As any journalist knows, doing your research and gathering your resources is the best way to prepare for a project. So we've put together a slew of information about planning, developing, and running your campaign, from figuring out your goal to brainstorming unique rewards to coordinating your outreach strategy. Whether you're launching a new digital media empire, funding a new season of your podcast, or putting together a sweet little zine, these tips and tricks will help set you up for success.
- As a first step, make sure to check out our Publishing & Journalism Resources page.
- Next, we recommend taking a look at our Creator Handbook.
- These writers and publishers share their tips on preparing for your project, creating a video, planning your rewards, anticipating hidden costs, engaging your community, and telling your story to the press.
- Check out this roundtable discussion on the persistent value of neighborhood news, and what’s in store for the future of local storytelling.
- The creators of three Journalism projects discuss the who, what, where, when, why, and how of independent journalism.
- Writer, Jia Tolentino, spoke with TCI about writing for the sake of writing.
- Thinking about starting a podcast? Check out this guide from Sean J Patrick Carney.
- We’ve also got some useful advice on how to sound pretty good on a podcast.
- Andy Mills, producer and reporter for The New York Times speaks about the creative potential and emotional reach of podcasts.
- Our Senior Journalism Outread Lead, Oriana Leckert, took part in a webinar with Anxy Founder, Indhira Rojas, to share some insider advice on how to successfully kickstart a magazine.
- After being fired for refusing to choose between journalism and activism, Lewis Wallace now wants to tell the stories of journalists who have challenged “objectivity”.
- Tortoise’s mission is to change the news. They turned to Kickstarter in 2018 to bring their idea to life. Read about their unique crowdfunding recipe, which helped them raise £539,000 in 30 days.
- Brooklyn-based freelance journalist, Alex Frank, spoke with TCI about writing, reading, and always making your deadline.
- Andrea James created The Transphobia Project to map the people and platforms publishing biased content about gender expression and identity.
- LAist joined forces with KPCC to bring back their website, read about how they adapted the public radio fundraising strategy for a digitally native audience here.
- Don’t forget to check out our Publishing Blog for more great tips.
- And finally, I Am Hexed comic creator, Kirsten Thompson, shares the 10 emotional stages of launching a Kickstarter campaign.
If you’re looking for some inspiration, take a look at the Journalism Explore page. We’ve also shared some of our favorite projects below:
- Sludge is an independent, reader-funded news publication. In 2019 they ran a successful campaign to fund a project to expose fossil fuel lobbying.
- Comprising a team of former editors and reporters from DNAinfo Chicago, Block Club Chicago is a nonprofit neighborhood news site.
- The View from Somewhere is a single-season podcast about people who have challenged and changed journalism in U.S. history.
- The Save Journalism Project, a non-profit advocacy organization, launched their Freelance Reporting Initiative project to raise funds to hire laid off reporters.
- “What is a meaningful life in this rapidly changing world?” Kickstarter backers helped bring Lydia Laurenson's new publication, The New Modality to life.
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Ready to take the plunge and start your Journalism project? Go ahead and begin building it now - we're excited to see your creative idea come to life!