A quantitative study on crowdfunders' motivations, their sense of meaning and social welfare

PurposeIn recent years, crowdfunding has developed as a new fundraising alternative. Yet, the effects of the backing experience in reward and donation-based crowdfunding (DBCF) on well-being were researched only through qualitative practices. The current study offers a novel quantitative inquiry of the association between backing motivation and backers' well-being.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a uniform questionnaire distributed among 700 Israeli adults, which included questions about backing experience, sense of meaning and social welfare.FindingsThe results indicate that only intrinsic backing motivation is associated with the sense of meaning in life. Non-investment crowdfunding offers a platform for people who are intrinsically motivated to increase their sense of meaning in life. Moreover, the authors find that the tendency to back further projects is associated with backers' sense of meaning in life.Social implicationsThe findings can promote a better matching between backers' desire for living the good life and entrepreneurs' desire to reach their funding targets. Social welfare implications are discussed.Originality/valueThe linkage between backers' well-being and crowdfunding has not been explored in quantitative studies. Hence, the study offers a novel approach and some new insights on this linkage.

A qualitative study on money, well-being and serial crowdfunding

PurposeThe paper aims to examine the unique nature of crowdfunding and its association with supporters' well-being, measured by Seligman's (2011) well-being theory and its five elements of PERMA: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment.Design/methodology/approach22 structured interviews were conducted with supporters of crowdfunding projects. The interviews were analyzed using deduction, generating themes and assigning them to the relevant PERMA elements.FindingsAlmost all interviews included five or four PERMA elements, supporting the hypothesis about crowdfunding as a form of economic behavior that is triggered by the desire for fulfillment in life. The authors found that the tendency to become a serial crowdfunder is triggered by PERMA and a sense of trust.Originality/valueThis is the first study that presents a well-being theory of non-investment crowdfunding contributions. Based on the interviews, we suggest a theory linking the motivation for backing current and future projects with PERMA elements, sense of trust and the nature of adaption to activities with intrinsic attributes.

Impact Investing Through Crowdlending: Examining the Role of Intermediation and the Potential for Development Banks

Summary: Development banks are facing changing market conditions with low interest rates, rapid technological change, and an increased interest in impact investment. This combination of factors challenges traditional processes and business models, but also provides a chance to develop new and sustained business opportunities. We examine examples of impact investment crowdfunding platforms in an international and domestic context. We evaluate their organisational structure, especially in connection with the potential integration of an intermediary and possible conflicts of interest. Our analysis provides both economic justification for activities of promotional and development banks in this area and new inputs for expanding their business model with a transparent and trustworthy financial lending instrument for small-scale retail investors.

Features of collective investment in Russia: the role, dynamics and problems of regulation

The development of alternative innovative means of financing is an important phenomenon in the modern economy, in which digital technologies, venture capital industry and innovative entrepreneurship play a significant role. One such method is collective investment (crowdfunding). This phenomenon has arisen relatively recently, and is currently actively developing. However, there remain a number of unresolved problems related to both the economic part of this phenomenon and the legal regulation.

Crowdfunding in the Wider Perspective Investment Crowdfunding: Competition Between Regulations, Institutions, and Economic Freedom

The aim of this article is to present Investment Crowdfunding (ICF) in a perspective wider than merely as a new form of financing a certain category of business ventures. Selected aspects of ICF as a phenomenon that is a manifestation of the conflict between economic freedom and regulations and financial market institutions will be emphasized. New concepts of the part of the modern economy in the period of digitization, referred to as the collaborative economy, mesh economy, or sharing economy, should also be taken into account. The issues of excessive and restrictive regulation of the financial market will be presented in this context, as well as the constraints and risk factors of ICF operation and the Polish ICF experience.The study hypothesises that Investment Crowdfunding is a viable alternative for financing micro and small economic projects, if compared to the traditional and over-regulated forms of financing. The usefulness of Investment Crowdfunding concerns primarily economic projects of the start-up category. The study uses the following research methods: critical analysis of the literature of the issue, descriptive and comparative analysis, case study, and deduction.The theoretical considerations and examples presented in the article should be treated with appropriate research caution. However, they make it possible to positively verify the hypothesis.