Hi Claire, and Ecologgers, You might be interested to read a recent paper on crowdfunding in ecology and conservation, published a few days ago in Conservation Biology (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cobi.13144)
In the paper we explore some of the pros and cons of alternative platforms and chart the meteoric rise of crowdfunding for ecological research and conservation action. As you note, there is a wide range of platforms, and the choice will depend on the type of project you are undertaking, and whether there is likely to be local, regional, national, or global interest in the work at hand. The local reputation of your institution could be important if you are expecting support from primarily local people. Among other issues raised in the paper, critical to the choice of platform is whether funds are only released to the project if the target is met, whether the platform commonly supports projects similar to the one you are proposing, and the kind of communication and incentives you want to offer for supporters as the project unfolds. Good luck! Cheers, Richard Fuller Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science School of Biological Sciences University of Queensland Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia Read about our work at: http://www.fullerlab.org Like our lab on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fullerlab eBird Profile: http://ebird.org/ebird/profile/Mjg0NTY3 Blog on my Brisbane Big Year: https://www.fullerlab.org/category/blog/ Twitter: @RichFullerUQ Latest paper: One-third of global protected areas under intense human pressure - Science - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6390/788 -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU> On Behalf Of Claire Nemes Sent: Thursday, 24 May 2018 1:13 PM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Crowdfunding platforms for research: which is best? Dear colleagues, I have recently been exploring different crowdfunding platforms to help cover fieldwork expenses for my dissertation research and was wondering if any of you might have experience or insights into this process. Experiment.com is specifically geared toward funding scientific research projects, but there are also other more general sites such as Fundly or Crowdrise (a subsidiary of GoFundMe) that fund individuals and nonprofits. If you have used crowdfunding for your research, how did you choose a platform to use and what were the benefits/drawbacks you considered? Also, a relatively new development appears to be universities hosting their own crowdfunding platforms, which presumably lets them easily tap into their alumni bases. The drawback, as far as I can tell, is that it might be harder to reach as wide an audience as the more well-established commercial sites (particularly if one's institution is on the small side.) Any thoughts on the pros/cons of various platforms (experiment.com, another site, or a university in-house platform?) Thanks in advance for your time! - Claire ------ Claire Nemes Ph.D. Student University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Appalachian Laboratory
