The crowdsourced world continued to grow the past few weeks from the continuing boom in crowdfunding platforms to new open innovation partnerships. Here's a few recent highlights.

• GoFundMe, which launched in May 2010 and has received no outside capital investment, reports that its donation-based crowdfunding platform for personal causes such as medical expenses is now seeing monthly payment volume nearing $2 million.  With monthly growth averaging 20 % since October, the company forecasts yearly payment volume to exceed $37 million in 2012. The biggest chunk of GoFundMe's campaigns are for medical fundraising at 17 %; campaigns for school tuition make up 11 % and volunteer trips account for 10 %.  
   
• GlaxoSmithKline announced a new open innovation drug discovery partnership with the University of Cambridge for the development of new medicines. For more on how collaboration and creating community is pushing open innovation forward, check out Anton Root's feature story from earlier this week, and Debbie Todd's look at opening up drug development from earlier this year.
  
  
• Another day, another niche crowdfunding platform, this one for University-based entrepreneurs. UFunded launched last month. A few of the early projects to receive funding include a music video, a Facebook app, a pop-up brewery and bar, and a "microbrew concept salsa company." I miss college.
  
  
• Finally, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has $70,000 in prizes it wants to give away to software developers "to develop a platform that makes it easier for any qualified individual to file a report about a patient safety event electronically and ultimately reduce medical errors." If that's in your wheelhouse, check out the Reporting Patient Safety Events Challenge -- the submissions deadline is August 31.