Crowdfunding science

February 22, 2012 8:34 AM

Crowdfunding a better world. KickStarter is great if you want to, say, support the creation of comic anthology for marriage equality, or a talking affirmations mirror. But where do you go if you want to help save the last standing pristine forest in Madagascar, where only 10% of the natural habitat remains? Or perhaps you want to help in the discovery of the first exomoon?
posted by Blogwardo (11 comments total)

The Projects page?
posted by gauche at 8:39 AM on February 22, 2012

Fundraising posts like this are not a good fit for MetaFilter, per the FAQ:

Why was my MetaFilter post deleted?
- fundraising/promotion - you linked to a "sign my petition" or fundraising link [Kickstarter, indiegogo]

And as brought up in a recent KickStarter MetaTalk thread, jessamyn said:

It's fine to link to Kickstarter posts that are over, if it's in the context of a larger post. I get that this one is already funded, but any sort of open-ended "Hey give these people money!" sorts of posts are deeply problematic. So, post about it in 20 days. Not before then. Or leave the Kickstarter links entirely out.

I understand this is a new fundraising site, but these are just links to the site in question, and a few of the new, eye-catching funding projects on the site.

I'm no mod, but this might work if you did a write-up on the site, with links to interviews and background that makes a more interesting story, but for now, it's just another fundraising post that will get deleted in the near future.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:48 AM on February 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

My corporate firewall (which certainly has the occasional false positive) identifies petridish.org as a phishing or spam-related site.
posted by box at 8:50 AM on February 22, 2012

Post seems fine to me. Bringing attention to the site in general with a few examples. Not sure how it fundamentally could be changed, the poster is not fundraising any particular project.
posted by stbalbach at 8:52 AM on February 22, 2012

And it makes me really sad that interesting science projects need to appeal to the masses. It's like sending in boxtops to help fund schools. How the hell can we call ourselves an advanced civilization if education and research require some financial reward to get funding? Yet billions get tossed into mega entertainment events that last one night, be they sports, music, or general revelry.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:52 AM on February 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Man, I can't believe that Madagascar forest is in danger. How did anything bad get through THAT shipyard?
posted by delfin at 8:54 AM on February 22, 2012

I also wanted to add links to Crowdrise, another site that basically crowdfunds a better world. It's an interesting trend. The Kickstarter supporters are "getting something" out of the projects they fund. This feels better than that. Plus...haven't had my coffee yet.
posted by Blogwardo at 8:55 AM on February 22, 2012

That's no moon.
posted by grobstein at 8:55 AM on February 22, 2012

There are perhaps interesting things you could do with publicly but anonymously reviewed grant applications as well.
posted by jeffburdges at 8:56 AM on February 22, 2012

And perhaps add that the "Madagascar" movies made over a billion dollars (go ahead, say it in a Mr. Evil accent) but the guy trying to save the forest there is only looking for ten grand *sigh*
posted by Blogwardo at 8:57 AM on February 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

OK, I have overlooked the precedence of wholly new sites, vs specific projects. Previous new crowdfunding posts that live on: Unbound - like Kickstarter, but solely for books and Emphas.is, a site where photojournalists can pitch ideas to be funded by many small donations.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:57 AM on February 22, 2012