Samenvatting

Crowdfunding is an emerging phenomenon that is taking the idea of investment into a new and never before seen level. Organizations and individuals find themselves achieving successful results by relying on widely dispersed individuals rather than professional investors.
The main aim of this thesis centers on potentials for non- professional creative individuals to use reward-based crowdfunding. The theoretical framework defines crowdfunding practice and gives an overview of how it emerged from another nascent term - crowdsourcing. Reward-based crowdfunding, as the focus of this study, is explained in
greater detail by observing one of the most popular platforms for creative projects called Kickstarter. In addition, this chapter highlights that the crowd is playing a leading role in crowdfunding initiatives. Participating individuals are part of a community where convergence and collaboration take place. Furthermore, theory suggests that reward-based crowdfunding is not solely focused on economic aspects, as social attributes are shaping the scope of activities and goals. Conducted qualitative research confirms that several potentials are current for nonprofessional creative individuals to use the reward-based crowdfunding model as researched
on Kickstarter. Not only can they raise funding, but also gain significant public attention for their projects presented on Kickstarter. An appealing and transparent communication
approach should be implemented, such as defining goals using the S.M.A.R.T. model, in order to achieve successful results. Moreover, non-professional creative individuals are observed to satisfy their personal needs by presenting their projects to a wide audience
of people. Therefore, they are advised to use video presentations and learn from others in the community in order to achieve desired results. Detailed results and recommendations are presented further in the thesis.