**5. Success factors and criticalities of crowdfunding**

three Graces" by Canach) is very famous. The Louvre created a webpage where it was possible to donate: all the donors were rewarded, according to the amount donated, with a private visit to the museum or with an invitation to a special evening event. The project was a success and it raised the 1,200,000 euro that were needed to acquire the painting. This campaign is the first experiment of a fundraising model that has given the museum the possibility to organize more campaigns to gather funds to restore the "Nike" of Samothrace and to acquire two statues of public figures to complete the sculpture group already hosted at the Museum. A very important initiative has taken place in the United Kingdom in 2013 for the whole region. Indeed, from August 12 to 15, London and other English cities were transformed into an open air gallery, thanks to an idea from Art Fund and Tate Gallery, which had 22,000 posters affixed reproducing 10 British masterpieces that could be voted by anyone, thanks to a Facebook page. The funds raised in a few weeks amounted to 35,000 pounds. The citizens participated actively,

**Source:** Barollo A, Castrataro D., *Il crowdfunding civico: una proposta,* 2013 www.issuu.com.

choosing the works to affix, and admired their beauty in the streets of their city.

A platform is a virtual place acting as an intermediary for the gathering of funds. Among some of the world famous ones, the American "Kickstarter" stands out for the number of projects completed. Its mission is to find new ways to finance initiatives linked to the world of arts, music, and technology. The strength of this platform stands in its notoriety, and in the

**4. The main crowdfunding platforms**

122 Public Management and Administration

Crowdfunding is spreading more and more as an alternative and complementary financial instrument; therefore, it has been deemed necessary to perform a SWOT [20] analysis in order to pinpoint its strengths, its weaknesses, its opportunities, and threats.

The success factors in fundraising operations are linked to the viral nature of the net that, breaking down all geographical barriers and using real-time information, becomes a driver of projects that have a social, environmental, artistic, and cultural impact and that have a developmental effect on new enterprises. Crowdfunding turns citizen from users to actors, who actively participate in the improvement of their territory, by cooperating financially with local institutions. Therefore, it affirms itself as an entity in full evolution, confirming the positive growth trends.

The opportunities lie in offering the citizens the possibility to exchange ideas and opinions both online and offline and to promote projects according to the principle of democracy and meritocracy. Transparency, at the base of every financial campaign, can be seen as an example of accountability and best practice, whereas the products obtained constitute a marketing and engagement tool.

For sure, an element of weakness lies in the originality of a method that is still not known well and that is based on the web, toward which persists a certain mistrust (digital divide), while at the same time it requires a good level of digitalization and knowledge of the English language. Furthermore, the high number of existing platforms with several products can disperse visibility.

The scenarios can open with an empirical survey about the most valid platforms and the rea-

Crowdfunding and Civic Crowdfunding: Theoretical Features and Future Prospects

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From a close examination, it emerges that there is a need for a new regulatory framework to slim down financial operations and make them more transparent, and it should be uniform and easily understandable for public investors in all member states. Indeed, crowdfunding must be seen as an added value, a feature of accountability, because it is becoming more and more necessary to conjugate two worlds that are normally antithetical and dominant such as ethics and finance, which coexist in this widespread practice of modern economy. To this purpose, it would be useful to research and organize a mechanism offering crowdfunder a clear and precise evaluation of the hidden risks they might incur when they support a project to which they often adhere moved by an emotional choice without a calculated consideration. The strong potential of crowdfunding must not be ruined by any gray areas; in fact, they must be taken advantage of by using them as a relaunch driving force for the financial and business

[1] Brunello A. Il Manuale del Crowdfunding. Edizioni LSWR: Ovvero come realizzare le

[2] Fregonara E. Il crowdfunding: un nuovo strumento di finanziamento per le start-up

[3] Aldo L. "La folla e l'impresa: prime riflessioni", "L'impresa e il diritto commerciale: innovazione, creazione di valore, salvaguardia del valore nella crisi", V Annual meeting of the Italian Association of the University Professors of Commercial Law "Orizzonti del

[4] Harris J. A Statue for America: The First 100 Years of the Statue of Liberty. New York:

[5] Calveri C, Esposito R. Crowdfunding World 2013: Report, analisi e trend, n.d.; 2013.

[6] Yunus M. Un mondo senza povertà Milano. Universale Economia Feltrinelli; 2010

tue idee grazie ai nuovi strumenti di finanziamento on line; 2014

innovative "Orizzonti del Diritto Commerciale". Roma; 2014

sons behind the success or failure of some of the campaigns they promote.

economy of our countries.

Address all correspondence to: n.oliva@unifortunato.eu Telematic University Giustino Fortunato, Benevento, Italy

Diritto Commerciale". Roma; 2014

Four Winds Press; 1985

[7] www.justgiving.com

**Author details**

Nadia Oliva

**References**

p. 24

The threats are due mostly to the incomplete broadband connection on the territory and to the lack of a homogeneous regulation for all the member states. This last aspect is very important because, especially for equity crowdfunding, which entails a reward in company shares in exchange for financial contributions to start-ups, it persuades savers to make illiquid investments which can lead to capital loss. This adds up to the obligation to pay a percentage on the budget to be granted to the promoting platform. Lastly, it is important to evaluate disclosure, that is, the display on the web of the product, which can be stolen or plagiarized by competitors.

Ultimately, it is evident that crowdfunding is a truly valid financial strategy, since it is able to promote the economic recovery, but it is not free of weaknesses and threats that undermine any new tool entering the market.
