Re “Crowdfunding ‘could threaten government investment’” (timeshighereducation.co.uk, 19 January). I?do not agree with the sentiment that if we raise funds via the public the government might stop putting in money. Having worked with hubbub.net, the crowdfunding in education platform, I would argue that crowdfunding is about one-off projects, not ongoing grants. Existing alumni fundraising drives are more likely to threaten government funding as they focus on long-term giving and large donations.
Moreover, crowdfunding could stretch government investment. The government currently supports in various forms several different things with very inefficient selection/grant processes. If instead of funding good grant applications at its whim, the government match-funded projects that were crowd-funded, it would result in a more efficient and public-centric selection/filtering process, and mean that every ?1 spent would be equivalent to ?2.
Match-funding is the route that the 中国A片 Funding Council for England and UnLtd are taking with the latest university social enterprise grant programme – they are match-funding universities and clusters to work on social enterprise development/programmes.
Zoe Olsberg
Via timeshighereducation.co.uk