Crowdsourced journalism on Kickstarter produced 658 funded projects between April 28, 2009, and September 15, 2015. Those projects raised $6,296,812, offering a measured view of how public backing supported reporting, publishing, audio, visual work, and other journalism formats during that period.
Table of contents
- Kickstarter journalism activity
- Funding totals and campaign performance
- Formats that attracted funding
- Backers and typical project size
- Startups, expansions, and leadership
- Geographic plans for the work
Kickstarter journalism activity
The Pew Research Center counted 658 funded journalism projects on Kickstarter from April 28, 2009, through September 15, 2015. The platform’s Journalism category contained 2,951 proposed projects as of August 31, 2015, while 655 journalism projects had been funded by that date. The difference between the 658-project period total and the 655 projects recorded on August 31 reflects the different measurement dates used in the research.
The Journalism category had a 22% success rate as of August 31, 2015. In other words, the category’s funded-project count was measured against proposed projects at that point in time, while the broader 658-project total covers the report’s full period through September 15, 2015.
The early years were comparatively small in project count. Journalism projects received funding for 17 projects in 2009. That number rose to 64 funded projects in 2010. The available figures show a growing presence on the platform, but they do not provide a complete year-by-year series for every year in the study period.
The Pew Research Center’s source for these Kickstarter figures is its crowdfunded journalism report.
Funding totals and campaign performance
The 658 funded journalism projects raised $6,296,812 in total. Their requested funding amounted to $4,907,136, so the funded projects brought in almost $1.4 million more than their combined original requests. The amount requested by individual projects ranged from $1 to $100,000.
Funding was concentrated toward the end of the measurement period. In 2014 and 2015, 52% of all funds were raised, representing nearly $3.3 million. This concentration describes the timing of money raised; it does not mean that 52% of the projects were funded in those years.
Campaigns varied widely in how far they moved beyond their original goals. Sixty-six percent of funded projects raised only a small amount over the original ask, reaching no more than 124% of the goal. At the other end of the distribution, eight projects attracted more than 500% of their original funding goal. Six of those eight projects began with initial goals of $600 or less.
These figures put overfunding in context. A campaign can exceed its target by a large percentage while still starting from a modest dollar request. The available research reports the thresholds and counts above, but it does not establish that unusually high percentage performance was typical of crowdsourced journalism campaigns.
Formats that attracted funding
Website projects raised the largest dollar total among the reported formats, with $1,829,451. Magazine projects raised $1,029,438, followed by multimedia projects at $950,800 and book projects at $849,431. Other reported totals were $429,385 for radio and podcast projects, $406,957 for documentaries, $179,820 for blogs, $130,462 for photojournalism, $129,982 for newspapers, and $271,203 for projects that were not format-specific.
The format mix looks different when measured by share of funded projects and share of dollars. The following percentages are reported shares from the Pew Research Center study, while the dollar amounts are the corresponding format totals.
| Format | Dollars raised | Share of dollars | Share of funded projects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website | $1,829,451 | 29% | 16% |
| Magazine | $1,029,438 | 16% | 20% |
| Multimedia | $950,800 | 15% | 12% |
| Book | $849,431 | 13% | 16% |
Website projects therefore represented 29% of all journalism dollars raised while making up 16% of funded journalism projects. Magazine projects made up 20% of funded projects and accounted for 16% of dollars. Multimedia projects represented 12% of projects and 15% of dollars. Book projects represented 16% of projects and 13% of dollars.
The remaining format totals help show the breadth of the category. Radio and podcast projects raised $429,385, documentaries raised $406,957, and projects without a format-specific label raised $271,203. Blog projects raised $179,820; photojournalism projects raised $130,462; and newspaper projects raised $129,982. These totals are period-specific Kickstarter results, not a current ranking of journalism formats.
Backers and typical project size
Across funded journalism projects, the median number of backers was 54 and the median amount raised was $3,711. A median describes the middle project in the ordered distribution, so it is not the same as the average and should not be used to estimate the total raised by a typical campaign without more information.
The reported format medians show different patterns among three major groups:
| Format | Median backers | Median amount raised |
|---|---|---|
| All funded journalism projects | 54 | $3,711 |
| Website | 94 | $6,028 |
| Magazine | 55 | $3,498 |
| Multimedia | 67 | $5,126 |
Website projects had the highest reported median for both backers and amount raised among these groups: 94 backers and $6,028. Multimedia projects had a median of 67 backers and $5,126 raised. Magazine projects had a median of 55 backers and $3,498 raised, close to the overall project medians of 54 backers and $3,711.
The comparison indicates that project format was associated with different typical campaign sizes in this study. It does not show that format alone caused a campaign to attract more supporters or money, and it does not provide a basis for projecting results to campaigns launched after the study period.
Startups, expansions, and leadership
Funded journalism projects were nearly evenly divided between new efforts and extensions of existing work. Fifty-one percent were startups rather than expansions, while 49% were expansions of existing work.
The balance changed substantially by the type of project leader. Ninety percent of media-organization projects were expansions rather than startups. By contrast, 63% of individual-led projects were startups, and 67% of group-led projects were startups. Institution-led projects were more evenly split: 42% were startups and 58% were expansions.
| Project leadership | Startup share | Expansion share or reported balance |
|---|---|---|
| All funded projects | 51% | 49% |
| Media organization | 10% | 90% |
| Individual-led | 63% | Not specified in the supplied figures |
| Group-led | 67% | Not specified in the supplied figures |
| Institution-led | 42% | 58% |
The media-organization figure shows the clearest expansion pattern: nine in ten projects in that category were expansions. Individual-led and group-led projects more often fell into the startup category, at 63% and 67%, respectively. Institution-led work occupied a middle position, with less than half classified as startups.
These classifications describe the project’s relationship to prior work, not whether the project leader was a professional journalist, a volunteer, or a particular type of legal entity. The figures should therefore be read as a comparison of project structure and leadership categories used in the study.
Geographic plans for the work
The funded projects also differed in where the planned journalism was to be conducted. Sixty-four percent of funded journalism projects were planned to take place within the United States. Thirty-four percent were planned for foreign countries, and 2% were planned to span both the United States and one or more other countries.
| Planned geography | Share of funded journalism projects |
|---|---|
| United States | 64% |
| Foreign countries | 34% |
| United States and one or more other countries | 2% |
The geography figures refer to planned location of the work, rather than the location of backers or the nationality of project leaders. They also describe the funded journalism projects in the study period, from April 28, 2009, through September 15, 2015. They should not be interpreted as a current global distribution of crowdsourced reporting.
Taken together, the period data shows a crowdfunding category with 658 funded projects, $6,296,812 raised, and a 22% reported success rate at the August 31, 2015, category checkpoint. Websites led the reported format totals, typical website campaigns had 94 median backers, project structure varied by leadership type, and nearly two-thirds of planned work was U.S.-based.