Individual Versus Institutional Philanthropy: Crowdfunding During Crises

Our recent paper, Individual Versus Institutional Philanthropy: Crowdfunding During Crises, studies how individual and institutional donors respond when a global crisis suddenly changes the demand for resources. Published in Production and Operations Management, the paper analyzes rich donation data from a leading education crowdfunding platform before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We find a striking contrast: institutional donations increased significantly during the pandemic, while individual donations remained relatively stable overall.

The study also shows why donor heterogeneity matters. Donations from individuals in economically disadvantaged communities declined even though those communities were among the hardest hit by the crisis and prioritized immediate, time-sensitive needs. At the same time, small and local institutions played an important role in supporting high-need schools. These findings suggest that crowdfunding platforms can improve crisis-time resource mobilization by distinguishing between individual and institutional donors and using more targeted engagement strategies. Read the paper.