Appealing to the Crowd

Donation-based crowdfunding is an increasingly common and visible practice where campaigners ask friends, family, and even complete strangers for help. It isn't unusual to see these campaigns in the news and on social media following a tragedy or disaster and they have helped millions of people. However, crowdfunding also creates serious ethical and political problems, including undermining privacy, worsening social inequities and injustices, and encouraging fraud and misinformation. This book presents these concerns in the context of more traditional giving practices. It ends with values to guide crowdfunding and suggestions for how to engage in crowdfunding in less problematic ways.