Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Crowdfunding as a Model and Financing Instrument in Social Enterprises

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Consumer Behavior, Organizational Strategy and Financial Economics

Part of the book series: Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics ((EBES,volume 9))

Abstract

Access to credit and financial inclusion are decisive instruments in promoting the economic development and social cohesion of a community and territory. Helping social enterprises grow and compete is an essential priority for all economies, as they carry out fundamental and necessary functions. Consequently, the search for new methods of financing must become a challenge to pursue and overcome. One of the main problems that social enterprises face is access to credit. In fact, access models to traditional financing instruments fail to comprehend the peculiarity of this type of nonprofit entrepreneurship. To this, the so-called “credit crunch” is added, that is, the restriction of credit offers that affected all enterprises indiscriminately, further aggravating the circumstances of social enterprises. To deal with this situation, a new model, easily applied by social enterprises, is crowdfunding. It is one of the swifter, more social and transparent solutions to gain capital, in stark contrast to the bureaucratic approaches by banks and credit institutions. This paper highlights how the crowdfunding model has become an instrument with a notable impact in terms of fundraising and low implementation costs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Akerlof, G. A. (1970). The market for “Lemons”: Quality uncertainty and the market mechanism. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84(3), 488–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belleflamme, P., Lambert, T., & Schwienbacher, A. (2014). Crowdfunding: Tapping the right crowd. Journal of Business Venturing, 29(5), 585–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borzaga, C., & Defourny, J. (Eds.). (2001). The emergence of social enterprise. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borzaga, C., & Depedri, S. (2011). Impresa sociale e lavoro: verso un modello di relazioni industriali? [Social enterprise and work: Toward a model of a industrial relations?]. Quaderni di economia del lavoro, 94, 79–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brest, P., & Born, K. (2013). When can impact investing create real impact? Stanford Social Innovation Review, 11(4), 22–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. (2006). Equity finance for social enterprises. Social Enterprise Journal, 2(1), 73–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgess, R., & Pande, R. (2005). Do rural banks matter? Evidence from the Indian social banking experiment. American Economic Review, 95(3), 780–795.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calderini, M., & Chiodo, V. (2014). La finanza sociale: l’impatto sulla dinamica domanda-offerta [The social finance: The impact on the supply-demand dynamics]. Impresa Sociale, 4, 57–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comite, U. (2010). Responsabilità sociale e governance di impresa: aspetti etico – aziendali [Social responsibility and corporate governance: Ethical-business aspects]. In G. P. Calabrò (Ed.), La Responsabilità tra teoria e prassi [Responsibility between theory and practice] (pp. 281–320). Padova: CEDAM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comite, U. (2011). Etica d’impresa e decisioni del governo aziendale: il cambiamento nella conduzione del business [Business ethics and corporate governance decisions: The change in the business management]. In Y. Sicluna & C. Sepulveda (Eds.), L’etica nel mercato [Ethics in the market]. (pp. 205–229). Padova: CEDAM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daly, S. (2008). Institutional Innovation in philanthropy: Community foundations in the UK. VOLUNTAS International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 19(3), 219–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Buysere, K., Gajda, O., Kleverlaan, R., & Marom, D. (2012). A framework for European crowdfunding. Brussels: European Crowdfunding Network.

    Google Scholar 

  • Defourny, J., & Nyssens, N. (2008). Social enterprise in Europe: Recent trends and developments. Social Enterprise Journal, 4(3), 202–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drury, J., & Stott, C. (2011). Contextualising the crowd in contemporary social science. Contemporary Social Science, 6(3), 275–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebrahim, A. (2005). Accountability myopia: Losing sight of organizational learning. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 34(1), 56–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2016). Crowdfunding in the EU capital markets union [pdf]. Accessed August 10, 2017, from https://ec.europa.eu/info/system/files/crowdfunding-report-03052016_en.pdf

  • Fedele, A., & Miniaci, R. (2010). Do social enterprises finance their investments differently from for-profit firms? The case of social residential services in Italy. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 1(2), 174–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansmann, H. B. (1980). The role of non-profit enterprise. The Yale Law Journal, 89(5), 835–901.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hermer J. (2011). A snapshot on crowdfunding, Econstor. (Working Papers Firms and Region No. R2/2011).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, L., & Van Tuijl, P. (2006). NGO accountability: Politics, principles and innovations. London: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, R. M. (1981). Voluntary agencies in the welfare states. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehner, O. M. (2013). Crowdfunding social ventures: A model and research agenda. Venture Capital: An International Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, 15(4), 289–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehner, O. M., & Nicholls, A. (2014). Social finance and crowdfunding for social enterprises: A public-private case study providing legitimacy and leverage. Venture Capital: An International Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, 16(3), 271–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manzi, V. (2013). Il fenomeno del crowdfunding e del social lending: caratteristiche operative e profili contrattuali [The phenomenon of crowdfunding and social lending: Operational characteristics and contractual profiles]. In F. Capriglione (Ed.), I contratti dei risparmiatori [The savers contracts] (pp. 389–416). Milano: Giuffrè.

    Google Scholar 

  • McWade, W. (2012). The role for social enterprises and social investors in the development struggle. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 3(1), 96–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melandri, G., Calderini, M., & La Torre, M. (2014). La finanza che include: gli investimenti ad impatto sociale per una nuova economia, Rapporto Italiano della Social Impact Investment Task Force [The finance that includes: The social impact investments in a new economy, Report of the Italian Social Impact Investment Task Force]. Roma: Art Color Printing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendell, M., & Barbosa, E. (2013). Impact investing: A preliminary analysis of emergent primary and secondary exchange platforms. Journal of Sustainable Finance and Investment, 3(2), 111–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, M. L., Westley, F. R., & Nicholls, A. (2012). The social finance and social innovation nexus. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 3(2), 115–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, A. (2009). We do good things, don’t we?: Blended value accounting in social entrepreneurship. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 34(6), 755–769.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ordanini, A., Miceli, L., Pizzetti, M., & Parasuraman, A. (2011). Crowd-funding: Transforming customers into investors through innovative service platforms. Journal of Service Management, 22(4), 443–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piattelli, U. (2013). Il crowdfunding in Italia [The crowdfunding in Italy]. Torino: Giappichelli.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ridley-Duff, R. (2008). Social enterprise as a socially rational business. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, 14(5), 291–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wamboye, E. F., Adekola, A. F., & Sergi, B. S. (2015). Sectoral effects on female absolute and relative employment in selected least developed countries. New York: SAGE Publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisbrod, B. (1975). The voluntary non-profit sector. Lexington: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisbrod, B. (1988). The non-profit economy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, D. R. (1983). If not for profit, for what? Lexington: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, D. R. (1997). Non-profit entrepreneurship, international encyclopedia of public policy and administration. Boulder: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration and Law, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy

    Ubaldo Comite

Authors
  1. Ubaldo Comite
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ubaldo Comite .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Political Sciences, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Mehmet Huseyin Bilgin

  2. MUFG Union Bank, San Francisco, California, USA

    Hakan Danis

  3. Faculty of Tourism, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ender Demir

  4. Eurasia Business & Economic Society, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ugur Can

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Comite, U. (2018). Crowdfunding as a Model and Financing Instrument in Social Enterprises. In: Bilgin, M., Danis, H., Demir, E., Can, U. (eds) Consumer Behavior, Organizational Strategy and Financial Economics. Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76288-3_15

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation