Support the work
Hairy Folk researches, publishes, and teaches about the advertising industry without ever taking money from it. That independence is the whole point — and it only works if it's funded from outside. Here's exactly how the money moves.
Keep the research free
Every exhibit, source packet, and curricular guide on this site is free to read and free to teach from. Individual donations are what keep it that way rather than behind a paywall.
Fund the next research cycle
We're seeking support from media-literacy, education, and public-health funders for primary-source research, translation of materials, and expansion of the exhibits and campus curriculum. A one-page project brief and budget are available on request.
Cross-subsidize campus visits
Sliding-scale fees from corporate marketing and brand-safety sessions are reinvested directly into free campus programming, so no student or instructor is ever charged for a visit.
Every dollar has a job
| Use | Share |
|---|---|
| Primary-source research & fact-checking | 40% |
| Free campus curricula & speaker travel | 30% |
| Site, archive, and public-access maintenance | 15% |
| Operations & administration | 15% |
Illustrative allocation for an organization at this stage; a full financial statement will be published annually as required for nonprofit transparency once the organization completes its funding structure.
Who this project is built for
Hairy Folk documents and teaches how advertising manufactures insecurity — and increasingly, how it does so to minors specifically. That puts us at the intersection of media literacy, consumer protection, and child-safety advocacy: the same intersection funded by organizations supporting media-literacy education, advertising-to-children research, and consumer-protection law reform. The closest existing model is the Representation Project's Miss Representation / The Mask You Live In pairing, which drew funding from foundations including the Novo Foundation, a funder focused specifically on gender-equity work. We are actively building the formal nonprofit and governance structure required to apply to these funding streams, and welcome introductions.
- Expanding the exhibit archive to cover current-era cases (the "Sephora Kids" trend and Italy's 2026 AGCM regulatory investigation, already underway)
- A campus curriculum guide, translated and piloted with partner instructors
- Legal and policy research into consumer-protection avenues for advertising directed at minors
Donation processing is being set up now.
This page is a transparent placeholder while the organization completes its nonprofit registration and a compliant payment processor. If you'd like to be notified the moment donations open, or discuss a grant, reach the research team directly.