"Investigative journalism is expensive. Partnerships and grants can help but can also introduce conditions or stall proceedings. Could crowdfunding, where audience members donate to support an investigation, offer an alternative? “Crowdfunding serves as a crucial revenue source in investigative jo
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urnalism, enabling funding for stories that might otherwise remain uncovered,” says Tanja Aitamurto, the author of “Crowdfunding for Journalism” and an assistant professor in communication at the University of Illinois Chicago. “These crowdfunded stories often emerge outside mainstream media and large newsrooms, contributing significantly to journalism by diversifying producers and voices.” To explore the opportunities and challenges of crowdfunding investigations, GIJN spoke with three newsrooms pioneering the model: Noteworthy in Ireland, a community-led newsroom where readers pitch and fund investigation proposals, and Portuguese investigative podcast Fumaça and Brazil’s Agência Pública, which both operate membership models and have experimented with crowdfunding campaigns." (Introduction)
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"This article analyzes how patronage crowdfunding is becoming a central part of the model for building a radio station. Implementing this model requires mobilizing listeners to engage in the direct, long-term financial support of a station. The analysis conducted in this article is based on a case s
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tudy of Radio 357—an Internet radio station in Poland funded through digital patronage since 2020. The success of this station suggests that the development of crowdfunding has created a space for new types of participatory engagement by audiences. Not only are we experiencing a reduction in the distance between presenters and listeners alongside increased connectivity between members of the audience but we are also seeing the intervention of patrons in shaping the station in terms of how, what, and when it broadcasts." (Abstract)
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"Relying on individual contributions coordinated by social media to finance cultural production (and carry out promotional tasks) is a significant shift, especially when supported by morphing public policies, supposedly enhancing cultural diversity and accessibility. The aim of this book is to propo
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se a critical analysis of these phenomena by questioning what follows from decisions to outsource modes of creation and funding to consumers. Drawing on research carried out within the ‘Collab’ programme backed by the French National Research Agency, the book considers how platforms are used to organize cultural labour and/or to control usages, following a logic of suggestion rather than overt injunction. Four key areas are considered: the history of crowdfunding as a system; whose interests crowdfunding may serve; the implications for digital labour and lastly crowdfunding’s interface with globalization and contemporary capitalism. The book concludes with an assessment of claims that crowdfunding can democratize culture." (Back cover)
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"Social media in China has not only become a popular means of communication, but also expanded the interaction between the government and online citizens. Why have some charitable crowdfunding campaigns had agenda-setting influence on public policy, while others have had limited or no impact? Based
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on an original database of 188 charitable crowdfunding projects currently active on Sina Weibo, we observe that over 80 per cent of long-term campaigns do not have explicit policy aspirations. Among those pursuing policy objectives, however, nearly two-thirds have had either agenda-setting influence or contributed to policy change. Such campaigns complement, rather than challenge existing government priorities. Based on field interviews (listed in Appendix A), case studies of four micro-charities – Free Lunch for Children, Love Save Pneumoconiosis, Support Relief of Rare Diseases, and Water Safety Program of China – are presented to highlight factors that contributed to their variation in public outcomes at the national level. The study suggests that charitable crowdfunding may be viewed as an “input institution” in the context of responsive authoritarianism in China, albeit within closely monitored parameters." (Abstract)
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"A crowdfunding platform for movies is an alternative way of refunding movie production costs. Usually, such platform combines several types of funding, including sourcing the Internet community to gather small private donations, that is, a revenue stream which is typically named “crowdfunding”.
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In this chapter, we apply the framework of business model analysis to review this crowdfunding mechanism. We describe the business model characteristics of several industry cases. Next, we decide whether such a crowdfunding platform can sustain itself and whether it is able to collect sufficient funds for the production of movies. We argue that the platform could obtain enough funds from the general public for smaller-budget productions such as short films or documentaries. A movie crowdfunding platform could also collect enough income from advertising to make itself sustainable. Charging a premium membership fee to movie producers would yield negligible revenues and is hence not advisable. Further, we find that the platform will never amass the needed production budget in a small market, especially for the production of long feature films. However, a crowdfunding platform could be more valuable when combined with other means of financing smaller movie formats and could perform a marketing purpose alongside its central crowdfunding role." (Abstract)
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"Over the course of the past few years, crowdfunding platforms have made significant gains in art and technology, and more recently in the field of journalism. This article provides an overview of Rapport, a Finnish crowdfunding platform designed to allow a new approach for journalists to fund their
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work." (Page 91)
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"This article analyses three crowdfunded media organizations in three different countries – Krautreporter (Germany), Direkt36 (Hungary), and Colta (Russia). Using qualitative in-depth interviews, it demonstrates that journalism practices in a crowdfunded newsroom are very different from those in o
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ther media. The study concludes that direct funding from the audience is financially unstable; it affects journalists’ professional self-perception, changes their relationship with the audience and generally increases the amount of work that journalists have to do. At the same time, participants claim to be more satisfied with their work now than they ever were before." (Abstract)
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"El presente documento es un analisis descriptivo del sector de crowdfunding – financiamiento mediante una multitud de donantes por medio de Internet - en América Latina. Su objetivo es conocer el tamaño, las caracteríticas y la dinámica de las plataformas latinoamericanas de crowdfunding. Par
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a ello, se realizó una encuesta a los operadores de dichas plataformas, entrevistas con administradores de plataformas y un análisis de los datos publicados en los portales web de las plataformas sobre la dinámica de las campañas y los inversionistas. El sector en América Latina ha tenido un crecimiento importante desde 2009 a la fecha. Los países que cuentan con un sector más desarrollado son Brasil, México y Chile. Se encontró que la internacionalización de los portales es todavía limitada y, por lo tanto, las plataformas lationamericans tienen aún la mayoría de fundraisers en el mismo país en donde operan. El análisis de datos ofrece una información detallada sobre los rasgos distintivos de cada uno de los cuatro modelos de crowdfunding analizados (donaciones, recompensas, deuda y acciones). El análisis de las entrevistas realizadas informa sobre los detalles de los modelos de negocio y la forma en que las plataformas lationamericanas capitalizan oportunidades y enfrentan retos inherentes a la dinámica de este tipo de plataformas. Finalmente, se describen los principales avances y retos en distintos países de América Latina en la promoción de este sector." (Resumen)
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"From April 28, 2009 to September 15, 2015, 658 journalism-related projects proposed on Kickstarter, one of the largest single hubs for crowdfunding journalism, received full – or more than full – funding, to the tune of nearly $6.3 million. These totals – both in terms of number of projects a
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nd funds raised – trail nearly all of Kickstarter’s other funding categories, from music, theater and film to technology and games. Nevertheless, the number of funded journalism projects has seen an ongoing increase over time and includes a growing number of proposals from established media organizations." (Pages 2-3)
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"The discussion of opportunity costs, choosing a platform and networking strategies highlights the clear need for more industry data and transparency [...] Further, the private sector can monetize research on network effects and fundraising norms across the continent [...] Regarding the supply of ca
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pital in Africa, the Cheetah Fund model could potentially be scaled across the East Africa region, or even the entire continent, to include other crowdfunding platforms and instruments, such as debt [...] entrepreneurs should seek partnerships with individuals or marketing firms located in more developed crowdfunding ecosystems [...] There is significant room for payment systems innovation within the private sector." (Conclusion, page 15)
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"Crowdfunding the Future undertakes a dynamic interdisciplinary approach to the examination of the new, and growing, phenomenon of crowdfunding and its encompassment of digital society and media industries. The book offers a wide range of perspectives and empirical research, providing analyses of cr
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owdfunded projects, the interaction between producers and audiences, and the role that websites such as Kickstarter play in discussions around fan agency and exploitation, as well as the ethics of crowdfunding. With a series of chapters covering a global range of disciplines and topics, this volume offers a comprehensive overview on crowdfunding, examining and unraveling the international debates around this increasingly popular practice." (Back cover)
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"Crowdfunded journalism is a new model for funding journalism in which reporters solicit micropayments from readers to finance their reporting. In the present study, we seek to identify the major motivations behind readers' donations to a pioneering crowdfunded journalism website, Spot.Us. Under the
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theoretical framework of collective action, we explore a total of 9 motivations: altruism, fun, belief in freedom of content, social, community, self-esteem, understanding, image, and family and friends. Combining self-reported survey data (N = 344) with behavioral data on readers' complete donation records obtained from the Spot.Us server, we found that belief in freedom of content, altruism, and contributing to one's community were self-reported to be highly valued by donors, but fun and family and friends motivations were the only positive predictors for actual donation levels. We discuss the implications of these findings on the sustainability of crowdfunding as a business model for news." (Abstract)
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"Credible crowdfunding systems require more than entrepreneurs and willing investors. They also need a supportive ecosystem and enabling factors, including forward-thinking regulations, effective technological solutions, and cultures that can adapt to this new investment vehicle. This includes the c
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oncept of a “constellation of trust” that enables all parties to participate. The key factors that have facilitated crowdfunding in developed countries include: a regulatory framework that leverages the transparency, speed, and scale that advances in technology and the Internet can deliver to early-stage funding marketplaces; strong social media market penetration and Internet usage, which is necessary to harness demographic and technology trends to drive collaboration and cultural shifts; a regulated online marketplace that facilitates capital formation while providing prudent investor protections through education and training; collaboration with other entrepren eurial events and hubs including business plan competitions, incubators, accelerators, universities and co-working spaces to create a channel for opportunity and oversight." (Executive summary, page 8)
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