A Study on the Potentials of Civic Crowd funding - Focusing on the Leading On-line Platforms in the U.S. and the U.K. -

The concept of raising money from a large and diverse pool of donors through online platforms or social networks, also known as crowdfunding, has garnered great attention and interests across the globe as an alternative form of fundraising. The structure of crowdfunding allows individuals to seek to raise money for the purpose of initiating diverse projects, ranging from promoting arts and culture to starting a business, to fundraise directly through online platforms without going through traditional financial intermediaries. Taking advantage of financing aspects of the traditional crowdfunding to the next level, civic crowdfunding is a new mechanism that seeks community interests and values by enabling citizens to take initiative in proposing, financing, and implementing creative ideas that can develop their own community. It is also a sensible way to expand the scope of public services and allocate public resources more efficiently by enabling local citizens to play active roles and participate in the development of their community through cooperation with government agencies. After reviewing relevant academic literatures on civic crowdfunding, followed by an in-depth