crowdfunding

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noun crowd·fund·ing \ˈkrau̇d-ˌfən-diŋ\

Definition of crowdfunding

: the practice of obtaining needed funding (as for a new business) by soliciting contributions from a large number of people especially from the online community

crowdfunding was our Word of the Day on 06/11/2014. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of crowdfunding from the Web

The parent of a child in the Seattle Public Schools district has raised more than $40,000 in a crowdfunding campaign aimed at erasing lunch debt in the district and two others in Washington state.

— agnes constante, NBC News, "Seattle Dad Raises More Than $40,000 to Pay Student Lunch Debt", 31 May 2017
The crowdfunding campaigns sprang up soon after news reports spread of the attack.

— eder campuzano, OregonLive.com, "Crowdfunding efforts for Portland stabbing victims top $640,000 in less than 48 hours", 28 May 2017
Barber's crowdfunding page had already raised nearly 30,000 pounds by Saturday night, and many parlors were raising their own funds to be added to the appeal.

— louise mcloughlin, CNN, "Manchester residents honor bombing victims with bee tattoos", 27 May 2017
Crowdfunding allows small-scale research to bypass the time and trouble required to draft and defend a grant proposal, and find money to cover the startup costs of a project.

— neel patel, Wired News, "Crowdfunded Science Is Here. But Is It Legit Science?", 24 Apr. 2015
Last year, Canonical launched a fundraising campaign for its own phone, called the Edge, and the company raised nearly $13 million, breaking crowdfunding records.

— klint finley, WIRED, "Linux Extends Its Mobile Empire With Ubuntu Phones", 19 Feb. 2014

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.

Did You Know?

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.