Equity crowdfunding for cultural heritage: some insights from a French case study

Abstract

Since the allocation of funds for cultural heritage has been gradually decreasing, both academics and practitioners are increasingly calling for a differentiation of its sources of funding, including innovative models such as crowdfunding (Borin et al., 2018; Greffe and Simonnet, 2010). However, the cultural heritage sector is still reluctant to use crowdfunding, and most crowdfunding campaigns are collecting relatively small amounts of money (De Voldere and Zeqo, 2017; Massolution, 2015). A significant exception is equity crowdfunding, which has been able not only to raise considerable amounts of money but also lead to a more participatory and sustainable model of cultural heritage management. This paper analyses this crowdfunding model as applied to the cultural heritage field, investigating success factors in a significant case study of equity crowdfunding in France and reflecting on how this innovative form of financing could contribute to the financial sustainability of cultural heritage.