The Digital Divide in Fundraising

by Marty Duren

Digital crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe, Indiegogo and Kickstarter have become increasingly popular as people look for alternate means to pay for medical bills, funeral expenses, business start-ups or the cost of a music project. However, such tools are designed with Western norms in mind. They work best where both electricity and internet access are readily available.

Emmanuel Ayaburi, PhD, born in Ghana and now an assistant professor of Information Systems and Business Analytics at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, recognized a similarity between Western crowdfunding methods and a Kenyan Indigenous tradition called Harambee. He thought Harambee might serve as a substitute for digital fundraising and might even be a better option.

“Harambee is a Swahili term for community self-help that is popular among indigenes of Kenya,” he said.

In his September 2024 article “Harambee as a Decolonial Digital Fundraising Approach,” co-authored with Bright Frimpong of Washington and Lee University, and Francis Kofi Andoh-Baidoo of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and published in Information Systems Journal, he and his colleagues explore how Harambee addresses cultural tensions like inclusive access, diminished communal engagement and erosion of social capital.

While GoFundMe and Kickstarter are channels of financial solicitation through which supporters may or may not benefit from rewards for their support, in Harambee, backers receive communal rewards since the projects typically aid the larger community. Personal benefits are not the goal.

“Unlike crowdfunding, in which backers’ support is financial, in Harambee, backers’ support can be financial or non-financial, such as man-hours provided towards a project,” Ayaburi said.

Because internet access for crowdfunding excludes those who have limited online experience or little online access, those needing help don’t experience the benefits such platforms offer. Thus, the number of people in digitally disconnected communities who are targets of crowdfunding is limited. The end result is digital colonization, in which those with the greatest access control how those with limited access can interact. Digital colonization threatens to limit the participation of all eligible participants, creating apathy in communities that might otherwise benefit from a crowdfunding campaign.

Decolonizing digital crowdfunding platforms “calls for including precolonial funding norms in the design and adoption of modern crowdfunding technologies,” Ayaburi said. That is, those without digital access should look to the time before the advent of the internet for crowdfunding inspiration. Ayaburi is concerned that without decolonization, there will be “long-term adverse effects in the dissipation or marginalization of Indigenous knowledge, access to communal resources and opportunities for all members of society.”

Ayaburi became interested in Indigenous crowdfunding during conversations about IT project failures. Even with the insights gleaned from earlier research and with adequate funding, many projects didn’t succeed. Further inquiry revealed the focus had been on solving challenges to a project’s implementation, but some users had already adapted the technology to their specific context.

“This adaptation process happened because, prior to implementation, IT development ignored users’ unique context,” he said. “This led to tensions.”

Some tensions were resolved with the adaptations, but the tensions were not avoided in the first place.

The study uncovered solutions to the tensions via the ingenuity of Indigenous users. Those who integrated Harambee with digital technologies balanced cultural sensitivities and preserved communal values while challenging the colonial aspects of digital fundraising.

Western crowdfunders can implement strategies more inclusive of digitally marginalized peoples. Designers of crowdfunding platforms and administrators should promote multilingual content generation, especially in campaign promotional materials. Ayaburi also sees promoting successful past efforts as a way to increase participation in future campaigns.

“Platform administrators should promote the list of past offline crowdfunding efforts that encourage local participation among those who have barriers to joining typical online crowdfunding efforts,” Ayaburi said.