We compare the motivational underpinnings of the willingness to use crowdfunding for a range of sustainability- and social-justice-related objectives across three countries with different socioeconomic environments and cultures: Switzerland, Japan, and China. This study focuses on two motivational orientations; the first, other-orientedness, refers to a need for social interaction, social norms, and solidarity. The second, self- orientedness, reflects the importance of personal goals and internal standards. The analysis relies on student samples, an especially relevant segment for the development of socially responsible crowdfunding. The findings show that socially responsible crowdfunding is overall more consistently related to other-orientedness than self-orientedness. However, the motivational underpinnings are far from universal and vary by country and sustainability objectives. While the willingness to use crowdfunding is linked to other-orientedness in the Swiss and Chinese samples, it is linked to self-orientedness in the Japanese sample. Furthermore, we find that other-orientedness translates more strongly into support for many sustainability objectives (e.g., human rights and environmental protection) among Swiss respondents. •We compare motivations of socially responsible crowdfunding across three countries.•This type of crowdfunding relies overall more on other-than self-orientedness.•Self-orientedness motivates crowdfunding only in Japan, not in Switzerland & China.•Other-orientedness correlates more with many sustainability goals in Switzerland.•Country variation is explained by individualism/collectivism and market development.