing mission can become part of that communication. Rather than presenting the show only as a media project, she positioned it as an opportunity to retain creative ownership and highlight entrepreneurs whose experiences are often absent from traditional business programming. The campaign reached its goal, but outside reporting indicates it still required Rodgers to mobilize her community around a specific deadline and financial target.

Crowdfunding will not eliminate the financing gap facing Latina founders, nor does it make raising capital easier. But it can give entrepreneurs another way to test demand, retain ownership and ask their communities to help determine which ideas reach the market. For Serrato, the campaign is still unfolding, but it already shows how cultural storytelling, audience trust, and financial planning can work together to move a product from personal memory toward commercial possibility.

Alejandra Rojas is the founder of Brown Way To Money , a financial education platform, and the host of the Brown Way To Money podcast . Alejandra blends financial strategy with a trauma-informed approach to guide business owners toward financial stability.

The information in this article are not intended to replace professional financial, tax, or accounting advice.