• Corpus ID: 114129753

Easy Money? The Demands of Crowdfunding Work

@inproceedings{Hui2012EasyMT,
  title={Easy Money? The Demands of Crowdfunding Work},
  author={Julie Hui and Elizabeth Gerber and Michael D. Greenberg},
  year={2012}
}

• Julie Hui, E. Gerber, M. Greenberg
• Published 2012
• Business

Crowdfunding provides a new way for people to solicit support from the crowd to launch new ventures. With exceptional crowdfunded projects gaining national attention for raising millions of dollars in a day, people have jumped at the opportunity to try crowdfunding for themselves. However, despite the seemingly simple promise of quick and easy funding, little is known about the work required for most crowdfunding projects. Based on an ethnographic study of crowdfunding work through interviews with project creators and participant observation, we describe the work required of running a crowdfunding project, examining what they do, who is involved, and how they do it. We find that the work consumes more time and requires a greater skill variety than what novice crowdfunders expect. Crowdfunding work involves understanding the opportunities and responsibilities, preparing the campaign material, testing the campaign material and initial project prototypes, marketing the project, executing the project goals, and contributing knowledge back to the crowdfunding community. This study is the first qualitative study of crowdfunding work. Findings can inform the design of crowdfunding systems and support tools.