Donation-based Crowdfunding Research Articles

EXPRESS: Racial Inequity in Donation-based Crowdfunding Platforms: the Role of Facial Emotional Expressiveness

Donation-based crowdfunding platforms often claim to pursue equitable outcomes for all beneficiaries, yet many face criticism for failing to do so across different demographic profiles. In response, platform managers are eager to understand how these inequities emerge and explore solutions to address them. In this research, we show that the degree of facial emotional expressiveness of beneficiaries in uploaded images can differentially impact donation amounts for White vs Black beneficiaries. Drawing on social vision theory, we propose that facial emotional expressiveness in images combined with the race of the faces activates racial stereotypes of emotion expression that result in differential donation amounts to Black and White individuals. Analyzing a sample of 4,153 campaigns from GoFundMe between June 2021 and September 2022, along with a follow-up experiment, we find that higher facial emotional expressiveness is associated with significantly lower donation amounts for Black compared to White beneficiaries. Further exploring our moderating constructs reveals that the use of call-to-action cues, affective messaging, and race-gender homophily cues can attenuate the activation of stereotypes and therefore reduce differences in donation amounts between racial groups. Based on these findings, we offer targeted recommendations for platform managers to help reduce racial inequities in crowdfunding outcomes.

Factors Impacting the Use of Donation-Based Crowdfunding Platforms in Saudi Arabia: The Case of Ehsan Platform

This research investigates the factors influencing people's intentions to use donation-based crowdfunding platforms in Saudi Arabia, focusing on the Ehsan platform supervised by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA). Ehsan aims to ensure proper monetary distribution to genuinely needy individuals, thereby reducing financial fraud and corruption. For the platform's success, it is essential that citizens effectively utilize it. Employing the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, the study analyzes the determinants that influence intentions to use Ehsan and actual use behaviors. An empirical study was conducted with 224 Saudi citizens from various age groups, and the research model was validated using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach. Findings reveal that performance expectancy and facilitating conditions significantly impact intentions to use Ehsan, while effort expectancy and social influence do not. The results indicate a positive association between participants' intentions to use Ehsan and their actual usage. This study enhances the understanding of factors affecting donation-based crowdfunding platforms in Saudi Arabia and offers practical insights for platform developers and decision-makers to consider in their design and modifications.

​​The Glass Witness​: Visual and Tactile Engagements with Online Medical Crowdfunding

Donation-based crowdfunding platforms invite people to tell stories of unmet health needs in a hybrid form—using both words and images—but research to date has not addressed the role of visual practice in this setting, in any detail. In this Photo Essay I present an art installation responding to this gap and informed by empirical data from a three-year study of medical crowdfunding in Aotearoa New Zealand. Through a feminist new materialist lens, and connecting to scholarship on visuality and the gaze, I used the medium of stained glass to evoke and connect the experiences of both campaigners and audiences. I briefly discuss the design process, alongside reflections on the role of graphic medical imagery in an assemblage of witnessing; on disability, shock, and the economic function of voyeurism; on non-normative bodies and subjectification through the gaze; on biases in audience recognition; and on paradoxes of intimacy and distance through digital technology. I highlight that both the content and the context of images have a role in shaping the ‘response-ability’ of networked publics to the suffering of distant others; in the case of medical crowdfunding, with significant consequences for healthcare access.

Antecedents and Consequences of Attitudes toward Donation-Based Crowd-Funding Platforms

Antecedents and Consequences of Attitudes toward Donation-Based Crowd-Funding Platforms

Motivational Drivers in Donation-Based Crowdfunding Systems: Empirical In-sights from the Ehsan Platform in Saudi Arabia

Crowdfunding is an effective method for raising funds, with donation-based crowdfunding standing apart from other models due to the absence of rewards or financial returns for donors. This research focuses on understanding the motivating factors behind Saudi society's partici-pation in donation-based crowdfunding, specifically on the Ehsan platform. Through analyzing 30 successful campaigns, conducting surveys, and interviewing a social media influencer, we explore intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, campaign features that attract support, and the impact of influencers. Our findings highlight the significant positive influence exerted by in-fluencers, emphasizing the critical role of clear campaign descriptions and compelling story-telling. Additionally, we identify the preferred campaign types, such as debt, orphan spon-sorship, disaster relief, and the optimal timing for donor contributions. The study reveals that Saudi participants engage in donation-based crowdfunding campaigns on the Ehsan platform primarily driven by sympathy, personal satisfaction, and a sense of community. The trustwor-thiness of campaigns and the platform's user-friendly interface emerge as crucial factors in fostering donor engagement. Notably, our research underscores the higher success rate of se-curing sponsorships for younger orphans and the increased donor engagement during religious events. Moreover, this research recognizes the importance of sustainability in donation-based crowdfunding campaigns on the Ehsan platform. Future investigations will encompass an ex-tensive analysis of crowdfunding platforms in Saudi Arabia, contributing to further ad-vancements in this field.

Determinants of donation intentions in Malaysia

PurposeThe current study examines the factors that affect trust and donation intention in donation-based crowdfunding.Design/methodology/approachThe present study utilized web-based questionnaires to examine the donation intention of Malaysian donors in donation-based crowdfunding, employing the information system success (ISS) framework. The collected data were investigated using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsThe findings of the study indicate that information quality, service quality and system quality have a significant positive effect on trust in donation-based crowdfunding. Additionally, donation intention in donation-based crowdfunding is significantly and positively influenced by information quality, service quality and trust.Practical implicationsThe study’s results can be used by donation-based crowdfunding platforms to enhance their information, service and system quality to increase donor trust and intention to donate, including improving the platform’s design, navigation, aesthetics, comprehensibility of content, providing timely customer support and regularly updating and maintaining the system.Originality/valueBy exploring the relationship between information quality, service quality, system quality, trust and donation intention, this study contributes to the existing knowledge on donors’ behavior in crowdfunding.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-04-2023-0291

ISLAMIC DONATIONS-BASED CROWDFUNDING PLATFORMS IN MALAYSIA: AN EVALUATION OF REGULATORY AND SHARIAH ISSUES

The emergence of innovative digital financial technologies has made donation-crowdfunding viable as a method that can supplement traditional fundraising mechanisms. Crowdfunding has recently gained worldwide attention as an alternative financing mechanism to the traditional fundraising methods for business ventures or social projects. While donation-crowdfunding which utilise platforms has demonstrated promising growth, there is no established legal framework available to accommodate its operation, especially for Islamic ones. Therefore, this study provides intuitive information pertaining to legal and Shariah issues in governing Islamic donation-based crowdfunding in Malaysia. Drawing from the conceptual framework of Islamic economics and qualitative data collection through semi-structured with six representatives of the Islamic donation-crowdfunding platforms, this study concludes that the issues associated with Malaysian regulations regimes and Shariah issues revolve around the donation- based crowdfunding platforms business model should be considered when devising a Shariah framework for donation-crowdfunding schemes. The findings will help policymakers to formulate and put in place the appropriate regulatory framework to facilitate Islamic donation-based crowdfunding practice.

Personal, Social, and Situational Factors Affecting Donation Intention on Donation-Based Crowd-Funding Platform: Focusing on University Students

Personal, Social, and Situational Factors Affecting Donation Intention on Donation-Based Crowd-Funding Platform: Focusing on University Students

Impact of Campaign Bundling on the Success of Donation-Based Crowdfunding

ABSTRACT Project success is a major challenge to the sustenance of crowdfunding platforms constituted for donation. While previous studies have recognized the importance of source reputation, establishing a credible reputation remains a formidable task for project founders. This study proposes a novel idea of achieving credibility through bundling, in which crowdfunding campaigns collaborate with similar projects (project bundling) or external entities (ideological bundling). This study examines how these two bundling strategies affect crowdfunding outcomes. Further, the study explores how sources of reputation and size establish boundaries of bundling. Using data from Mchanga.com, our analysis reveals a diverse effect of collaborative fundraising on the success of donation crowdfunding. Specifically, our findings indicate that project bundling positively impacts campaign success, whereas ideological bundling has a negative effect. The study contributes to the literature on bundling, credible reputation, and collaborative fundraising on digital platforms. This research also provides insights for practitioners to successfully manage donation-based crowdfunding campaigns.

Regulating donation-based crowdfunding platforms in Hong Kong: A trust law framework

With the advance of technology, several crowdfunding platforms have emerged in Hong Kong to host informal public donation appeals. Unlike charitable crowdfunding activities, these appeals focus on crowdfunding to provide relief to specific individuals or groups in need. Due to the recent emergence of online informal public donation appeals and their lack of public benefit, regulatory bodies have not paid much attention to their regulation. However, recent media coverage highlighting scandals of maladministration of donation funds in the context of informal public donation appeals has impelled regulators to establish a systemic framework to govern crowdfunding platforms that host informal public donation appeals. This article addresses two main aspects of this topic. First, it discusses the operation of crowdfunding platforms that host informal public donation appeals and the risks associated with them. Second, it explores the feasibility of utilising trust law to regulate the administration of donation funds by these crowdfunding platforms.

Regulatory Evolution: Addressing Challenges and Enhancing Legal Certainty in Indonesian Donation-Based Crowdfunding Services

Donation-based crowdfunding (DBC) has grown in Indonesia, and to ensure sustainability and fairness in DBC services, there is a need for adequate regulation. One approach that can be taken to achieve this is through regulatory evolution. The transformation of regulation in Indonesia's DBC services reflects the ability to adapt to challenges that arise over time. This article discusses the regulatory developments that have been made in response to the dynamics and complexity of DBC services, as well as efforts to improve legal certainty in them. The centre of attention in this regulatory evolution is to respond to the various challenges faced by organizers and participants in the DBC ecosystem. With increased legal certainty, it is hoped that a strong foundation can be built for the growth of crowdfunding services in Indonesia for the welfare of society.

Hedonic Signals in Crowdfunding

AbstractThis study draws on signaling theory to investigate the effect of hedonic signals in crowdfunding projects on funding performance. It compares the effect of hedonic signals across reward-, equity-, and donation-based crowdfunding platforms by combining archival data from 18 platforms and a large-scale panel of 64 experts that rate the strength of hedonic signals in 108 crowdfunding projects. Through the application of mixed linear modeling, the findings indicate a positive influence of stronger hedonic signals on funding performance. However, there are substantial differences across platform types. Increasing the strength of hedonic signals by one standard deviation increases funding performance by 28.9% on reward platforms, while there are no systematic effects on equity and donation platforms. This study contributes to existing crowdfunding research by clarifying the role of hedonic signals in crowdfunding and shedding light on the increasing need to better consider the characteristics of different crowdfunding platforms in crowdfunding research.

Donors Behaviour towards Donation Based Crowdfunding: An Empirical Study using Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour

Philanthropy includes practices and deeds that are signs of a voluntarily committed effort to improve the lives of others. The idea of philanthropy can solve all of the major problems in the economy. Recently, online philanthropy (donation-based crowdfunding) has gained its own importance. The present study is primarily focused on the backers or donors point of view. The objective of the study focused on understanding the behaviour pattern and intentions of potential and actual donors towards the donation based model by the Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour. Data was gathered from 207 responses via a carefully constructed questionnaire include Theory of Planned Behaviour factors. Data responses that fulfilled the requirements were carefully selected for analysis. The data were analysed using SPSS and SmartPLS 4.0. Statistical tools such as descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis are used. The factors such as attitude, perceived behaviour control, subjective norms, self-identity and cognitive based trust have significantly positive influences on donation intention.

Promoting Community Resilience During Covid-19 Crises using Donation-Based Crowdfunding: Developing A Conceptual Model

Promoting Community Resilience During Covid-19 Crises using Donation-Based Crowdfunding: Developing A Conceptual Model

Racial Inequity in Donation-based Crowdfunding Platforms: Role of Facial Emotions

Racial Inequity in Donation-based Crowdfunding Platforms: Role of Facial Emotions

Overcoming Regulatory Hurdles in the Indonesian Crowdfunding Landscape

With the exponential rise in crowdfunding, several pertinent issues have come to the fore. These include unauthorized access to personal data, exorbitant interest rates for funding recipients, and investor fund security concerns. Other issues, such as aggressive debt collection practices and misuse of donated funds, also warrant attention. The underdeveloped state of crowdfunding regulations in Indonesia, which offers insufficient legal certainty and protection, is often blamed for these issues. Thus, a thorough examination of the legal and regulatory framework governing crowdfunding in Indonesia is crucial. This study scrutinizes the legal norms, identifies, and harmonizes the diverse regulations applicable to crowdfunding in Indonesia. The findings underscore the necessity for enhancements in the laws and regulations pertinent to crowdfunding. Key areas of focus should include establishing a legal status for crowdfunding platforms, setting fair interest rates, fortifying investor fund security mechanisms, penalizing illegal crowdfunding activities, and intensifying oversight of fund usage in donation-based crowdfunding schemes. Equally crucial is the imposition of penalties for regulatory breaches in crowdfunding, reflecting a genuine commitment towards ensuring justice and legal certainty in all crowdfunding transactions.

Contrasting the response to past and future oriented appeals for help on donation-based crowdfunding platforms

ABSTRACT Despite a large body of research on donation-based crowdfunding platforms, the ways that people appeal for help, and the impact of different appeal types, remain unclear. In particular, it is not clear the extent to which individuals benefit from a temporal orientation on the past, where they can provide personal background, or the future, where they can explain how they will benefit from donors’ help. Building on a novel dataset of 6,282 fundraising campaigns and 44,757 donor comments gathered from a donation-based crowdfunding platform, this study analyzes donors’ financial contributions and expressions of emotional responses in response to past and future oriented appeals. This analysis combines an instrumental variable approach, propensity score matching, natural language processing, and image analysis. The results indicate that verbal responses are similar for past and future oriented appeals, but that future oriented appeals are more effective for fundraising. The results further suggest that, when lower levels of positive affect are used in past oriented appeals, this combination may be linked with more rapidly diminishing financial contributions over time.

Application of EUCS and UTAUT Method to Analyze The Implementation of Donation-Based Crowdfunding System for Fundraising Mobile Applications

This research aims to determine the success of implementing the donation-based crowdfunding system in donation applications. This research will be carried out using a quantitative approach. Researchers will carry out observations and questionnaires using accidental sampling to ask respondents to answer questions that have been created in the form of a Google Form link. Researchers collected samples using the purposive sampling method. 100 people were used as respondents in this research. SmartPLS was used to carry out inferential data processing. In accordance with the results of the analysis discussion, it can be concluded that the variables in the UTAUT and EUCS models that are proven to have a positive and significant influence in measuring the level of success in implementing the donation-based crowdfunding system in applications are accuracy, content, facilitating conditions, performance expectancy, price value, social influence, user satisfaction, behavioral intention, and use behavior. Meanwhile, the effort expectancy and perceived credibility variables were proven to have no positive or significant effect in this research. Based on data analysis, the biggest variable that influences the level of success in implementing the donation-based crowdfunding system in applications is the behavioral intention variable towards use behavior. The second variable that has the most influence is performance expectancy on perceived credibility. Meanwhile, the other variable is user satisfaction with behavioral intention. From the results of the data processing that has been carried out, the variable that has the smallest influence on the level of success in implementing the donation-based crowdfunding system in the application is effort expectancy on behavioral intention. Next is the variable perceived credibility on behavioral intention.

Which Factors Can Contribute to the Success of Environmental and Animal Protection Projects in Donation-based Crowdfunding? A Neural Network Model

The crowdfunding industry has developed rapidly in recent years, the existing research shows that crowdfunding can help in many fields such as entrepreneurship, creative products, or donations. Due to global meteorological issues, more and more people are paying attention to the environment and animal protection. However, fundraising in these areas has been the biggest problem, the emergence of donation crowdfunding (DCF) can alleviate this dilemma. Currently, in academia, there is still less research focused on crowdfunding for environmental and animal protection. This paper aims to study the factors influencing the successful financing of environmental and animal protection projects in the DCF.
 This paper analyses 700 DCF environmental and animal protection projects in China as samples, and creatively introduces financial transparency scoring indicators. Through binary logistic regression, financial transparency was found to be the most critical positive factor affecting project success. At the same time, donors receive NPO-initiated projects well, and the number of donors can also positively impact the results. However, the excessive description of the projects can have the opposite effect. This study also introduced a neural network model, and found that the neural network model can optimize the discriminant accuracy of the traditional binary logistic regression model.

Do updates matter? A comparison between rewards-based and donation-based crowdfunding platforms

This study conducts a meticulous inquiry into the efficacy of communicative signals, specifically focusing on updates, within the domains of two distinct crowdfunding platforms: rewards-based and donation-based. While rewards-based platforms have received extensive examination in the literature, limited research exists on donation-based platforms. Drawing upon information from Israel’s crowdfunding landscape, this research demonstrates that updates positively impact fundraising success in rewards-based platforms, yet exhibit a negligible influence in donation-based platforms. The study emphasizes the necessity for tailored signaling strategies based on platform type, shedding light on how creators and entrepreneurs can optimize fundraising outcomes.