GUIDEBOOK FOR THE Strategic Use New Media for...
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GUIDEBOOK FOR THE Strategic Use of New Media for Peaceful Social Change .net Sawtna a project by DALIA HAJ-OMAR
Transcript of GUIDEBOOK FOR THE Strategic Use New Media for...
GUIDEBOOK FOR THE
Strategic Use of New Media for Peaceful Social Change
.netSawtna
a project by
DALIA HAJ-OMAR
Copyright © 2015 by Dalia Haj-Omar
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
ISBN 978-0-9838647-9-0
Credits Photo creditsFront cover: Bashir Hamid
Chapter 1: cover – hajooj kuka page 14 – Amir Ahmad Nasr
Chapter 2: cover – hajooj kuka page 38 – hajooj kuka page 44 – Khalid Albaih page 50 – Olivier Laban-Mattei/AFP/Getty Images
Chapter 3: cover – hajooj kuka page 65 – hajooj kuka page 92 – UN Photo/Tim McKulka
Chapter 4: cover – hajooj kuka page 103 – hajooj kuka page 112 – Salahaldeen Nadir
Chapter 5: cover – Maxkabakov, Dreamstime.com page 128 – Dwnld777, Dreamstime.com page 146 – Maxkabakov, Dreamstime.com
Conclusion: cover – Salahaldeen Nadir
Design and layout Plain Sense, Geneva
.netSawtna
www.sawtna.net
Strategic Use of New Media for Peaceful Social Change v
Acknowledgements This guidebook was inspired by the creative and free spirit of youth-led movements and civil society, in Sudan and globally, who are using information and communication technologies (ICTs) for peaceful social change. It is the outcome of my personal journey, a product of learning-by-doing, and a gift to a new generation in the hope that it can move forward from where others left, and not start from scratch.
I am particularly thankful to the generous contribution of ten artists, writers, activists, civil society practitioners and experts working on the intersection of technology and human rights, peacebuilding and democracy or using ICTs to expand the impact of their work in these fields. They include: Amir Ahmad Nasr, Omnia Shawkat, Khalid Albaih, Helena Puig Larrauri, Rebecca Chiao, Fareed Zain, Dimah Abdulkarim, Eric Johnson, Nat Meysenburg and Abdel-Rahman El-Mahdi. Through in-depth interviews, they have shared their valuable insights and experiences, making this guide much more practical, and complementing the case studies with compelling real-life wisdom. Their stories taught me that passion and creativity can transform ICTs into tools for social good – especially when the technology is used strategically.
A special thank you to colleagues who edited the final English manuscript, and to Rodrigo Davies and Helena Puig Larrauri for peer reviewing and lending their expertise to the chapters on crisis mapping and crowdfunding. Deep gratitude to Mohammed Al Maskati for teaching me about digital security in the most entertaining and fluid manner.
I am endlessly grateful to the small team that made the journey enjoyable. The first iteration of this guidebook was released on the bilingual website that can be used in parallel with the guidebook www.sawtna.net. This would not have been possible without the technical support and diligence of web developer and designer Mosaab Baba. The talented translator and editor Azaz Shami oversaw the Arabic translation and editing of both the website and this guidebook. hajooj kuka provided illustrations, infographics and photography support. Animation artist and graphic designer, Bashir Hamid, created the front cover. And many others – especially my family – kept me going through their encouragement, thoughtful feedback and support.
vi Strategic Use of New Media for Peaceful Social Change
Key to icons
Additional readings and materials.
Case studies.
Interviews.
Strategic Use of New Media for Peaceful Social Change 1INTRODUCTION
IntroductionWhy this guidebook and what to expectThe role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and especially social media, in exchanging and disseminating information and enhancing public awareness as well as enabling collective action, collaborative initiatives and rapid mobilization, has now become a non-contested matter of fact. Some have gone as far as calling them “liberation technologies” that have helped herald a “fourth wave of democracy” in parts of the Middle East and North Africa in recent years.1
Those technologies were mostly embraced by non-organized citizens in closed societies where the physical space for discussion was not available and where thousands of people were moving to virtual spaces online to allow the free expression of opinions, the building of complex networks, the creation of social capital and finally political/social organization and mobilization.2
Digital technology has therefore revolutionized the way citizens and interest groups communicate and share information as well as the ease, scope and reach of activities due to the speed, reliability, scale, relative security and low cost of digital networks.3
To capitalize on these “liberation technologies,” this guide is written with the intention of targeting the Sudanese civil society in its most diverse sense, including journalists, pro-democracy activists, youth movement members and those working in the humanitarian sector, as well as non-organized citizens seeking to increase their civic participation in the public domain and online. It is a “how to” guide that stirs users toward good practices in using social media and ICTs more strategically for advocacy, campaigning, mobilization, dissemination of information and crowdsourcing. Our discussion will shed light on how digital activism is being used; when it is successful; and what impact it has on social movement processes and on the scale of change.
1 Philip N. Howard and Muzammil M. Hussain. Democracy’s Fourth Wave? Digital Media and the Arab Spring. Oxford University Press. 2013.
2 Ibid., pp. 17-18. 3 Mary Joyce. Digital Activism Decoded: The New Mechanics of Change.
International Debate Education Association, New York and Amsterdam. 2010. P. viii.
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Mobile phone subscribers in Sudan 2012-2013
88% More than 27 million phone subscribers and coverage of 88 percent, extending to 800 cities
Data source: National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC), 2013.
Sudan’s mobile and internet penetration
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
2000 201220112010200920082007200620052004200320022001 2013
In 2012 Sudan’s Intenet penetration rate stood at 21% and mobile penetration at 60.49%. Sudan boasts the cheapest mobile post paid costs in the Middle East & North Africa, and healthy market competition amongst four telecom operators.
Internet penetration rate (%)Mobile penetration rate (%)
Data source: International Telecommunications Union & World Bank.
Strategic Use of New Media for Peaceful Social Change 3INTRODUCTION
The ICT sector in Sudan has experienced a remarkable boom in the last decade with a steadily increasing internet penetration rate of 23 percent in 2013 (up from 21 percent in 2012, 19 percent in 2011, and 16.7 percent in 2010).4 Mobile phone penetration has also seen a sharp increase since 2000, standing at 75 percent by the end of 2013 – according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).5 Although there are no hard statistics, our experience tells us that more citizens (especially youth) in Sudan are accessing the internet on their mobile phones than ever before. This is mainly because Sudan also boasts the cheapest post-paid mobile phone costs in the Middle East and North Africa (2012), made possible due to healthy market competition amongst four telecommunications providers. In early 2013, the National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) reported more than 27 million cell phone subscribers in 2012 and a coverage of 88 percent that extends to 800 cities and towns.
This guide will build on the above-mentioned gains in Sudan’s ICT infrastructure. It is meant to be user-friendly and will draw from the experience of Sudanese youth movements and civil society groups that actively use new media and ICTs, as well as from the regional and international experience of civil society in countries such as Egypt, Iran, and Kenya, to mention a few. This will be done by providing a rich array of case studies, interviews, analysis, theories and examples to help guide you toward being better digital communicators; designing better online campaigns; and understanding what combination of digital tools can work to serve you more efficiently.
The guide also assumes that its users are already using social media and ICTs to some extent and are looking for resources to improve their strategies and expand their tools beyond what is traditionally used.
While this guide will explain the evolution and potential use of a variety of digital applications and tools (such as blogs, Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook) as well as concepts (such as crowdsourcing, crowd fundraising, crisis mapping and digital security), except for the case of Twitter, it will not teach you how to use these tools as much as it will guide you toward resources to investigate the tools and enrich your understanding on how to use those applications to their maximum potential when working for peaceful social change and expanded civic participation.
4 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.P2. 5 ITU data. Sudan mobile subscribers from 2000 to end of 2012.
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CHAPTER 4
Crowdfunding
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CHAPTER 4
CrowdfundingThis chapter takes a look at crowdfunding, and gives examples of the wide array of crowdfunding platforms that have emerged since the tremendous success of Indiegogo and Kickstarter that were launched in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
The advantages of crowdfunding over targeting a few individual donors are discussed; and the concept of “civic crowdfunding” is introduced, along with a discussion on emerging trends in crowdfunding. The challenges related to crowdfunding faced by countries under US comprehensive sanctions are also presented and solutions are proposed.
The chapter focuses on the two largest crowdfunding platforms, Kickstarter and Indiegogo, providing a detailed comparison to help users make a sound decision on which platform to use. A case study of Nafeer, the youth-based humanitarian initiative that was established to respond to the floods that hit Sudan in August 2013, is presented to showcase how crowdsourcing (in the form of both crisis mapping and crowdfunding) was used during that national emergency.
We move on by giving tips and essential steps on how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign. The chapter wraps up with an interview with one of the team members who executed the OUR SUDAN short film project, which used Kickstarter to fundraise. Their experience and the challenges they faced are shared.
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A basic introduction to crowdfunding The decentralized nature of the internet and the rise of social media have revolutionized and democratized the way citizens around the world are fundraising. These online fundraising efforts are often happening outside the constraints and rigid hierarchy of institutions and traditional donors by using the power of local and global networks to get financial support for projects and ideas.
Crowdfunding,187 defined as the collection of small and individual donations from the “crowd” via online platforms, is historically an old practice, rooted in collective action. Hence, crowdfunding exists as a traditional offline practice in many cultures from Africa to Latin America.188 However, it is only since 2008/2009 that it has become a global phenomenon and an industry that was worth USD 5 billion in 2013 (according to the Crowdfunding Industry Report189). This is thanks to the unparalleled popularity of companies like Kickstarter,190 an online crowdfunding platform that specifically caters to crowdfunding for creative projects and whose three founders all came from creative arts backgrounds.
In the case of non-profit organizations and non-institutional civic initiatives, utilizing online crowdfunding platforms has several advantages. It:
1. Allows a diversification of the donor pool.
2. Permits fundraising based on locally identified needs that is not led by donor agendas or priorities.
3. Reduces administrative paperwork linked to reporting back to donors, which often drains the energy of small local civic organizations.
4. Increases the potential of engaging diaspora communities from the global south in participating in civic or citizen-led initiatives in their countries of origin, initiatives that they would not easily have known about otherwise. (See the case study on page 109 from Sudan on the Nafeer campaign.)
5. Increases the agency of citizens organizing collectively at a community or grassroots level and outside the boundaries of institutions, by giving citizens access to funds while retaining ownership over their projects.
187 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowd_funding.188 Rodrigo Davies. The Digital Pollada, or What I learned About Crowdfunding from
Peruvian Chicken. April 28, 2014.189 http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/2014cf-the-crowdfunding-industry-
report/25107.190 https://www.kickstarter.com.
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6. Institutionalizes the fundraising process by providing a platform that is centralized and transparent, permitting multiple actors such as businesses, government agencies, non-profits, citizens and donors/supporters to participate simultaneously.
Since it was founded, Kickstarter has raised more than USD 1.7 billion and successfully funded over 85,000 projects globally.191 This included more than USD 200 million raised for film and video projects alone.192 Some of those films went on to win awards and Oscar nominations, such as the short documentary Inocente.
Kickstarter statistics193
There is also the all-encompassing, very popular and international crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo,194 which caters to anything from creative and artistic projects to technological innovations and humanitarian causes. It offers more flexible fundraising requirements than Kickstarter (see comparison on pages 106 and 107).
Indiegogo and Kickstarter have similar funding models, which involve charging project creators a 4 to 5 percent platform fee, and an additional 2 to 3 percent for electronic payment processing. This funding model is common to many crowdfunding platforms around the world.
191 https://www.kickstarter.com/help/stats?ref=footer.192 Kickstarter Blog. Michael McGregor. A big day for film. March 14, 2014.193 https://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012 and https://www.kickstarter.com/year/2013.194 https://www.indiegogo.com.
source: https://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012 source: https://www.kickstarter.com/year/2013
KICKSTARTER
Pledges per minute$606.76
Countries177
Projects18,109
backers2,200,000
pledged$319,000,000
YEAR2012
Pledges per minute$915
Countries214
Projects19,911
backers3,000,000
pledged$480,000,000
YEAR2013
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After Indiegogo and Kickstarter were founded, many crowdfunding platforms have come into existence, catering to a plethora of interests and needs.195 Some are very specific and geographically localized, such as DonorsChoose,196 an online platform where ordinary citizens can directly choose to fund school projects (in the United States) initiated by public school teachers. It has included crowdfunding for field trips, books, and school supplies, amongst other things. DonorsChoose was founded by a school teacher in 2000, and is considered one of the earliest examples of online crowdfunding.
For projects that are unable to find a suitable home on existing platforms, it is possible to host an online crowd fundraiser on a personalized platform such as the open source crowdfunding platform Selfstarter.197 However, to use this you will need to have web design and programming skills, as well as an existing support network. Such support networks, which provide automatic marketing and a donor base, are an advantage for small to medium-sized projects, and are readily found in the more accomplished crowdfunding platforms that have communities of followers and a high level of trust attached to them. Some of the advantages that go with a customized crowdfunding platform or website include:
1. No fees linked to using the platform.
2. The focus is on your project and not the platform that you are using.
3. You get to control the user experience by controlling the design and layout of your website.
4. You can get access to a larger array of metrics or analytical data linked to your fundraising campaign than traditional crowdfunding platforms would provide.198
195 TriplePundit. Crowdfunding Platforms: What You Should Know. June 25, 2013. 196 http://www.donorschoose.org. 197 http://selfstarter.us. 198 TechCrunch. Vikas Gupta. A Look At Play-i’s Successful Crowdfunding Campaign.
April 26, 2014.
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Trends in crowdfunding and the rise of civic crowdfundingThe increased specialization of crowdfunding platforms is one obvious trend that has emerged in recent years. For example, some platforms, such as Causes,199 Razoo200 and CrowdRise201 are dedicated to supporting the causes of non-profit organizations and/or charities. Others cater to personal and group projects, such as tuition, medical expenses or even planning parties. Examples include Tilt,202 GoFundMe,203 Zokos,204 and YouCaring.205 It gets even more specific with platforms such as Experiment,206 which supports crowdfunding for scientific research and innovations.
Crowdfunding platforms are also becoming localized and are starting to slowly appear outside the United States and Europe in the global south. This is mainly because local contexts matter and challenges such as language and currencies can be addressed by locally-based platforms. It is also because research has shown that the location of communities is closely linked to who actually uses online crowdfunding platforms; and that those who use crowdfunding platforms the most tend to live in the cities where those platforms are headquartered.207
Examples of crowdfunding platforms from the Middle East208 region include Yomken.209 Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Egypt, it supports small industrial workshop owners (glassblowers, mechanics, etc.), by linking them with problem solvers and innovators, as well as investors. There is also Aflamnah210 (founded in June 2012) which is based out of Dubai in the UAE and caters to filmmakers from the Middle East region. Also based out of the UAE and founded in mid-2013 is Eureeca,211 which is a crowdinvesting platform that links small- and medium-sized entrepreneurs to investors and retailers who want to support new business ideas.
199 https://www.causes.com.200 http://www.razoo.com.201 http://www.crowdrise.com.202 https://www.tilt.com.203 http://www.gofundme.com.204 http://www.zokos.com.205 http://www.youcaring.com.206 https://experiment.com.207 Rodrigo Davies. The Digital Pollada, or What I learned About Crowdfunding from
Peruvian Chicken. April 28, 2014.208 The National. Neil Palmer. Crowdfunding in Mena region finally starts to take off.
May 5, 2014.209 http://yomken.com/?lang=en.210 http://www.aflamnah.com. 211 http://eureeca.com.
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In Latin America, popular crowdfunding platforms include the Brazilian site Catarse212 that supports creative projects. It was the first crowdfunding platform to make its platform’s code open source and therefore available for others to copy or build upon. To date, at least 10 crowdfunding platforms have been built using Catarse’s code.
Crowdfunding that specializes in creating a shared public good or a service to a community is sometimes referred to as civic crowdfunding.213 Examples include creating green spaces or parks, renovating playgrounds, building community centers, or organizing cultural festivals. Some experts argue that crowdfunding generally, and civic crowdfunding specifically, is a form of self-management that citizens are moving toward, and that it is replacing the work of governments and shifting the responsibility and risks of State institutions to individuals, especially at times of economic strain. Civic crowdfunding also allows individuals to have ownership over their projects, and lets them take more responsibility and risk that in the past used to be concentrated in the hands of institutions.
Rodrigo Davies, who is an expert in civic crowdfunding, argues that civic crowdfunding is also institutionalizing the process of crowdfunding by creating centralized and transparent mechanisms that permit the creation of diverse partnerships, such as the intersection of crowdfunders with the private sector, public sector and civic communities. He says:
Therefore we might say that the optimal form of civic crowdfunding occurs at the intersection of all four interests, with each contributing to the outcome. That is to say, the ‘perfect crowd’ for a civic project involves all actors, since public projects in the built environment that serve civic goals will impact or intersect with the interests of government, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, and the crowd.214
Spacehive,215 the first online crowdfunding platform that caters to civic projects (launched in 2012), does exactly that by bringing together people from local communities who have ideas for civic projects with businesses, government bodies and even design professionals who want to invest in these projects. Spacehive also works with grant-making organizations to help them set up matching-funding schemes216 for projects they want to support. The platform is London-based, and supports only communities in the United Kingdom, but its model has inspired the spreading of the
212 https://www.catarse.me.213 Rodrigo Davis. Is Crowdfunding Participatory Citizenship or a Sign of Institutions
in Decline? March 23, 2014.214 Rodrigo Davis. What’s civic about civic crowdfunding? December 3, 2013.215 http://spacehive.com. 216 https://spacehive.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/201812067-I-want-to-
match-fund-projects.
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idea of online civic crowdfunding to the United States. Examples include Citizinvestor217 and Neighbor.ly.218
Both Citizinvestor and Neighbor.ly approve project ideas from citizens only if they have been backed by their local municipality or city hall.219 However, both platforms do permit citizens to propose projects. In the case of Citizinvestor the focus is on small-sized projects (USD 10,000- 20,000).220 Once a citizen’s petition reaches its funding goal, Citizinvestor goes the extra mile by introducing citizens who initiated the petition to the appropriate people in their city municipality. This model of online civic crowdfunding platforms clearly demands a more hands-on approach by the platform owners who are required to vet projects and build relationships with local governments and businesses.
217 http://www.citizinvestor.com.218 https://neighbor.ly.219 TechPresident. Miranda Neubauer. Three Kickstarter-Inspired, Civically Minded
Crowdfunding Sites. July 31, 2012.220 Mashable. Kenneth Rosen. Citizinvestor Helps Grab the Ears of Local
Governments. September 18, 2012.
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Crowdfunding for countries under US sanctions It is important to do your research before embarking on an online crowdfunding campaign. Most crowdfunding platforms have a support desk where you can send questions and ask for help and advice even before you launch your project. This is particularly true of the more reputable, sizable and international crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. These platforms also have online resources, such as the Kickstarter Creator Handbook.221
If your project is linked in any way to a country under US comprehensive sanctions (i.e. Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) and you are contemplating the use of an American crowdfunding platform, it is imperative that you contact the support desk and make them aware of your fundraising campaign and get their approval before you launch.
However, do not expect these companies to know the sanctions regime pertaining to your country. It is your job to know all exemptions under US sanctions law and to make the relevant arguments to support your project. All documents related to the sanctions regime can be found on the website of the Department of Treasury.222
221 https://www.kickstarter.com/help/handbook.222 http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions.
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In the case of Sudan, the sanctions exemptions include any projects to be implemented in: “Southern Kordofan/Nuba Mountains State, Blue Nile State, Abyei, Darfur, and marginalized areas in and around Khartoum – referred to as ‘the Specified Areas of Sudan.’”223
The main obstacle facing the use of crowdfunding in US-sanctioned countries is the inability to conduct any commercial transactions online, since the use of credit cards is restricted and the transfer of funds from the US to Sudanese banks or to individuals inside Sudan is also prohibited.
However, Sudanese civil society groups have successfully used online crowdfunding in the last couple of years. Examples include creative projects such as the short film OUR SUDAN,224 as well as development or humanitarian projects such as the reconstruction of Al Huda School, which gives free basic education to 230 internally displaced students from the Nuba Mountains.225 In both cases the main requirement was to have members of the Sudanese diaspora involved so that a bank account associated with the fundraising campaign could be opened in a non-sanctioned country.
Moreover, Sudanese civil society groups have also succeeded in crowdfunding by appealing to diaspora communities through social media and organizing transfer of funds to individual bank accounts that are then sent to Sudan (see case study on Nafeer below).
Although Sudan does not yet have an official mobile money platform, such as M-Pesa,226 which is popular in Kenya and other parts of East Africa, transferring funds via mobile phone credit is becoming more accepted around the country. It is increasingly common for the general population and members of civil society to transfer funds by sending mobile phone credit to a cell phone for exchange into cash. This looks like a good option for in-country, offline crowdfunding activities, given the restrictions on credit card use under the US sanctions, which limit the use of American online crowdfunding platforms. However, transferring funds via phone credit also has the disadvantage of not being as transparent, outreaching and centralized as an online platform.
223 Department of the Treasury. Office of Foreign Assets Control. Sudan Sanctions Program. Updated November 5, 2013.
224 YouTube. Northernlightist. OUR SUDAN. June 6, 2013.225 Indiegogo. Campaign. Dalia Haj-Omar. Support Nuba Mountain IDP Students.
December 13, 2013-January 19, 2014.226 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa.
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Choosing a crowdfunding platform
Indiegogo vs. Kickstarter Indiegogo and Kickstarter are the most popular online crowdfunding platforms. Although at first glance they may look similar, there are fundamental differences. Both platforms offer a huge community of users and high credibility; and both require that those initiating a project choose a funding goal as well as a deadline and a media pitch for the fundraising campaign. Additionally, those who start projects on the two platforms have 100 percent ownership over their projects. But beyond these similarities there are important differences that include: (1) the fundraising model (an all or nothing approach with Kickstarter versus a flexible model with Indiegogo); (2) the types of projects that can be funded; (3) the processing fees; and (4) perks or rewards to supporters. The table on the next page compares and captures in more detail the differences between Indiegogo and Kickstarter based on those four categories.
Although some people may turn away227 from using Kickstarter because of its “all or nothing” crowdfunding model, the company defends that approach by stressing that it is motivating and will make people work hard at spreading the message and seeking support for their projects.228 They add that to date 44 percent of projects on the Kickstarter platform have been funded. It also makes more sense to go for an “all or nothing” crowdfunding option if your project cannot be implemented unless it meets the set goal. If that’s not the case because, for example, you are seeking funds both online and offline to meet your goal or you do not need to meet your goal to launch your project, then a flexible crowdfunding option may be more suitable for you.
Finally the insistence on a physical reward/perk may be a problem in countries where the postal service is poor, non-existent or unreasonably expensive, as is the case in many developing countries. Going with Indiegogo’s more flexible model that allows you to skip on offering rewards to your backers might be an advantage in this case. Another option is to choose perks that are memorable but non-physical, such as an invitation to an event or a Skype chat with the project creator.
227 ZDNeT. Ken Hess. Despite its popularity, I hate Kickstarter. November 22, 2013.228 https://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/kickstarter+basics?ref=faq_
subcategory#Kick.
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Comparison between Indiegogo and Kickstarter229230231232
1. A flexible model of fundraising. You can choose a fixed funding approach where you only receive the funds collected if you reach your fundraising goal; or a flexible funding approach where you collect all funds raised even if you do not reach your goal. Note that processing fees are higher for the flexible fundraising choice (see below under “fees” for more details).
1. An all or nothing fundraising model. You have to meet your indicated goal to receive the donations raised. If you do not meet your goal all funds are returned to their donors, and you are charged nothing. Kickstarter says that 44 percent of all projects in its platform get funded.
2. What is funded? There are no restrictions to the type of projects funded as long as projects do not violate Indiegogo’s terms of use.229
2. What is funded? Kickstarter restricts the use of its platform to concrete creative projects under the categories of: art, comics, design, fashion, film, food, music, photography, publishing, technology and theatre. Recently Kickstarter added two new categories,230 journalism and crafts, in addition to 94 subcategories.231 You cannot start your project before getting an approval from Kickstarter. More is explained in the “Our Rules” section of the website.232
229 https://www.indiegogo.com/about/terms.230 Kickstarter Blog. Introducing Two New Categories: Journalism and Crafts. June
11, 2014.231 Kickstarer Blog. A subcategory for everything. April 18, 2014.232 https://www.kickstarter.com/rules.
Indiegogo Kickstarter
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3. Fees. If you meet your funding goal Indiegogo charges 4 percent of all funds collected regardless of whether you chose a fixed funding or flexible funding campaign. Non-profits based in the US pay 3 percent. If you do not meet your funding goal, for a flexible funding campaign, Indiegogo collects 9 percent of all funds raised; with a fixed funding campaign you get nothing and all donations are returned to funders. Add to this amount credit card processing fees that can range from 3 to 5 percent. For more details check out the “fees and pricing” page.233
3. Fees. Kickstarter collects a 5 percent fee applied to all funds collected, in addition to a 3 to 5 percent credit card processing fee.234
4. Perks or rewards. Indiegogo gives its users the option of opting out of offering a perk, but they also encourage users of their platform to create perks and say that, “campaigns offering perks raise 143 percent more money than those that do not. Perks help you attract a larger audience, make people feel more valued for their contributions, and help you spread the word about your campaign.”235 They define perks as “nonmonetary incentives that campaigners offer in exchange for your contribution.”236
4. Perks or rewards. Kickstarter requires that all its users offer rewards as incentives to donors/backers. They emphasize that, “every project’s primary rewards should be things made by the project itself”, and advise keeping prices at a reasonable level. Rewards can also be in the form of “creative experiences,” such as invitations to the set during filming a movie, or a public acknowledgement, or even writing a personal thank you note or post card.
233234235236
233 https://support.indiegogo.com/hc/en-us/articles/204456408-Fees-Pricing.234 https://www.kickstarter.com/help/fees.235 http://go.indiegogo.com/playbook/life-cycle-phase/setting-up-your-campaign.236 http://go.indiegogo.com/playbook/contributing.
Indiegogo Kickstarter
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KICKSTARTER
perks & rewards
fees
what is funded
funding model
A fixed fundraising model: all or nothing
A flexiblefundraising model
Restricted toHumanitarianSmall BusinessCreative projects
Fees on funds collected: 5%+
Fixed funding: 4%orFlexible funding: 9%+
RequiredOptional
No restrictionsCreative projects
Credit card processing: 3-5%
Credit card processing: 3-5%
Dream Project
Comparison: Indiegogo vs. Kickstarter
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CASE STUDY 4: SUDAN
The story of #Nafeer: crowdsourcing in action During the floods that impacted Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, in August 2013, a youth-based initiative called Nafeer237 (inspired by the Sudanese tradition of collectively helping those in need) used a variety of social media and ICT tools238 that included Facebook,239 Twitter,240 Flickr,241 and a crisis map.242 With these tools they mobilized a huge network of up to 8,000 volunteers who raised funds online and offline, and provided relief to impacted citizens much faster than the government and United Nations agencies.
Most of the donations came from Sudanese businesses and diaspora communities via announcements on Facebook243 and Twitter244 in the form of in-kind and cash donations. The Facebook message245 below announcing the need for life jackets and vehicles is an example of the calls for donations posted on social media. There were also similar calls for the mobilization of volunteers to specific locations that needed immediate relief.
237 The New York Times. Isma’il Kushkush. As Floods Ravage Sudan, Young Volunteers Revive a Tradition of Aid. August 29, 2013.
238 Pambazuka News. Mobilization in the age of parallel media. September 12, 2013.
239 https://www.facebook.com/gabaileid.240 Twitter. @NafeerCampaign.241 Flickr. Nafeer Sudan.242 https://khartoumflood.crowdmap.com.243 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=553885294658675&set=
a.551661601547711.1073741828.551549528225585&type=1244 https://twitter.com/NafeerCampaign/status/372129849730957312.245 https://www.facebook.com/NafeerInitiative/posts/552400651473806
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The majority of the volunteers on the ground were not the traditional civil society crowd. Many were professionals who came from the private sector and had useful technical skills that are usually lacking in a typical civil society organization. Nafeer had its own engineering and medical teams. A Crisis Map,246 for example, was created by a young female software engineer while she was trapped in her house during the heavy rains. The map was eventually used by Nafeer, NGOs and the United Nations to locate the most needy areas for relief. Even the government’s Civil Defence “hotline” was referring people to Nafeer.
Nafeer, however, did face some technical challenges linked to the impact of US sanctions on free access to the internet. Nafeer’s members were unable to use a more centralized online crowdfunding platform because PayPal closed Nafeer’s account, citing the sanctions on Sudan. In a tweet referring to operational obstacles that the mayor of Khartoum was creating for the group, Amjad Fareed, one of the initiators of Nafeer, said:
The Americans closed #Nafeer’s PayPal account because of the sanctions on Sudan. What challenges are we supposed to deal with, those from the Mayor of Khartoum or from the Americans?247
246 The Daily Beast. Amanda Sperber. Crowdsourcing Help for Flooded Sudan. August 15, 2013.
247 https://twitter.com/amjedfarid/status/370239060427550720.
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US sanctions made the collection of funds from diaspora groups much more burdensome, since it was not possible to streamline the process and centralize it in one place. Multiple account numbers of diaspora focal points (mainly in the Gulf, Europe and the United States) were posted on Twitter and Facebook for those willing to donate. Despite this decentralization challenge, Nafeer members continued to make public all the funds donated via their Facebook page.248 This created a new model of transparency for civil society, regardless of the challenge of tracking donations that came from many countries and were sent to multiple bank accounts of members of the diaspora.
The Nafeer campaign marked the first time crowdfunding was attempted in Sudan during a national humanitarian crisis. Since then there have been several crowdfunding efforts by civil society, not all linked to developmental or relief efforts. They required that Sudanese in the diaspora assist with linking the crowdfunding page with a bank account in a non-sanctioned country.249
248 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=122169817953591&set=pb.121094181394488.-2207520000.1387320960.&type=3&theater.
249 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1551224532/our-sudan-a-short-film-to-inspire-a-new-generation?ref=live.
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How to run a successful crowdfunding campaign Most crowdfunding platforms have tips250 on their websites to help you set up your campaign.251 However, as mentioned before, crowd fundraising is not a new concept; the internet has just made it more accessible to everyone. Hence, some of the traditional tips for fundraising that apply offline also apply online. Crowdfunding is not automatic or easy; be prepared to work hard at planning before, during and after the launch of your campaign. Below are some essential steps you need to take:252
• Invest in building a community of supporters long before you launch a fundraising campaign. Have a monthly newsletter that goes to all your networks. Use social media to expand the reach of your network and to communicate your successes and share your work. Engage with your audience and invite them to your events.
• Create a crowd fundraising campaign team. Campaigns led by a team get more donations than those led by individuals.
• Set specific, time-bound and realistic objectives. Your supporters need to have a concrete idea about how their donations will be used. Indicate three to four clear and measurable objectives.
• Your fundraising monetary goal needs to be realistic and conservative. To calculate it, do an actual cost analysis of how much you need to
250 https://support.indiegogo.com/hc/en-us/articles/204458068-Checklist-Before-Creating-A-Campaign.
251 https://www.kickstarter.com/help/handbook#defining_your_project.252 CrowdFundBeat. Ben Lamson. How to Successfully Crowdfund for Your
Nonprofit. November 14, 2013.
Photo taken of volunteers during the “paint and run” school renovation campaign led by the Sudanese youth group Education Without Borders, December 2012.
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• implement your project; then look at the size of your network of “real” supporters. Indiegogo advises that you should plan to get about 30 percent of donations from your direct network and community.253 Do not forget to filter in the processing fees of the crowdfunding platform that you will use, as well as the cost of awards or perks (if you choose to offer them). Be conservative and choose a minimum funding amount that will allow you to meet your objectives.
• The length of your campaign should allow you to build momentum and at the same time engage with your audience for a sufficient amount of time. Shorter campaigns are usually more effective. Remember that your campaign will require human resources as well as a lot of follow-up and interaction with your audience, so 30 days is much more reasonable than 60.
• Prepare your communication/media pitch. Both Indiegogo and Kickstarter stress that projects with a video are much more successful. A video does not have to be expensively produced or of professional
253 http://go.indiegogo.com/playbook/life-cycle-phase/setting-up-your-campaign.
1. Build a community of supporters
2. Create crowdfunding team
3. Set clear and time-bound objectives
4. Set a realistic monetary goal
5. Decide length of campaign
6. Prepare a media pitch
7. Pick an image and a title
8. Have a soft launch
9. Spread the word
10. Reach donors online and/or offline
11. Thank your backers
12. Update your supporters
13. Capture lessons learned
13 steps to running a
crowdfunding campaign13 steps to running a crowdfunding campaign
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quality, but make sure that it is short (three to four minutes) and explains who you are, what you want to do and how. The more personal your video the better, so try to tell a personal and compelling story – people often donate because they believe in individuals. Also, write a short narrative description that you can add below the video and send to your closest friends and community via email.
• Pick an image and title. Your title should be short and should capture the essence of your project.
• Do a soft launch. Draw a list of your closest friends and supporters and contact them before the official launch to ask them to make a contribution within the first three days. This will help you start above the zero mark. Building this early momentum will encourage those outside your network to donate when they see that others have already done so.
• Spread the word. Count on your personal network of friends, family and professional supporters first and foremost. Prepare email lists and a description of the project beforehand. Include clear directions on how to donate and provide a link to your campaign page. Use social media to spread the word and ask your main supporters to share.
• Reach your donors wherever they are. If some of your essential supporters are shy with using technology to donate, reach them in the way that is most comfortable for them. Consider hosting an offline fundraiser to supplement your crowdfunding campaign. Allow supporters to give via cash or checks or to send credit via text messaging.
• Thanking your backers is key. All crowdfunding platforms send an automatic confirmation and a thank you message to donors after each contribution. However, a personal message of gratitude goes a long way. Some perks include handwritten postcards and thank you notes. Thanking your donors during the campaign allows you to update them on how your campaign is doing and to ask them to help out by recruiting a friend or two and spreading the message to their networks.
• Long-term communication and updates. Once your crowdfunding campaign is over, plan to send two to three updates during the implementation phase of your project. They can be short videos or text supported by photos. Long-term communication after your fundraiser is done builds credibility with your community and demonstrates impact that ensures future support.
• Learn and capture lessons. Most crowdfunding platforms have analytics and metrics to track the progress of your campaign in real time. You can know things like: the number of people who visited your page; the geographic location of your backers; how much is being donated per day; and where the donations are coming from (email solicitations, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). In Indiegogo, for example, you can also see how much everyone in your campaign team is raising. Collectively this data can be used to help you see what outreach strategies are working best, and what you may need to change for the next time.
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Interview: Crowdfunding for the OUR SUDAN short film
Sudanese civil society’s creative and artistic efforts are starting to slowly turn to the internet and specifically to crowdfunding to secure financial support for projects. Recently, we have especially seen this in the creation of short films such as OUR SUDAN254 and Adam & Howa,255 which screened at the Cannes Film Festival “2015 Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase,” in May 2015. With Sudan suffering from US imposed sanctions, Sudanese citizens inside Sudan are not able to do any financial transactions online. Hence the support of Sudanese diaspora members with crowdfunding is essential.
Dimah Abdulkarim, who was part of the OUR SUDAN support team that oversaw the crowdfunding process256 joined us for this interview. She is an American-Sudanese, has a background in international development and peacebuilding, and has been living in Sudan for the last two years, working as an organizer in supporting grassroots civil society environmental organizations.
254 YouTube. Northernlightist. OUR SUDAN. June 6, 2013.255 Kickstarter. Sarra Idris and Mitch Stockwell. Adam & Howa: A short fantasy film
set in Khartoum, Sudan.256 Kickstarter. The Our Sudan Team. Our Sudan: A Short Film to Inspire A New
Generation. February 17, 2013.
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Q1. Can you explain your role as a recently returning Sudanese from the diaspora, and the basic requirements that make crowdfunding technically possible?
In Sudan, I worked with development NGOs, and I’ve participated in grassroots work on a volunteer basis with organizations working on environmental issues and peacebuilding. But I quickly realized, soon after arriving to Sudan and after having become acquainted with people within my own generation (I’m in my 20s), that Sudanese young people learn of others with similar interests through online platforms. They also make contact and mobilize through online platforms, the biggest being Facebook.
Crowdfunding in Sudan is still not yet developed or extensively utilized or even realized. Most people here are not familiar with online opportunities for funding, mainly because crowdfunding sites, such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo, are developed in countries that economically sanction Sudan.
So even though in Sudan [there are] great ideas for business projects, or interesting technological or scientific inventions, or social enterprise and initiatives, those who are also aware of these platforms for raising funds online have no easy access to Kickstarter or Indiegogo or any other online crowdfunding platforms. They are, unfortunately, not allowed to access established, reliable crowdfunding sites.
The sole technical requirement to be able to access crowdfunding sites [from inside Sudan], is to have access to online banking in a non-sanctioned country, so donors can wire money through their accounts. Donors must also have non-sanctioned bank accounts, and as you know Sudan is not one of those countries.
Q2. OUR SUDAN chose Kickstarter as the platform to execute the crowdfunding. Did you consider or research other crowdfunding platforms? Why did you choose Kickstarter?
We were simply more familiar with Kickstarter at the time. We chose Kickstarter because, after looking at some of the other online crowdfunding options, we decided we simply liked Kickstarter more.
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Q3. Was it hard to reach your designated funding goal? Was it nerve-wracking given that with Kickstarter you have to meet your goal or more, otherwise you do not collect anything at all?
The challenges that we faced came in different forms, shapes and sizes. It was nerve-wracking using Kickstarter. We had to really work to reach our funding goals. We knew from the onset though that it wasn’t enough to simply make the video project cool, upload it to the Kickstarter page, and then sit back and watch the thumbs rolling. We had to solicit our friends and family by sending emails, making calls, and redirecting them to our Kickstarter page. We also created a Facebook page and a Twitter account which generated visibility for the short film and it sourced a lot of potential individual donors.
The challenge that we faced was that we wanted to source people in Sudan as potential donors, we didn’t want to just stick to the Kickstarter page and the Kickstarter account mode of fundraising. We attempted other fundraising options. We approached some of the local businesses here, for instance, for sponsorship and support, some of whom followed through.
Q4. Can you speak about the challenges you faced – specific to the technology and also more generally to fundraising?
We have faced challenges, some of which we are still facing actually, even after the finishing of the filmmaking aspect of the project. For example, part of the Kickstarter mandate is that people who give above a certain amount, even a small amount, receive gifts in exchange for their donations. Our gifts came in the form of t-shirts and posters and some other merchandise items. The project team decided that the items must be made in Sudan. Being that we’re operating in a sanctioned country, we’ve experienced (and still are experiencing) the difficulty of shipping these items to all 130 of our donors who are all over the world. It’s not as straightforward as posting the items from Khartoum and mailing them. Just like we had to rely on those of us in the project team who have offshore bank accounts to establish the Kickstarter account, we also have to rely on those of us who can travel so they can ship these items from a non-sanctioned country.
This is actually quite heavy; remember we are a small project team. All of us have full-time jobs. Imagine carrying all this merchandise with you from Sudan to the UK, in order to mail it to our individual donors in Canada and the US.
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It is a requirement from Kickstarter that you give gifts to your donors. The idea is that you incentivize donors to give to a particular project more money by saying, “Hey, if you give me a dollar, you’ll get a thanks or a pat on the back maybe. If you give me 10 dollars you might get a bumper sticker. If you give me 50 you’ll get a t-shirt ...” It’s like an incentive system with donors to feel gratified in giving. I think that’s the Kickstarter model. I don’t know if Indiegogo is the same, or if other crowdfunding sites are necessarily quite as incentivized.
As far as challenges are concerned, regarding the project execution in Sudan, Sudan is not a country known for its civil rights – in fact we’re known recently for quite the opposite. The OUR SUDAN project is essentially a media project, unaffiliated with the State, and it’s also a not-for-profit project. So we knew what dangers there were for us in the making of this film and the risks involved in its message. There were a lot of challenges in that sense that coupled with the difficulties and obstacles in accessing crowdfunding sites from a sanctioned country like Sudan.
CONCLUSION
Conclusion
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ConclusionSocial change is messy, complex, and often requires a timeframe of several generations, with the bulk of the work taking place offline – on the ground. Technology is therefore only one small ingredient in a complicated web of requirements.
In oppressive environments especially, the important role of ICTs in amplifying marginalized voices, creating complex networks and allowing people, beyond the usual like-minded crowd, to connect and dialogue in relatively safer spaces, is likely to remain relevant in the foreseeable future.
Every decade or so there are new innovations and trends in ICTs that change the fabric of human interaction. Therefore, technology itself is ephemeral, and what is more lasting is how individuals, organized groups or communities, whether loosely organized or institutionalized, use ICTs to peacefully address social justice challenges and to bring about peaceful social change. Hence, the focus of this guidebook has been on strategies, tactics and ICT-based tools that enable such social change to happen; as opposed to explaining how the technologies themselves work.
One longer-term value this guidebook hopes to offer is through the in-depth interviews with a diverse array of experts and practitioners, and the case studies that provide a wealth of practical perspectives on how collective organized action that is using ICTs strategically and creatively (and often in oppressive and/or developmentally challenging environments), can lead to positive change.
This guidebook, to some extent, also offers a focus on clarifying processes and workflow when using ICTs for organized campaigning, such as the sections on “How to Organize a Social Media Advocacy Campaign” or “How to Run a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign”. While capturing, documenting and improving upon processes and workflow may seem simple or natural for institutionalized civil society groups, a sizable amount of collective action today is taking place by citizens who are connecting and networking offline and online, without prior experience in campaigning or activism. And who are organizing horizontally and in a decentralized fashion and pouring a lot of effort into identifying processes that work for them – often having to start from scratch every single time and failing to document or keep a track record that others can build upon.
The possibility of allowing civil society, as well as all citizens, to organize more strategically is an opportunity that calls for creating more robust, multilingual platforms that make such knowledge about easy-to-follow steps and successful digital campaigning tactics and case studies more readily available in an accessible, non-technical language. In this regard this guidebook only touched the surface.
