As traditional journalism is forced to redefine its business model, crowdfunding has become an alternative approach for those who want to launch their own projects.
As new technologies arise, a growing number of campaigns prove it’s possible to launch a project independently, finding people who are willing to take that extra step (or click) to implement it.
Some successful crowdfunding campaigns include a master’s degree in data journalism, a “Justice League” to monitor gender balance in media and a journalist who achieved his US$2,000 goal to travel to Africa and tell a story of an endangered frog. The Correspondent, an Amsterdam-based project that aims to produce quality journalism in an ad-free site, garnered more than 1 million euros in just eight days.
There are many options in the market to launch a crowdfunding campaign. The most popular sites like IndieGoGo and Kickstarter host journalism-related campaigns. Spot.us specializes in community-funded journalism and Emphas.is, still in beta, is a page for photojournalists seeking donations.