Leverage Science Crowdfunding

In this workshop, you will learn how to leverage crowdfunding to obtain seed funding. Science crowdfunding is an alternative approach that couples storytelling, fundraising, outreach and networking. Scientists in academia and the private sector have already successfully used it to supplement and substitute grants.

Participants will get an overview of various crowdfunding 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.

To raise seed funding, 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.

Instructors

• Katja Reuter, PhD, director of Digital Strategies and the electronic Home program, Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI)
• Melanie Funes, PhD, director of Strategic Implementation, associate director of Research Development, SC CTSI
• Denny Luan, Co-founder and CEO, Experiment, a crowdfunding platform for science research
• Andrew Wong, director of partnerships and operations, Experiment

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

1. Campaign video production: SC CTSI will provide video production support for all researchers and their campaign videos.
2. Campaign marketing: Experiment and SC CTSI will collaborate to provide support to promote and increase the reach of the campaigns.

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 P et 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
• Launch hard or go home! Predicting the Success of Kickstarter Campaigns, by Etter V et al.
• Inferring the Impacts of Social Media on Crowdfunding, by Lu CT et al.
• The Language that Gets People to Give: Phrases that Predict Success on Kickstarter, by Mitra T and Gilbert E
• The Dynamics of Crowdfunding: An Exploratory Study, by Mollick ER

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?

Other

• Crowdfunding of science leads to innovation and better public engagement,
  by Correll N
• Short on grant money? Five tips for crowdfunding success, by Verhoeven D and Astheimer L
• Putting the advice together for crowdfunding science, by Askin S
• How to use crowdfunding to support your research, Larkin M
• The Statue of Liberty and America’s CrowdFunding pioneer