IT Affordances and Donor Motivations in Charitable Crowdfunding: The "Earthship Kapita" Case

Abstract

Crowdfunding is an information technology (IT)-enabled, online model for raising funds for charity that can be used as an alternative to traditional, offline charity models (e.g., bake sales, doorknocking or society events). Over the past three years, more and more charity organizations have turned to crowdfunding in addition to, or instead of, traditional fundraising. Why is that? In this paper, we explore one case of charitable crowdfunding, the 2014 “Earthship Kapita” campaign, with particular attention to the critical role of IT. Building on the theory of IT affordances and motivation theory, we find that crowdfunding supports particular types of donor motivation (e.g., to be part of a community, to show one’s social engagement) that are not supported by traditional charity models. The analysis allows us to propose an initial model linking IT affordances and motivation in the context of charitable crowdfunding. The paper informs future research by theorizing the link between IT affordances and motivation. It informs practitioners in the charity space about why they should consider, and how they could implement, charitable crowdfunding.

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