Analysis of the relevance of crowdfunding as an alternative source of finance for social enterprises

Abstract

Social entrepreneurship is the creation of a business project based on the identification and resolution of a social or environmental issue. Although recent years have seen an increase in published articles addressing various aspects of social entrepreneurship, the number of works dealing specifically with funding is quite limited, and even more so in the case of those which focus on alternative financing options such as crowdfunding. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to analyze social entrepreneurs’ perceptions of crowdfunding, the main reasons that drive or impede its use, the different information available, and its suitability for social enterprises. A study has been carried out using the Delphi method, especially recommended as a methodology for exploratory studies such as this. The study demonstrates that crowdfunding as a means of financing is relatively unknown and little used by social entrepreneurs. Hence the principal contribution of this paper is to disseminate and highlight the need to promote its development.