Diffusion is a self-sustained project of non-profit creative studio Proboscis – please help us develop and grow this growing archive and resource of unique visions and voices, through donations, investments or sponsorship.

Donations of any amount from individuals, businesses or institutions make a big difference and help us cover site and hosting costs. Please use the Paypal button below to make a secure donation by Credit Card or Paypal account.

Proboscis is seeking investors to help us build our community of creators and users, improve the tools that Diffusion offers and continue our history of commissioning new creative work of global significance. We are looking for investors who share our ethos of collaboration, public authoring and creating cultures of listening, who want to align with our record of innovation across sectors and disciplines and to benefit from exposure to our international audiences.

Investments are invited (but not exclusively) on a social enterprise / venture philanthropy model, with the return on investment being measured against to the levels of engagement with defined audiences and brand-value associated with the investor’s support of the creation and sharing of new knowledge.

In September 2008 Proboscis received funding from the Technology Strategy Board towards enhancing the Diffusion Generator and creating an API for external sites to access its services. We launched a trial of the new service – bookleteer.com – in Autumn 2009 and have created the bookleteer Alpha Club for supporters to join and help us develop a public beta.

Please contact us to discuss investment opportunities.

Sponsoring a Diffusion series offers a unique opportunity for collaboration and international visibility. Each Diffusion Series begins with a small number of commissions setting the initial field of debate – we can then enable others to participate in the debate by creating their own eBooks and StoryCubes using the Diffusion Generator; publishing as a conversation rather than a privileged monologue. Contributions to the series from the public are subject to editorial approval by Proboscis to ensure relevance and quality.

We encourage sponsors to collaborate with us in defining the key themes of the series, as well as developing the long list of potential contributors to commission. Proboscis then handles all editorial, design and publishing aspects of the series. Using the new bookleteer.com service we can also brand ebooks published in the series with a sponsor’s identity.

Please contact us to discuss sponsorship opportunities.

• Unique Formats: Diffusion Shareables (eBooks & StoryCubes) are not just digital publications, but physical too – engaging audiences of all ages and demographics, in the UK and abroad, through tactility as well as the unparalleled reach of digital technology.
• Value for Money: Diffusion Shareables are fully-fledged publications, yet do not require the capital investment in print costs of traditional publishing. Being both digital and physical, they circulate through personal and social networks, leaping over barriers of distribution that can impede both physical objects and digital technologies.
• Measurable Impacts: downloads can be tracked and responses from our audience community measured directly in terms of new eBooks/StoryCubes created – around 225,000 eBooks are downloaded each year and growing.
• Motivated Audience: people downloading the eBooks have to physically make the Shareables up indicating strong motivation to access the content.
• Free Downloads: Diffusion Shareables are free for the audience to download and make up. The audience member’s investment is in making the object themselves, not purchasing it.
• Viral Distribution: we encourage the audience to share eBooks & StoryCubes with others through their own personal and social networks.
• Emergent Conversations: Diffusion Generator enables audience members to create and publish their own eBooks/StoryCubes as an evolving/emergent conversation with other published Shareables.
• Community Involvement: our Diffusion WordPress-powered website enables reviews and comments to be posted about each Shareable (eBook/StoryCube) by our audiences, building up new communities of ‘public authors’.
• Innovation & Excellence: Investors will be aligned with Proboscis’ international reputation for innovation, experimentation and excellence, as reflected in our history of partners and funders crossing the arts, government, industry, academia, civil society, grassroots communities and business.