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Crowdsourcing and crowdfunding are two words that have recently found their way into the crowded pool of English. Crowdsourcing, which typically refers to the practice of soliciting services, ideas, or content from a large group of people online, was coined by Jeff Howe in a 2006 article in Wired, and crowdfunding was created by entrepreneur Michael Sullivan in that same year. Both words conceptualize "the crowd" as a vast online community from which something needed may be obtained. In crowdsourcing, the crowd is called upon for needed assistance or information. A well-known use of crowdsourcing is Wikipedia, whose content is the result of various contributors. Crowdfunding, on the other hand, involves a more specific request: the crowd is solicited for financial contributions to a particular venture or cause, such as a film project or cancer research.

Examples of crowdfunding in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The new hotel was partly funded by a successful crowdfunding campaign that Red launched in 2016 in response to Vail Resorts’ takeover of Whistler Blackcomb. — Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2022 Reebok also operates a proprietary crowdfunding platform called Reebok First Pitch. — Alex Kalinovsky, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2022 The government isn’t the only body in Ukraine raising funds through crypto crowdfunding. — Eamon Barrett, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2022 Organizers have since shifted to another crowdfunding website, GiveSendGo. — Paul Vieira, WSJ, 10 Feb. 2022 Supporters have since been channeling their funds to other platforms, including GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding site that had raised more than $5 million as of Monday evening. — New York Times, 7 Feb. 2022 The deal will allow GoFundMe, the world’s largest crowdfunding site, to tap more deeply into the $500 billion U.S. philanthropic market. — Natallie Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Jan. 2022 The account with GiveSendGo, which describes itself as a Christian crowdfunding site, had raised $8.4 million as of Thursday. — Jon Brown, Fox News, 11 Feb. 2022 Fintechs also are placing bets on up-and-coming services such as helping consumers plan to reach their savings goals, cryptocurrency investing and crowdfunding. — Cheryl Winokur Munk, WSJ, 26 Jan. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crowdfunding.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.