Engagement Leads to Crowdfunded Science

Jarrett Byrnes and Jai Ranganathan

National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis

Data from: http://dellweb.bfa.nsf.gov/awdfr3/default.asp http://report.nih.gov/success_rates/Success_ByActivity.cfm

Science Funding Rates Declining

stimulus

Public Science Literacy Needs Work

Ecklund et al. 2012 PLoS One

Academy's Attitudes Towards Outreach Not So Good

In scientists’ own words, science outreach is a bleak prospect with limited room for improvement. Seventy-four percent of respondents list one or more significant impediments to their ability to do science outreach, yet less than half have concrete ideas for how science outreach could be improved.

Ecklund et al. 2012 PLoS One

Little Reward Structure for Outreach

Scientists also perceive that they are rewarded little for science outreach work, especially in the tenure process.

Science Communication Exploding Online

scienceseeker.org blogs.scientificamerican.com

Science Communication Exploding Online

sciencepond.com twitter.com/jebyrnes/eemb

135% of goal!!

#SciFund & Engagement • What is Crowdfunding?

•  Engagement & Outreach: The Keys to the Crowdfunding Kingdom

•  The #SciFund Challenge

•  Lessons and Benefits of Engaging via Crowdfunding

What is Crowdfunding?

The solicitation of small donations from a large number of people for specific targeted projects.

Anatomy of a Crowdfunding Proposal 1.  Goal •  accomplishment

2.  Time Limit •  urgency

3.  Proposal •  clarity is key

4.  Video •  accessibility

5.  Rewards •  engagement

From a Simple Proposal Springs Hundreds of Millions of Dollars

Huge Universe of Crowdfunding Site

A Few Dominant Platforms

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Arts Crowdfunding Exceeds Government Funding

Many Crowdfunding sites JUST for Science

#SciFund & Engagement • What is Crowdfunding?

•  Engagement & Outreach: The Keys to the Crowdfunding Kingdom

•  The #SciFund Challenge

•  Lessons and Benefits of Engaging via Crowdfunding

The future?

doctorzen.net

How did Palmer Do it?

Wikipedia.org

twitter.com/amandaplamer

It Takes Time to Crowdfund a Discipline

Waananen 2012 NY Times

Millions of Dollars Are Possible…

Waananen 2012 NY Times

Built-in Audiences are Crucial

Waananen 2012 NY Times

Science Can be Crowdfunded at High Levels

Organization with a long history of Outreach

The future?

doctorzen.net

Ecklund et al. 2012 PLoS One

Culture of Science Fears Outreach

‘‘I’m not sure you want most of the people that I know here to go out and try to talk to the public. They’re [the public] gonna say ‘stop spending my tax dollars on this person!’’’

Yet only two respondents (2 percent of the sample) suggested training scientists how to be better communicators.

Ecklund et al. 2012 PLoS One

Starting at Ground Zero with the Public

"When somebody doesn’t believe what you are doing is true or has any value, then trying to explain to them what you are doing, you’re starting from this cultural foundation that is a complete disconnect."

How can Science Make Crowdfunding Work?

Engagement is key If you build it, they will come.

#SciFund & Engagement • What is Crowdfunding?

•  Engagement & Outreach: The Keys to the Crowdfunding Kingdom

•  The #SciFund Challenge

•  Lessons and Benefits of Engaging via Crowdfunding

An experiment: can scientists use crowdfunding to communicate their science and to raise money

for their research?

The point is not just cash, but engagement.

Who: 49 scientists crowdfunding for their science

When: November 1 - December 15

How much: $3,500 (median ask), $500-20,000 (range)

Where:

Who is #SciFund?

scifund.wordpress.com

Twitter: #SciFund

Facebook Page

SciFund Google group

Other Means of Engagement & Community Building

Post-#SciFund Data 1. Rockethub server logs

2.  Public web statistics (e.g. Youtube hits)

3.  Survey of participants (80 questions)

•  Covered by CNN, Forbes, Scientific American, New Scientist, MSNBC, and many other news outlets in US and internationally

•  $76,230 raised

•  ~1200 donors

•  10 projects fully funded

•  average project yield: $1556

•  max project yield: $10,171(170% of original goal)

#SciFund by the Numbers

Round 1: $76,230 over 45 Days

Small Donations Drive #SciFund

The #SciFund Numbers Game: Contributors

R2=0.86

Two Roads to Success

1.  Friends & Family

2.  Eyeballs •  Pre-goal (size) •  Post-Goal (color)

R2=0.85

Your Scientific Fanbase and Project Views

R2=0.78

Creating Content Fanbase

R2=0.34

Online presence

1 blog post / month ≈���53 Twitter followers

Scientific fanbase

1 Twitter follower ≈���1 project

view

Project views

110 project views ≈���

1 contributor

Money for research Average raised ≈���$1,600

Friends and ���family

50 Facebook friends ≈���

1 contributor

Donor���contributions���

Average contribution ≈���

$55

Funding target met 20 project views ≈���

1 contributor

The Secret to #SciFund: Engagement

You need to build a scientific fanbase! It is not possible to be an overnight success!

#SciFund & Engagement • What is Crowdfunding?

•  Engagement & Outreach: The Keys to the Crowdfunding Kingdom

•  The #SciFund Challenge

•  Lessons and Benefits of Engaging via Crowdfunding

If you build it, they will come

If you build it, they will come

How Can I Crowdfund my Science?

•  Build an audience for your work

- Crowdfunding, Blog, Tweet, Science Cafes, etc.

•  Get trained in outreach

- Media & social network training

• Work to change academic culture & policy

- Hiring & promotion practices

- Collaboration with media & arts departments

Number of fans

Inte

rest

in y

our

rese

arch

Super-engaged fans that contribute $ to your research

Larger number of fans that don’t contribute, but are still impacted by your science message

A version of the 1000 True Fans Model

Larger Benefits to Crowdfunding

•  Build bridges between science & society

•  Enhanced science literacy

•  Science incubator for new projects

• Metric to assess scientists' ability to connect

•  Look at it as funded outreach training

Scientists Broader public

reaching out with science message for its own sake

research cash via crowdfunding

Collaborators: Barbara Walker, Zen Faulkes

Participants in Round 1: Aditya Rao, Ali Swanson, Andi Wolfe, Andrea Lucky, Barbara Walker, Breanna Putman, Chip Cochran, Daniel Karp, Daniel Mietchen, Debi Kilb, Diane Kelly, Eric Abelson, Eric Basham, Holly Menninger, Jarrett Byrnes, Jeffrey Bodwin, Jennifer Schmitt, Jessica Carilli, John Gust, Jorge Mederos, Kalani Kirk Hausman, Katelyn Cavanaugh, Kelly Lyons, Kelly Weinersmith, Kevin Fomalont, Kristina Killgrove, Lee Worden, Levi Lewis, Lindsey Peavey, Luis Valledor, Luke Frishkoff, Marisa Alonso Nuñez, Marisa Tellez , Matthew Hutchins, Matthew S. Leslie, Melia Nafus, Rebecca Rashid Achterman, Robin Freeman, Ross Whippo, Scott Chamberlain, Shermin de Silva, Steve Herbert, Susan Tsang, Timothy Bonebrake, Walter Weare, Yoav Ram, Zen Faulkes

Round 2 is Ongoing!

Projects: scifund.rockethub.com

Blog: scifundchallenge.org

Twitter: #SciFund