The following is an excerpt from the Global Investigative Journalist Network's Crowdfunding for Journalists resource guide. To view all the guide's contents, click here.
Crowdfunding is the process of convincing a large group of people to contribute small sums of money toward a specific project, usually via the Internet. It is helping redefine the fundraising landscape.
Whether you’re interested in raising money for one story, your publication or broadcast, or founding a new organization, crowdfunding has become an alternative approach for financing the launch of new journalism projects. Today, there are hundreds of crowdfunding sites worldwide.
The roundup below is limited, so let us know if you have platforms to add to this list. Or, to find crowdfunding sites specific to your country or region, check CrowdsUnite, CrowdMapped or Soho Loft. Be sure you understand the different types of crowdfunding before you start your search.
Asia
Flying V is based in Taiwan and is the largest rewards-based crowdfunding platform in Asia. The company claims a 45% success rate for campaigns. How it works: FlyingV is an all or nothing platform – similar in approach to Kickstarter. The company takes a fee on successful campaigns.
Crowdonomic, based in Singapore, is a site targeting Asian startups, entrepreneurs, hardware, tech, and creative projects. You can also use it to build your own crowdfunding platform. How it works: Crowdonomic charges an administrative fee based on the gross contribution amount.
Europe
Sparker.de is available in Hungarian and German. Its most well-known and successfully funded project (one of the largest crowdfunding campaigns in Germany) is Krautreporter.de, now an online magazine. How it works: Funding is accepted in euros. Information on fees is here.
CORRECT!V, the German investigative journalism center, has launched a crowdfunding platform. A nonprofit, CORRECT!V offers tax breaks to those who donate, and has plans to expand from German to a multilingual platform in 2015. How it works: CORRECT!V's reporters check each project before it goes online and work with project members on their research. If enough funds are not raised, CORRECT!V guarantees to jump in and finish the investigation.
Goteo is a Spain-based platform for crowdfunding and in-kind contributions (like services) to projects that promote an “open-source, knowledge-based society.” It has a communications category and is available in Spanish, Catalan, Basque, English, and French. How it works: Goteo uses an "all or nothing" approach -- contributions are transferred only if the minimum budget amount is reached. If you don’t have an Spanish bank account, you may need to pay additional bank fees. More info here.
Yournalism is a Netherlands-based, Dutch site. Its platform uses public input to generate as well as finance investigative journalism. How it works: The public supplies Yournalism with investigative ideas. Yournlism's editors look for social blinds spots that have received little to no news coverage. With that input, the Yournalism editorial board crafts the ideas into research proposals and then campaigns for donations.
Africa
JumpStart Africa is a soon-to-launch funding platform for creative projects, including fashion, games, music, and media. How it works: If a project is successfully funded, JumpStart Africa applies a fee to the funds collected.
Latin America
Idea.me is a Latin American crowdfunding platform connecting creators with backers for social impact. It operates in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and the United States. How it works: The site allows all-or-nothing or flexible funding. The full list of fees is here.
This post originally appeared on the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN). GIJN is an association of 90 nonprofit organizations in 40 countries dedicated to investigative reporting. You can follow GIJN on its Global Listserv, through its Global Network News newsletter, and on Twitter and Facebook.
Main image CC-licensed by Flickr via Rocío Lara.