Money Is Not Everything: A Typology of Crowdfunding Project Creators

Abstract

Crowdfunding promotes entrepreneurship in both business and social innovation domains. This study develops a typology of crowdfunding project creators based on their motivations. We analyze four important motivations—achievement, monetary need, prosociality, and relationship—and identify four types of project creators: social entrepreneur, fund seeker, indie producer, and daring dreamer. We also examine how six project characteristics—novelty, societal contribution, trustworthiness, activeness, reward value, and feasibility—differ by type according to investor perceptions. Finally, we determine which project characteristic is most critical for more funding. This study extends the theoretical and practical understanding of crowdfunding and the literature on entrepreneurship.