logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Why Pay Attention to Crowdfunded Journalism?

Ruth McCambridge
February 2, 2016
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

Journalism

NPQ has long covered the emergence and travails of nonprofit journalism sites. Though they are no longer subject to the kind of IRS scrutiny that blocked the tax exemptions of many for a few years, they now face the challenge of reliable revenue generation. Their business models are many and varied, depending on the publication, mission, and audience, and few can afford to eschew out of hand any creative addition to the revenue base.

But more and more, journalism is being pursued by individuals who are not necessarily associated with any media company, nonprofit or not. These pieces may take the form of articles, but they may also be documentaries, blogs, storytelling projects, or longer-form coverage. Who is the natural buyer for this variety of products? Well, in some cases, it is the interested crowd.

A new report about crowdfunded journalism has been released by the Pew Research Center, and even if you are not a journalist, it should be of interest. For one thing, the notion of who can act as a journalist and under whose auspices and with whose money is very much in transition; for another, journalism can be an essential tool for social change, as we mentioned last week in our coverage of the Chicago police misconduct database.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Written by Nancy Vogt and Amy Mitchell, the report, “Crowdfunded Journalism: A Small but Growing Addition to Publicly Funded Journalism,” documents the growth of crowdfunded journalism since April 2009, when it first appeared as an option on Kickstarter and where it remains a relatively tiny but distinct and growing category of crowdfunded projects. It is worth mentioning that a few other journalism crowdfunding sites tried to start up in the years since 2009, but none have sustained independently. Indiegogo, the other major crowdfunding platform, does not have a specific category for journalism projects, so this report only covers the emerging landscape of crowdfunded journalism projects on Kickstarter.

Among the more interesting points covered in this very detailed report:

  • Among those proposing journalism projects on Kickstarter are individuals, independent groups, media organizations and institutions (such as a university or high school.) Projects by individuals made up 71 percent of those projects that were fully funded.
  • Media companies were much more likely to propose an expansion of something they were already doing than to propose a brand new initiative, while individuals and groups of individuals are about twice as likely to propose a startup than an expansion.
  • Journalism projects proposed on Kickstarter had a success rate (full funding or more) that was lower than most at 22 percent, second only to technology related projects, which stumbled in at a surprising 20 percent. Of course, the volume on the proposed tech projects was far higher, and where crowdfunding for journalism had raised $6.3 million, crowdfunding for technology projects raised $265.7 million.
  • In six years, 658 journalism projects have been fully funded on Kickstarter for the $6.3 million total, but the amount has grown significantly from year to year, from $49K the first year to $1.7 million in the first nine months of 2015. The number of people donating to these projects has grown also, from 792 in 2009 to 25,651 in 2015. Some of this is doubtlessly due to the rise in awareness of crowdfunding overall.

Despite the fact that the pool of money here is very small in comparison to the kind of money media is receiving from philanthropy both individual and institutional, there is a kind of beauty to the idea of the crowd helping to back its own information flows directly. Of course, this already happens through donations to nonprofit news sites and subscriptions, but this nontraditional alternative seems to be a natural part of the mix, and one that may prove in the long run to be very important to real freedom of the press.

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is Editor Emerita of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.

More about: nonprofit journalism sustainable nonprofit journalismCrowdfundingFundraisingJournalismManagement and Leadership

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Winter_2022Subscribe Today
You might also like
Hierarchy and Justice
Cyndi Suarez
Sharing Ownership Is Sharing Power: Why Media Cooperatives are the Future of News
Kevon Paynter
Salvadoran Foreign Agent Law Threatens Human Rights Movements
Devon Kearney
Charitable Tax Reform: Why Half Measures Won’t Curb Plutocracy
Alan Davis
Healing-Centered Leadership: A Path to Transformation
Shawn A. Ginwright
Into the Fire: Lessons from Movement Conflicts
Ingrid Benedict, Weyam Ghadbian and Jovida Ross

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
February 23rd, 2 pm ET

Worker Power in the Social Sector

Register Now
Group Created with Sketch.
March 15th, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Caring for the Care Economy

Register Now
You might also like
Hierarchy and Justice
Cyndi Suarez
Sharing Ownership Is Sharing Power: Why Media Cooperatives...
Kevon Paynter
Salvadoran Foreign Agent Law Threatens Human Rights...
Devon Kearney

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.