Analysis of individual fundraising in crowdfunding : a case of WhatsApp

Abstract

Crowd-funding in Uganda has been around for decades but as time went on, so did the rise in technology pervade through society. There was need for individuals to get the message out clearer and faster and WhatsApp as a social media platform provided that. However, such innovations have not come without complications. These have risen from the use WhatsApp as a tool for fundraising and they include: donor fatigue, prolonged period of the fundraising drive and effect of anonymity of donors towards the fundraising drive; which is an indication of presumed weaknesses in the WhatsApp fundraising method that molded a foundation for the researcher to conduct a study on crowd-funding. The overall objectives of the study were to establish the factors that influence individual fundraising using WhatsApp. Specifically, the study was conducted to: a) To establish how anonymity of donors drives the individual WhatsApp fundraising effect, b) To determine how the length of a fundraising drive affects success of a campaign and; c) To explain how donor characteristics drive the individual WhatsApp fundraising effect. The study was qualitative, based on phenomenological descriptive analysis. A total of 8 postgraduate students participated in the study and were pre-selected from the population using purposive sampling technique to choose respondents with the capability to adequately respond to the factors that determine the level of WhatsApp giving. Semi-structured interviews were the mode used to collect data. Data collected was recorded and analyzed through thematic content analysis. Three emerging themes; anonymity of the donor, length of the fundraising drive, and donor characteristics were identified through literature review but the gap remained on how these themes affect the success of a WhatsApp fundraising campaign. The study found that effectiveness of fundraising through WhatsApp depend on fundraising cause, sense of accountability, convenience and agility of a fundraising event, remainders, social propensity, and psychological propensity. The study recommends that students should explore to use WhatsApp platforms in fundraising drives for projects beyond social interests. They should explore to make use of WhatsApp technology platforms to fundraise for development projects as well.