You could compare it to a pledge drive, a fundraising initiative familiar to most who’ll associate the effort with that of a Public Broadcast Service telethon asking for donations in exchange for a CD compilation of 1960s hits.
This particular pledge drive, however, doesn’t help keep Big Bird on the air. It can help university students fund their research, inventions or projects by way of FundaGeek, an online crowdsourcing marketplace that unites potential supporters and innovative ideas.
“(FundaGeek) gives the power of funding an idea or a service to the individual. It takes away the need to find (external) funding,” explained Cary Harwin, president of FundaGeek.
Individuals looking for ways to fund research, inventions or ideas can create a funding goal and project profile on the FundaGeek website, fundageek.com, where they are then encouraged to promote among their colleagues, contacts as well as individuals and groups with shared interests.
Potential backers can pledge to a project on the website, in exchange for a reward to be determined by the project owner. It doesn’t cost anything, anyone can create or fund a project and its rights always remain that of the owner.
Though not exclusive to university students, Harwin noted the initiative is ideal for academics and university students, especially given the current economic climate.
“The economic crisis is filtering down and making everything way more difficult to finance. Grants have been cut down for students and this has increased competition for (them). We felt this was important to address,” he said, adding undergraduate students who don’t always get major grants or scholarships could also stand to benefit from a crowd-funding initiative.
“Undergrad researchers – they have so many summer projects and internships. They have things they’d like to do – posters, conferences, travel for research, having to pay for their own costs,” he said.
“There are scholarships but the competition is greater, so (access) is also getting restricted and reduced.”
What’s great about an initiative like FundaGeek, Harwin continued, is that it’s essentially risk-free, costing nothing but time and effort.
“It costs no money unless you succeed, and it’s an opportunity that takes some work, but if you can put the time together, is it not worth it, when you’re getting money you don’t have to pay back?,” he explained.
The company takes 5 per cent of the total funding and project owners get whatever money is raised, even if the goal is not met by deadline.
For those who might be wondering how to reach others, promote their project and solicit funding, FundaGeek provides training and tips, Harwin added.
“Once the project is launched, we start sending coaching emails to deal with social media and networking. It doesn’t have to start with friends and family – you can start by sharing with a variety of networks you belonged to,” he explained.
By targeting individuals and groups with similar interests, the potential backer will feel like a participant, with a vested interest in seeing the project succeed. The reward the individual would get for investing, Harwin continued, can be anything at all, from a promotional poster to a sampling or presale of a proposed product. The best reward will make supporters feel involved in the process.
At the end of the day, new avenues of funding such as this are all about empowerment, Harwin stressed.
“People need to empower themselves. It’s getting harder and harder to rely on outside support. This is an opportunity that is in the individual. A grant needs approval. If you’re looking for subsidies, you have to wait for the budget to come,” he said.
“The limitation here is really nothing more than your willingness to commit time. The power is yours and there is no financial risk.”