He said
For the uninitiated, crowdfunding is simply a way of raising money from the masses online in order to complete a project that would otherwise not be finished.
It's a method generally looked to by artists looking to receive funding for their comic book, album, short film or whatever else they may do. An artist or group can throw up the plans for the project and anybody who really wants to see it come to fruition can pledge whatever amount of money they wish to help fund the project.
There is some controversy over a recent project on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter, in which a film project was advertised, looking to raise $2 million. It soon came out that a major studio was going to fund the project after taking donations from the public.
Lots of people were upset that a big studio with deep pockets would turn to the general public to seek money. Their concern is that those who turn to crowdfunding are supposed to be the poor, struggling artist or engineer with limited resources and connections. The indie films, the quirky technological innovation, the garage band's first album are supposed to be the projects seeking funding, they say.
That's a bit of a paranoid outlook. Artists big and small can ask for support from fans. Part of the spirit of crowdfunding is people putting money towards something they see as a worthy endeavour and is something they want to see in the world. That should be open to everyone. This is all done under the democratic eye of the Internet, after all.
Other crowdfunding sites revolve around the scientific world. Projects pop up on Petridish.org, a site allowing people to pledge funding for scientific research.
Many of the projects are small, but if a university wants to post a project in order to receive funds that should be no problem at all. If enough people think the project is a good one and want to see what will come of it, then it's eligible and people will support it.
She said
I've only recently been introduced to crowdfunding as a way to raise money, and I think it's a really promising idea. It's also something that could be abused and taken advantage of.
I think entertainment, like movies and music are the perfect candidates for crowdfunding. A lot of musicians make their music for their fans. It kind of makes sense to me that fans would pay for the music-making process. It keeps bands safe from the control of the domineering music industry and will allow artists to stay true to themselves. In turn, artists can offer their music for free online. It's a win-win situation. The artists have the funding to produce their music, and the fans are getting what they paid for.
I don't feel comfortable with charities using crowdfunding, however. Yes, lots of charities have the best intentions, but does anyone remember the big Kony marketing campaign last year? When their video first hit the Internet, I imagine there were thousands of people rushing to donate money to Invisible Children. I'm not saying Invisible Children isn't a worthy charity and deserving of cash, but research needs to be done into where donations go. In the rush created by Invisible Children's online campaign, how many people would have donated their savings without looking into the cause? I'm betting quite a few.
One thing that's really nice about crowdfunding is that people can use their common sense to decide what to fund. If you feel like tossing in your hard-earned cash to build the house of a complete stranger, that's totally on you. It's a donation made in good faith. You might find yourself being scammed, but you at least have the option to use your brain to determine if you're donating to a worthwhile cause.
