Sustainable Crowdfunding: Value-Adding or Greenwashing?

Sustainable crowdfunding is becoming increasingly popular among entrepreneurs, but there is a lack of research about the economic, environmental, and social impacts of the projects financed via this source. This paper aims to examine the post-funding phase of sustainability-oriented projects and determine whether they provide the actual sustainability benefits or engage in greenwashing practices. After developing a framework to evaluate the sustainability level of crowdfunding projects, a content analysis is conducted on a sample of 50 projects financed by six European sustainability-oriented crowdfunding platforms. The results indicate that the sample projects have positive impacts on sustainability, but they rarely create value across the entire triple bottom line of economic, environmental, and social impacts. Overall, this study contributes to the literature that seeks to uncover the post-financing outcomes of sustainable projects funded by crowdfunding platforms.