  This study explores the potential of crowdfunding as a tool for achieving
citizen co-funding of public projects. Focusing on philanthropic crowdfunding,
we examine whether collaborative projects between public and private
organizations are more successful in fundraising than projects initiated solely
by private organizations. We argue that government involvement in crowdfunding
provides some type of accreditation or certification that attests to a project
aim to achieve public rather than private goals, thereby mitigating information
asymmetry and improving mutual trust between creators (i.e., private sector
organizations) and funders (i.e., crowd). To support this argument, we show
that crowdfunding projects with government involvement achieved a greater
success rate and attracted a greater amount of funding than comparable projects
without government involvement. This evidence shows that governments may take
advantage of crowdfunding to co-fund public projects with the citizenry for
addressing the complex challenges that we face in the twenty-first century.
