August 12, 2013 by Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive OF The RSA
原作者：Matthew Taylor, 英国皇家学会执行会长

As I have written in recent posts, I have found myself increasingly interested in institutional reform ａnd invention as an area for policy ａnd innovation. 

我发现最近自己对于机构改革的政策和创新的兴趣日益增加。

My own gloss on this relates back to my interpretation of cultural theory with its three active sources of change: individualism, hierarchy ａnd solidarity. Might it be that institutions represent, inter alia, relatively stable ways of combining these three power sources?

我个人的解释与“文化理论”相关，文化有三个活跃的来源，且都在不断变化当中：个人主义，等级制度，和（工会？）团结联盟。

Institutional decline might be seen in a loss of organisational viability or by institutions coming to have a less benign impact on society, or – thinking of banks – possibly becoming malignant. 

组织的式微可以从机构活力的下降，或组织对于社会的积极影响下降方面看出。－想一想银行的作用－甚至可能成为有害的影响。

Is such decline a reflection of the three power sources becoming unbalanced? Perhaps the hierarchy fails to adapt or the institution has no way of tapping into the growing strength of individualism in wider society.

三个权力来源变得不平衡。层级制度和大组织，与不断增长的个人力量对更宽阔的社会影响相比，显得力不从心。

The perspective makes me alert to institutional innovation ａnd keen for the RSA to get involved； so I am excited that the Society is taking further steps into the world of crowd funding. What we are talking about here is basically on-line mechanisms for fund raising in which people with project ideas appeal to the world for small donations or investments. 

Unlike the traditional world of fund raising which is based on long complex processes ａnd the needle in haystack search for major funders, crowd funding is simple, transparent ａnd based on mass mobilisation.

与传统的、流程漫长的、大海捞针式地搜索大投资方的融资形式相比，众融的方式更加体现出简单、透明、和公众的动员的特征。

Crowd funding looks like a classic clumsy solution (one which combines the three competing change sources). It is individualistic in that it provides people with ideas, on the one hａnd, ａnd people with money, on the other, an opportunity to get down to business. 

众融看起来象更“古代”的笨拙的解决方案：（整合了三种变化着的竞争性权力来源）－以个人的方式，一方面有人提供创意，另一方面，有人提供资金，帮助创建商业机会。

Also, there is a marked tendency in crowd funding to see donations as in some sense
investments； there are often potential rewards – even if only symbolic– for those who put their money in. ａnd those who pitch are generally looking for start-up seed money, not dependency on a continuous revenue stream. 

而且，众融中有一个标志性的趋势，就是捐赠在投资中的出现：经常是潜在的奖励——即使只是形式上的——授与投钱的人。通常，这种集资是为了获得创业的启动资金，不是希望获得持续的收入。

Crowd funding is a very modern form of hierarchy –light touch, low cost, fast moving – the characteristics of the growing number of organisations that build, host ａnd oversee crowd funding platforms, of which Kickstarter is the most famous. ａnd, of
course, particularly as it relates to charitable giving, solidarity lies in the shared values which motivate the project pitchers ａnd those who back their vision.

众融是一种非常现代的层级制度：轻接触、低成本、快节奏

And it works. In 2011 $1.5 billion was raised worldwide through crowd funding ａnd NESTA estimates the potential for charitable giving in the UK alone to be getting on for £5 billion by 2018. 

众融是有效的！2011年有15亿美元在全球众融。同时，NESTA预计，到2018年，单独英国就可从众融中获得50亿美元的公益捐赠。

As the gap between what society’s needs and what the state can finance gets wider, crowd funding can be both a source of funds and way of quickly getting the most money to the best ideas.

社会需求和国家能够赞助的财政之间存在差距，对于最好的创意而言，众融既是资金来源，又是快速获得最大部分资金的方式。

The RSA has already dabbled with crowd funding for example, supporting successful crowd funding projects run by Fellows ａnd Catalyst-backed ventures. However, we think there is a major opportunity for us to take a step further ａnd build a closer ａnd longer-lasting connection between the RSA, Fellow-led projects, the Fellowship, ａnd the wider world. Which is why we’re partnering with Kickstarter to launch an RSA
curated crowd funding area in September.

In last year’s Fellowship survey nine out ten Fellows said that they “want to engage with ａnd help develop Fellow-led initiatives” ａnd a healthy 14% of Fellows said they’d be inclined to provide material support to the Fellows’ Catalyst Fund.

A strength of crowd funding it also a challenge； because the process of pitching ａnd donating is in the open, if you fail it’s there for all to see. But as many entrepreneurs attest, failure can be as useful as success in helping you learn, grow ａnd develop better ideas. 

There is a danger that Fellows fail to respond to our invitation to back each other’s ideas but even if that happens in the early stages I hope we don’t get too dispirited: crowd funding is a symbol of the new idea of Fellowship taking root but changes in culture ａnd expectations always take time.

We’ll be giving Fellows more details of our plans before we launch the site next month ａnd – if the wider subject interests you – I will be chairing an event on crowd funding here at the RSA on September 16th.

Many thanks to Alex Watson from our Fellowship team ａnd Ed Whiting FRSA (member of the Fellowship Council) for taking this idea forward ａnd for helping with this post.

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