Abstract
In this highly digitised and connected world, raising funds is no longer constrained to taking loans from banks. Instead, Crowdfunding provides a platform for individuals to harness the power of social solidarity to raise funds from the public by publishing information about their fundraising objectives. Crowdfunding is a recent phenomenon, with the first recorded use of the term in 2006 by entrepreneur Micheal Sullivan (Merriam Webster, n.d.). Following the popularisation of the word, various crowdfunding sites have emerged that cater to different types of campaigns. Some examples of such sites are Kickstarter.com, indiegogo.com, and gofundme.com. Research done by Gulliksson (2017) indicates that these are the three most known sites. This paper focuses on gofundme.com as it historically has the highest total amount raised, most supporters, and caters to a wide variety of campaigns (crowdfunding, n.d.). These campaigns range from fundraisers for health complications to sporting competitions. In addition, GoFundMe also allows individuals to raise money for themselves or start fundraisers on behalf of others. Donations to causes are often made on goodwill with donors not expecting anything in return. A unique feature about GoFundMe is that campaigns are not required to be fully funded for organisers to withdraw donations (GoFundMe, Answers to Common Fundraising Questions, n.d.). This model is slightly different from Kickstarter where an all-or-nothing model is adopted where funds are only released if a campaign meets its funding objective. This ensures that “creators have enough money to do what they promised” (Kickstarter, n.d.). Indiegogo follows Kickstarter, where backers are refunded “within 5-7 business days” should a campaign not reach its objectives (Indiegogo, n.d.). Hence, GoFundMe is unique in this aspect as its causes are more social and every dollar raised would generally go towards improving an individual’s life. This paper aims to analyse the factors that contribute to well-funded campaigns, taking into consideration the various textual data that a user interacts with, and postulate if a campaign can achieve its funding objectives.