Leverage Crowdfunding: How to Obtain Seed Funding Online
Workshop 2 of the New Digital Scholar Training Initiative
In collaboration with Experiment, a donation based crowdfunding platform for scientists
In this workshop, you will learn how to leverage science crowdfunding, an alternative approach that couples fundraising and outreach. Scientists in academia and the private sector have already successfully used it to supplement and substitute grants.
Participants will get an overview of various digital scholarship approaches and receive hands-on training, allowing them to apply the new knowledge to advance their specific research and career goals. The training will have a special focus on clinical and translational health sciences.
You will have the opportunity to develop a crowdfunding campaign with the Experiment team, post your campaign on the Experiment online platform and get marketing support to help achieve your funding goals.
Workshop at a Glance
Complete the application form online. Application deadline is Sep 8, 2014. Awardees will be informed by Sep 12, 2014.
Date/Time: Tuesday, Oct 7, 2014, 1-3pm
Location: USC Health Sciences Campus, CSC, Harkness Auditorium, 2250 Alcazar Street, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Open to: USC/CHLA community
Designed for: Faculty, clinician-scientists, post-doctoral scholars, PhDs; USC/CHLA community
Instructors:
- Denny Luan, Co-founder and CEO, & Cindy Wu, Co-founder, Experiment, a crowdfunding platform for science research
- Katja Reuter, PhD, director of the electronic eHome program and Digital Strategies, Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI)
About This Workshop
Data suggest that crowdfunding may become a valuable additional source of funding for early-stage innovators, from basic research and drug discovery to clinical trials and community research.
In this workshop, we will look at the underlying dynamics of success and failure among research crowdfunding campaigns, language suited for a non-scientific audience, and activity/promotion strategies on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook as a key factor in the success of these campaigns.
Workshop Syllabus
During the workshop
1. Defining Crowdfunding
- Introduction: What is crowdfunding, and how does it work for science research?
- Underlying dynamics of success and failure among crowdfunding campaigns
- Typical projects well-suited to crowdfunding for science
- Case studies of campaigns that have succeeded in raising substantial funds and/or creating engaging content
2. Developing a Crowdfunding Campaign
- Understanding the components of a crowdfunding campaign
- Public disclosure and intellectual property rules
- Budgeting and the all-or-nothing (AON) funding model
- Using language for a non-scientific audience that gets people to donate
- Understanding activity and promotion on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, etc.
- Talking to the Press
- What backers get in return
After the workshop
3. Campaign video production: SC CTSI will provide video production support for all researchers and their campaign videos.
4. Campaign marketing: Experiment and SC CTSI will collaborate to provide support to promote and increase the reach of the campaigns.
Recommended Background
There are no prerequisites for this workshop.
Suggested Reading
Research on Crowdfunding
- Crowdfunding drug development: the state of play in oncology and rare diseases, by Dragojlovic N and Lynd LD
- Anatomy of the Crowd4Discovery crowdfunding campaign, by Perlstein EO
- Tapping the crowds for research funding. Crowdfunding, a common practice to support projects in the arts, music or gaming, has also attracted the attention of scientists, by Weigmann K
- Crowdfunding genomics and bioinformatics, by Cameron Pet al.
- Crowdfunding a cure: the sick are getting strangers to pay their medical bills, by Park A
- Raising money for scientific research through crowdfunding, by Wheat et al.
- This is an Experiment, by Experiment.com
Examples of Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns
- Can Anle138b delay the onset of genetic prion disease?
- Azolla, a little fern with green potential
- Does fracking contaminate water with hormone disrupting chemicals?
Additional resources will be provided at no cost during the workshop.
Course Format
The two-hour workshop will use lectures and videos, template resources, and practical examples, allowing participants to apply the new knowledge to their specific research goals.
FAQ
Yes. Participants who complete individual workshops or the entire series will receive a certificate signed by Jonathan M. Samet, MD, MS, Distinguished Professor and Flora L. Thornton Chair, Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Director, USC Institute for Global Health, Director of the SC CTSI Education, Career Development, and Ethics program, and lead instructor Katja Reuter, PhD, director of Digital Strategy and the eHome program at SC CTSI.
Please bring your computer and your phone. You will need Internet access.
We will introduce several crowdfunding platforms used for non-research applications, and then use Experiment’s platform for the hosting of the research campaigns. In addition, we will demonstrate the use of multiple social media tools used primarily for promotion of the campaigns.
