Crowdfunding and social responsibility: creating economic value and social value

Abstract

This work begins with the study of the phenomena of crowdfunding, highlighting its importance as an alternative form of financing. In the crowdfunding world the dimension of the social impact that it can generate is increasing, supporting projects of high civic and moral value. Crowdfunding campaigns increasingly finance innovative projects focused on biotech and environmental sustainability. The focus of this work is the study of crowdfunding as a tool for best practices, capable of creating not only economic value but also social value. In order to demonstrate the perfect union between economy and social responsibility, an empirical survey will be carried out, analyzing the strengths and opportunities offered by the European reward based crowdfunding platform, Ulule, which for now is the only one to have obtained the certification of B Corp. Ensuring compliance with social and environmental performance standards is a driving force for success and competitiveness.

Certified B Corporations and Innovation: Crowdfunding as a Tool for Sustainability

“…Over the last couple of years, B-corps have increased their use of crowdfunding platforms to finance social innovation and sustainability projects [40]. In this way, they can generate economic and social value [41]. Crowdfunding and crowdlending represent two critical components in the financing of innovative ideas to support social sustainability [24] and encompass return-on-investment expectancy, transparency obligations, integrity, and responsible governance to crowdlenders [25].…”

“…This form of financing, together with crowdlending, enables companies to achieve social development and stakeholder engagement. Crowdfunding is mainly aimed at financing innovative sustainability projects [40], to create both economic and social value [41]. Several authors have demonstrated that [42] crowdfunding can be used in a variety of ways:…”