Crowdfunding Campaigns Help Researchers Launch Projects and Generate Outreach
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Authors:
Katherine Dahlhausen1,
Bethany L. Krebs2,
Jason V. Watters2,
Holly H. Ganz1,*
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Published 01 March 2016
- ©2016 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.
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[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
- *Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Evolution and Ecology & Genome Center, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616. Phone: 510-207-4408. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract:
Organizers of participatory research (citizen science) projects can generate funds and outreach through crowdfunding. Here we provide insights from three successful science crowdfunding campaigns recently completed on Indiegogo, Experiment, and Kickstarter. Choosing a crowdfunding platform that fits the project is just the beginning; a successful campaign reflects its content, management, and marketing, and some researchers may need to acquire new skills. In addition, the growing trend of crowdfunding for science reinforces the importance of academic engagement with social media.
References & Citations
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Abstract:
Organizers of participatory research (citizen science) projects can generate funds and outreach through crowdfunding. Here we provide insights from three successful science crowdfunding campaigns recently completed on Indiegogo, Experiment, and Kickstarter. Choosing a crowdfunding platform that fits the project is just the beginning; a successful campaign reflects its content, management, and marketing, and some researchers may need to acquire new skills. In addition, the growing trend of crowdfunding for science reinforces the importance of academic engagement with social media.

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Author and Article Information
-
Published 01 March 2016
- ©2016 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.
-
[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
- *Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Evolution and Ecology & Genome Center, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616. Phone: 510-207-4408. E-mail: [email protected].
Figures
Geographic locations of page views of the Kickstarter campaign for kittybiome from Google Analytics. The colors and bubble sizes represent numbers of sessions out of a total of 20,997 page views. New users account for 82.4% (17,304) of the page views. Geographic location was not determined for 4.6% of views.

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FIGURE 1
Geographic locations of page views of the Kickstarter campaign for kittybiome from Google Analytics. The colors and bubble sizes represent numbers of sessions out of a total of 20,997 page views. New users account for 82.4% (17,304) of the page views. Geographic location was not determined for 4.6% of views.
Why do people give to crowdfunding campaigns?

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FIGURE 2
Why do people give to crowdfunding campaigns?
Friends, family, and colleagues provide a kickstart in two successful crowdfunding campaigns. Proportion of donations from different sources for each quarter of the campaign for A. kittybiome and B. The Koala Project. In the figure legend, “No known connection” means that means that the project backer wasn’t in our primary or secondary social networks.

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FIGURE 3
Friends, family, and colleagues provide a kickstart in two successful crowdfunding campaigns. Proportion of donations from different sources for each quarter of the campaign for A. kittybiome and B. The Koala Project. In the figure legend, “No known connection” means that means that the project backer wasn’t in our primary or secondary social networks.