Funding Programme: Tender of DG EAC (European Commission)

Duration: January 2016 – November 2017

Website: http://www.crowdfunding4culture.eu/

Description: This 22-month-long project has provided insights and data about crowdfunding realities and potential for the cultural and creative sectors in Europe. It included a community-based approach, therefore, it was not only a study but also a project involving the actors of the CCS. A sector-specific informative website dedicated to crowdfunding for CCS has been created, aimed at sharing information on crowdfunding for the CCS, with a strong emphasis on storytelling, networking and testimonies from CCS actors.

ECN’s role: The project has mapped the crowdfunding market in Europe in relation to the cultural and creative sectors (CCS). It identified and analysed different crowdfunding platforms and (business) models currently operating in Europe to finance CCS projects and examined their trends and evolutions. ECN was notably responsible for interviewing and surveying different platforms and investors, not only about their creative and cultural projects but also about emerging trends and business models in a donation, reward-based, lending and equity crowdfunding.

Results:

• A website benefiting and connecting the different stakeholder groups with respect to CCS crowdfunding, including an interactive mapping of crowdfunding platforms operating in CCS and their funding ecosystem and all project’s reports and deliverables
• A market analysis of crowdfunding benefiting the CCS
• Recommendations towards a plan of actions at European level
• An evaluation of different scenarios to optimize the connections between existing crowdfunding platforms in view of the needs of the market with respect to CCS crowdfunding
• A conference to share and discuss the insights from the study and the draft recommendations with the CCS crowdfunding community

Project partners:

• IDEA Consult (Project Coordinator)
• Ecorys
• ECN