mrichards9

A GT grad? I knew I like the look of you, gargeug!

GT is involved at every level. They are running the site and the center that maintains the site. As a result, the site is fully integrated into the accounting structure at Georgia Tech. This required a tremendous effort on the part of our accountants. When a project reaches its funding goal, the bank charges everyone’s cards, and transfers the money to a Georgia Tech subaccount that is earmarked for the project creator. The account number is set up through our office of sponsored programs, and the funds are tracked in much the same way as a traditional grant. The project creator also has to produce a final report summarizing the results of the research for auditing purposes.

Other crowdfunding sites charge you 5% or more for their profit, with little value added. While Kickstarter might be a more popular site than GTS, projects just as easily get lost on that site as they do elsewhere on the web. People are interested in cool projects, regardless of the site, and may feel more comfortable donating to you directly, after you have passed a peer review of your project.

This rigorous review process—including scientific peer review—ensures projects can be successfully executed before they hit the site. Our researchers already have impeccable standards, but it is through the peer review process that we confirm that the project creators have the skills needed to conduct the research, that the proposed budget is appropriate to support the project, and that the funds will be spent the right way. No other crowdfunding platform offers this kind of assurance to donors.

We are not for profit, so all pledges are tax deductible.

We allow our researchers to offer intangible rewards (rewards with no actual monetary value). This can come in the form of naming parts of the project after supporters, or downloadable data sets, or inviting supporters to the lab to work with the robots. A project that is currently in the draft stages is planning on offering digital photos of bioluminescent bacteria arranged into pictures, logos, or words on petri dishes. Pretty cool!

Edit: words

Haha, will do! ;)

As far as getting listed on the site, once you have an idea, log on to the Georgia Tech Starter website using your GT username and password. You will submit a summary and your project goals via a web-form on the site. It then goes through an automated, streamlined proposal routing and approval process. Subject matter experts are then selected to begin peer review. Once approved, then your project is posted on the website for up to 60 days.

Projects must conform to the basic rules of GaTechStarter. Projects must have clear, defined goals. Projects cannot have anything to do with alcohol, drugs, firearms, or weapons. Projects that involve testing on vertebrate animals are also prohibited.