Serious academic research in the nascent field of crowdfunding is limited, but Sunil Wattal of the Department of Management Information Systems in Temple’s Fox School of Business recently co-authored a study of crowdfunding contribution patterns. The team’s research highlights three conclusions: Altruism is a key motivator of donations; the longer a campaign runs, the better the post-campaign results; and as more money is raised, the size of donations declines. Wattal and his colleagues joined forbes.com for a Google+ hangout to discuss their study’s results.