Comments on: A fundraising question about Spot.us

By: Bump: Getting on the Ballot in NYC « The Levisa Lazer

Bump: Getting on the Ballot in NYC « The Levisa Lazer — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:23:16 +0000

[...] conversation began when Katz asked a question about fundraising for Spot.Us, which allows readers to donate to fund individual journalism projects that they would like to see [...]

By: Conversation with Steve Katz, Part four. « DigiDave – Journalism is a Process, Not a Product

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:09:09 +0000

[...] Steve: A Fundraising Question about Spot.Us “the question, I think, is whether and how folks will shift their loyalty from the project to the organization (there’s a second question, too, which is whether this deeper level of donor loyalty matters for Spot.us-like organizations – maybe I’ll have to go have a conversation with Dave about this, huh?” [...]

By: Dukes, pretenders to the throne, and citoyens: 3 discussions on the future of journalism that need to come together « Maimonides’ Ladder

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 03:12:22 +0000

[...] future of (biz models to support) journalism (aka FoJ). So I reached out to Dave Cohn at Spot.us here, here and here, because I think he’s doing something really interesting. And I’ll get [...]

By: Coming up: a conversation with Dave Cohn « Maimonides’ Ladder

Coming up: a conversation with Dave Cohn « Maimonides’ Ladder — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:41:53 +0000

[...] the cha…More on Rick Cohen a… on Rick Cohen takes on the charit…Digidave on A fundraising question about…david cohn on A fundraising question about…A fundraising questi… on Foundations, [...]

By: Digidave

Digidave — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:43:33 +0000

Steve
I’m back now and funny enough at the last community advisory board meeting we went over this same question.

The way we put it: Are we a platform that puts weight on the reporters to fund themselves – assuming that most donors are one-time givers.

Or are we a community site that is going to try and create a dynamic relationship with our audience and give them more than the single project.

More and more – we are trying to become the second. I actually see Spot.Us’ goal and MotherJones’ to be very simpatico.

The only difference is that we allow more control and transparency over where the money goes – which in theory means people will donate more.

I wonder: If you take the subscribers and ask them not to donate to “MotherJones” but to a specific MJ project – would that 12% increase?

I have to suspect it would. In that situation – spot.us is a platform FOR organizations like MJ.

I know for example at the bottom of news stories MJ has a donate button. But what if instead of having a blank donate button – you put in: “Donate to report more ON THIS TOPIC! – and you had a way to show the transparency of money so people knew that their money was going to report more on that topic… would the 12% increase?

I think that is the fundamental question Spot.us is trying to seek. Donating to journalism isn’t new (NPR, MoJo and more) – but never before have the donations been the driving force in making specific acts of journalism happen.

We should definitely catch up sometime. Always a pleasure to chat with you.

By: david cohn

david cohn — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:02:05 +0000

hey steve

apologies for the slow and quick response. i am actually traveling and have no idea how to do punctioation on this italian keyboard.

it is my one vacation a year – and when i return itll be back to spot.us.

i would love to sit down and chat with you more about what we have figured out and where i think we need to improve.

best

By: Ruth Ann Harnisch

Ruth Ann Harnisch — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:43:46 +0000

Dear Steve,
Another great result of Knight’s investment in Dave Cohn and spot.us is the software that’s available to anyone and everyone.
Digidave wants to spread the model and is working with others to help them use what he’s already developed.
Geanne Rosenberg at Baruch College is spearheading collaborative journalism projects covering local neighborhoods in the New York City area and will use spot.us software.
I’m currently advertising for a Community Supported Journalist for http://www.coachingcommons.org (the job listing is posted there and elsewhere) and may use that software too.
Why wouldn’t Mother Jones employ that software too, to enable subscribers who pay the “crazy” $10 to invest more in stories or reporters that pique their interest?