NCFA Canada (About Us) | Gabe Nasr | August 14, 2014

Research projects at universities worldwide are the breeding ground for innovation and transformation, and they are tapping into a community of online contributors to break new ground.

Crowdfunding helps develop these communities by not only making fundraising more efficient and seamless, but also bringing global experts together to collaborate and advise these projects. Crowdfunding presents an opportunity for synergy within a research project or topic, allowing more experimental or risky pursuits to be funded, which can lead to novel scientific or technological breakthroughs.

On our panel for this video discussion:

We'd like to thank the following video panel participants for supporting the development of the Canadian Crowdfunding industry and NCFA Canada:

Ryan Davies

Ryan Davies is the director of advancement communication at Carleton University in Ottawa, where he oversees all aspects of fundraising and alumni relations. He helped start FutureFunder.ca, which is a crowdfunding platform for research and other projects happening at Carleton (he's also a participant in the NCFA Ambassadors Program). It has seen great success, raising over $500k total thus far, in what he calls a “Platform for donors, at the request of donors”. He sees crowdfunding as building a philanthropic community at Carleton, allowing outsiders to be actively involved with projects on the cutting edge of technology and science.

Nick Dragojlovic

Nick Dragojlovic is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UBC, working on cancer and other rare disease research. Nick sees crowdfunding as a perfect answer to many different funding problems research projects face when getting off the ground. In our video chat with him, Nick describes crowdfunding as “Accelerating innovation” by presenting university donors with novel, creative and experimental research projects that they can directly support. Another great upshot Nick points out is the impact on the communities around certain research projects. When a research campaign goes live, it publicizes the goal, and brings other experts in that field together, creating a global ecosystem around the project through collaboration and networking.

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The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada crowdfunding hub providing education, advocacy and networking opportunities in the rapidly evolving crowdfunding industry. NCFA Canada is a community-based, membership-driven entity that was formed at the grass roots level to fill a national need in the market place. Join our growing network of industry stakeholders, fundraisers and investors. Increase your organization’s profile and gain access to a dynamic group of industry front runners. Learn more About Us | About Crowdfunding or contact us at casano@ncfacanada.org.