UI launches GOLDrush, crowdfunding platform for university projects

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

The University of Iowa is launching its first-ever crowdfunding platform, GOLDrush. 

A joint project of the UI Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development and the UI Foundation, GOLDrush is intended to support research and other academic-related activities, and provide an easy way for supporters to make tax-deductible contributions to specific UI-based projects. 

GOLDrush is an opportunity to further expand the culture of giving we have long cultivated at Iowa. Donors can directly contribute to a specific project that matters to them, impacting real change in a short period of time: typically, 30 days or less. 

The maximum goal for each project is $10,000, although we hope and expect some campaigns may exceed their goals. 

Although it isn't intended to be a substitute for traditional grant funding, especially for more complex and higher-dollar research projects, crowdfunding can be useful to help get small-scale, time-sensitive projects off the ground more quickly. 

The GOLDrush platform, https://goldrush.uiowa.edu/, includes detailed descriptions of three pilot campaigns already under way: 

Project Lio-rama
Two of the more popular taxidermied mammals at the UI Museum of Natural History are a male and female African lion. Although they have a fascinating backstory, their planned full exhibit was never completed. Campaign support would fund exhibition research, design, fabrication, and installation, including supplies and services and a paid part-time student position. 

Health for All
Improved Health Access for Congolese Refugees in Iowa Across the globe, women and children face barriers in receiving health services. Working collaboratively with the Congolese community, funding for this project will help the team develop culturally appropriate health care for expecting mothers and their families among Johnson County's growing Congolese refugee community. 

Distraction in Action
Helping Kids in Pain Children in the United States have up to 20 immunizations before the age of 18, and are often extremely upset by needles. UI College of Nursing researchers are seeking funding for a highly individualized, research-based web-app--called "Distraction in Action"--so medical providers and parents can be effective distraction coaches for frightened children. 

Please help spread the word about this innovative tool for campus fundraising. 

Faculty and staff interested in submitting GOLDrush project proposals may contact Theresa Jubert, Digital Fundraising Strategist at the University of Iowa Foundation, at 319-467-3659 or theresa-jubert@uiowa.edu.

Read more about GOLDrush at http://research.uiowa.edu/impact/news/crowdfunding-comes-university-iowa-goldrush. 

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.