Sustainable crowdfunding: insights from the project perspective

Abstract

PurposeThis paper explores the peculiarities of sustainable crowdfunding from the project perspective. The research question is: what are the distinctive features of sustainable crowdfunding, in terms of crowdfunding motivation, platform choice, crowdfunding costs and relationships with backers?Design/methodology/approachThe current study follows a qualitative approach, through conducting in-depth interviews with representatives of sustainable projects, which have had successful crowdfunding campaigns. The selected projects represent various industries and crowdfunding models.FindingsSustainable entrepreneurs have both financial and non-financial motivations for crowdfunding. A distinctive feature is the importance of community engagement, since the community spirit of crowdfunding is well suited to sustainable projects. The choice of the crowdfunding platform is more complex for sustainable entrepreneurs, as they need to consider the platform's sustainability. Sustainable entrepreneurs also have to put more effort into their communication activities with potential backers, to compensate for the intangibility of sustainability claims. Moreover, they need to have a greater focus on building relationships with backers due to both the community spirit of their projects and legitimacy issues.Originality/valueThe current paper contributes to the limited literature on sustainable crowdfunding and the literature on funding of sustainable businesses and can act as a foundation for further research in this field. Current findings also have high practical value. Crowdfunding platforms may use the insights provided here to better meet the needs of sustainable entrepreneurs, while sustainable entrepreneurs can better understand what they need to pay attention to in their crowdfunding campaigns.

Financing eco-projects: analysis of factors influencing the success of crowdfunding campaigns

“…The newest findings confirmed that altruism can bridge the value-action gap for green brands (Panda et al , 2020). Research suggests that sustainable entrepreneurs, (including ecoprenuers) need to place more effort in communicating with potential investors to compensate for the intangibility of sustainable claims (Maehle, 2020), as the social and environmental values delivered by the venture may not always be explicit or self-explanatory. To conclude, despite the growing research devoted to the phenomenon of crowdfunding, the aspects of financing eco-investments are vague.…”

When fashion meets crowdfunding: exploring sustainable and innovative features of online campaigns

“…However, in equity crowdfunding, this finding is not confirmed (Vismara, 2019). Whilst sustainability is relevant [5] for all four crowdfunding models, loan-based projects seem to have the highest success rates in relation to sustainability [6] (Maehle, 2020). We, thus, hypothesise that ES and social sustainability (SS) is also important for the success of fashion crowdfunding calls given the pressure this sector faces for more responsible production processes.…”

“…Following the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh in 2013, a fashion revolution was initiated to push consumers to adopt more sustainable fashion practices and demand greater transparency and control over the entire supply chain [4]. Within crowdfunding literature, sustainability (social and environmental) is not predominant in the empirical analyses, but it has gauged more attention recently (Motylska-Kuzma, 2018;Wehnert et al, 2019;Maehle, 2020). A few empirical studies show how projects with sustainable characteristics are more successful (Calic and Mosakowski, 2016) and often develop better messages in their campaign (Maehle, 2020).…”

“…Within crowdfunding literature, sustainability (social and environmental) is not predominant in the empirical analyses, but it has gauged more attention recently (Motylska-Kuzma, 2018;Wehnert et al, 2019;Maehle, 2020). A few empirical studies show how projects with sustainable characteristics are more successful (Calic and Mosakowski, 2016) and often develop better messages in their campaign (Maehle, 2020). However, in equity crowdfunding, this finding is not confirmed (Vismara, 2019).…”

The combined effect of success factors in crowdfunding of cleantech projects

“…There is a growing focus among researchers on crowdfunding of sustainable projects, such as for example Tenner & Hörisch (2021) studying investor characteristics in sustainable crowdfunding; Maehle et al (2021) analyzing the use of climate frames in crowdfunding campaigns; Maehle (2020) studying the distinctive features of sustainable crowdfunding; and Testa et al (2019) connecting sustainable crowdfunding with Multi Level Perspective (MLP).…”