In the last decade plus, more and more projects are being accomplished by crowdfunding - video games, television shows, board games, books, toys, and more - even conventions and a taxidermy exhibit at the Field Museum. While there is a long list of kickstarter campaigns that fail, the opportunity to pitch a project directly to real people, using a short time frame as incentive, can be an impressive display of community spirit/support and can generate a lot of publicity.
Zoochatters have seen in the last few decades that more and more facilities have used improving animal welfare as a major goal and guideline for new exhibit construction. It is often easy to cast construction work as allowing animals access to improved welfare and husbandry, a win-win for visitors, animals and the public images of zoos. It seems like a good narrative to attract popular support for construction of a new exhibit.
There are again failures and definitely risks involved, including the implications of a failed campaign, but at once, it seems like a viable path for zoos that are challenged at acquiring funding and are too closely linked to, for example, taxes as a funding source. While many zoos accept private donations for specific exhibits and accept visitor donations in general, I think taking the approach of a specific exhibit pitch to general visitors would be new. Help us reach our goal in this many days and we can give our gorillas access to a new yard, or add this to our collection?
Could it be a viable path for a zoo exhibit in the future to use a crowdfunding campaign, asking visitors and others to pitch in to improve the lives of animals over a week or two, promising to use the funds for a renovation?
I am obviously taking a pro-crowdfunding position to launch the thread, I am not blindly supportive of crowdfunding, I just think it could be an interesting thing to apply to zoos.
Zoochatters have seen in the last few decades that more and more facilities have used improving animal welfare as a major goal and guideline for new exhibit construction. It is often easy to cast construction work as allowing animals access to improved welfare and husbandry, a win-win for visitors, animals and the public images of zoos. It seems like a good narrative to attract popular support for construction of a new exhibit.
There are again failures and definitely risks involved, including the implications of a failed campaign, but at once, it seems like a viable path for zoos that are challenged at acquiring funding and are too closely linked to, for example, taxes as a funding source. While many zoos accept private donations for specific exhibits and accept visitor donations in general, I think taking the approach of a specific exhibit pitch to general visitors would be new. Help us reach our goal in this many days and we can give our gorillas access to a new yard, or add this to our collection?
Could it be a viable path for a zoo exhibit in the future to use a crowdfunding campaign, asking visitors and others to pitch in to improve the lives of animals over a week or two, promising to use the funds for a renovation?
I am obviously taking a pro-crowdfunding position to launch the thread, I am not blindly supportive of crowdfunding, I just think it could be an interesting thing to apply to zoos.
