Crowdfunding Non-Commercial Initiatives in a Belarus Platform

Abstract:

Organizations and individuals dealing with non-commercial initiatives are in permanent search for funding. Crowdfunding is gaining popularity all over the world as an alternative way of collecting funds from general public through Internet-based platforms. The non-profit nature of the project is among the key factors of positive outcome. In this context, the purpose of this work is to check whether the tendencies referred by scholars are valid for non-commercial initiatives, especially those having socially aware objectives, available on the Belarusian crowdfunding platform Ulej. The method used for validation of the research hypotheses is binary logistic regression and statistical test. Inferential analysis shows that there is no difference in the level of success between commercial and non-commercial projects and that social orientation does not increase the likelihood of meeting financial goals. The findings are opposite to those provided in literature. However, this could be explained by the short period of functioning of platform and the small number of projects.