Current (https://current.org/tag/crowdfunding/)
Producers who have left public radio to go solo as podcasters have made some outstanding work. But the work has sometimes made them emotional wrecks.
With crowd backing, a science special featuring David Pogue would be distributed to every U.S. high school.
Station Manager Paul Hunton says the crowdfunding campaign tapped into a formula that can be scaled to size.
Plus: A producer needs her mic back, and Splendid Table gets pranked.
Public Radio Exchange’s podcast network Radiotopia has raised $620,000 from 21,808 donors on Kickstarter, setting a record among publishing, radio and podcasting projects that have used the crowdfunding platform. “We were dazzled by the response,” said PRX CEO Jake Shapiro. “It shows how dedicated the listeners are to the shows. And it means we’re going to be shipping out a lot of T-shirts.” After reaching its initial goal, the campaign achieved stretch goals as well.
Plus: WGBH options Pinkalicious, and an Indiegogo project with support from Ken Burns is falling short.
The network wants stations to build up sustainable, supportive audiences for digital series.
As a growing number of public media organizations turn to Kickstarter to raise funding for new projects — with mixed success — development professionals and others in nonprofit media have begun evaluating both the potential and limitations of this new fundraising method.
The cotton T-shirt, a public radio merchandising staple, is front-and-center in a new multimedia project from NPR’s economics reporting unit Planet Money.