Social enterprise crowdfunding in an acute crisis

Abstract

Social enterprises can play a pivotal role in mitigating the negative effects of major crises if these ventures are able to attract enough funding for their activities. Our research reflects on the experiences of a UK-based crowdfunding platform, UpEffect, to develop understanding of the key challenges for social enterprise crowdfunding at the time of COVID-19. Specially, we offer and synthesize three perspectives (social enterprises, funding crowd, and crowdfunding platforms) to illuminate key strategies that crowdfunding platforms, like UpEffect, can employ to support social enterprises in enacting solutions for COVID-19 affected people and communities.