Crowdsourcing for Philanthropy: The Case of Kiva.org

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session and Reception
  In Interactive Paper Session: Global Communication and Social Change Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Historically, the non-profit sector has been slow to adopt information and communication technology (ICT). The advent of digital native non-profit organizations, however, is influencing the sector. Kiva.org is a website that allows users to fund microloans to small business owners in developing nations. This study uses semi-structured qualitative interviews of Kiva users to explore this form of philanthropy as a potential example of crowdsourcing, a concept recently introduced to scholarship and still in flux. The study finds that Kiva may be a form of crowdsourcing, and discusses the implications for crowdsourcing theory as well as the non-profit sector generally.

Author

• Suzannah Evans, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill