Fundraising? Follow the crowd!

She’s ‘in’ with the ‘in crowd’. Northumbria researcher Dr Jo Briggs has broken new ground with the first academic study exploring crowdfunding in the UK.

From raising cash for charitable causes to generating finance for arts projects – crowdfunding has become a global phenomenon in recent years. Northumbria has launched a one-year investigation into the rapidly growing means of fundraising, led by Dr Briggs, an expert in digital media theory and practices and Anniversary Research Fellow in Media and Communication Design.

The project, which includes experts from Northumbria and Belfast, has been awarded a £100,000 Empathy and Trust in Communicating Online (EMoTICON) development grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).