IFCN Crowdfunding Match Program

1. Applicants must be an organization that is a signatory of the IFCN’s Code of Principles.
2. Applicants must be conducting a public online crowdfunding campaign and it should end before May 15, 2022. 
3. The match is conditional on the crowdfunding campaign being supported by at least 150 individual donors. Campaigns with 300 donors or more will be strongly preferred.
4. The IFCN will review applications that meet the above requirements and award the match according to the need for the funds and the potential impact of the project, with an eye to ensuring geographic balance among recipients of the match.
5. Applicants should be ready to be interviewed about their goals.
6. The IFCN will match up to $20,000 per individual campaign.
7. Previous recipients can’t apply again.
8. Crowdfunding campaigns run by organizations with legal or financial ties to The Poynter Institute or its staff are not eligible.

$10,000 in September-December 2017. Fully assigned (see below).

$30,000 in January-December 2018. Fully assigned(see below).

$15,000 in January-December 2019. Fully assigned(see below).

$50,000 in November 2021-May 2022

1. Submit your application at least three weeks before the closing date of your crowdfunding campaign through this form. For this edition, the crowdfunding campaign should end by May 15, 2022.
2. The IFCN will evaluate applications within two weeks. Due to the large number of applications we expect to receive, we will only follow up with finalists. If you do not hear back within two weeks from your application, it is not being considered.
3. Applicants should be ready to interview about their goals.
4. We will only match until we exhaust the total yearly amount available, so apply early.

2017 matched campaigns

Descriptions are submitted by the organizations 

CHEQUEADO

Chequeado conducted its fifth annual crowdfunding campaign between Sept. 18 and Oct. 22, 2017. The campaign sought small donations from a diffuse group of donors. Crowdfunding is the ideal platform by which we preserve our autonomy and editorial independence. Furthermore, this campaign had the added advantage of creating a medium through which we could directly involve our audience in our mission. This was especially significant as, beyond fact-checking, Chequeado seeks to engage and educate the public in the process of fact-checking. Our aim was to raise $150.000 ARS (around $8,500) through 200 donors. Our message this year was clear and at the core of Chequeado´s mission: Become one of the 200 defenders of truth. We surpassed our goal, raising $193.696 ARS (around $11,000) through 215 donors. In addition, thanks to IFCN matching fund of $5,000, we reached a total of $16,000. With this support, we have been able to cover the midterm elections in Argentina, contributing to the debate with facts and fact-checking the leading candidates.

DOGRULUK PAYI

Dogruluk Payi from Turkey had a successful two-week-long fundraising campaign, collecting 30.000 Turkish Liras ($7,500)  from 342 supporters. The fundraising campaign supported by the IFCN crowd-funding match program was instrumental in developing the bond between the Turkish fact-checking organization and its follower base, which counts up to 200,000 users on Facebook and Twitter combined. RTs and endorsements from various figures, including celebrities in the country, showed how Dogruluk Payi managed to present fact-checking as a tool to promote data-driven political discourse in the politically polarized country.

2018 matched campaigns

Descriptions are submitted by the organizations 

VOX CHECK

In December 2017, the Ukrainian fact-checking project VoxCheck started monitoring and rating of statements of top Ukrainian politicians ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine in 2019. At the same time, VoxCheck launched its second crowdfunding campaign. VoxCheck aims to prepare an online anthology of falsehood and manipulation, based on the project’s regular monitoring and fact-checking. The platform will be available to users by January 2019. During its crowdfunding campaign, VoxCheck collected 582.,??000 hryvnya (or $22,400) from 355 donors with a target 500 000 ($19,200). The IFCN matching program support amounted to $15,000, bringing the crowdfunding total to $37,400. With this support, VoxCheck will be able to cover political rhetoric until the end of 2019 and launch the anthology.

LA SILLA VACIA

The Colombian independent journalism outlet and fact-checker La Silla Vacía attracted more than 1,000 small donors for the first time in its history. In its sixth annual crowdfunding campaign Oct. 11-Nov. 19, La Silla raised $145.052.000 Colombian pesos (about $45,400) from 1,146 donors. The organization views SúperAmigos (its small donors) as partners and members of our community. They are responsible for making possible several projects possible. This year, with their support and the additional $15,000 from IFCN’s crowdfunding match, the newsroom will increase its social media presence with new content specifically developed to reach the audiences on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The goal is to be closer to the misinformation that circulates on social media so as to have a greater focus in fact-checking them. With regional elections next year, the objective is to rapidly detect false claims of candidates.

2019 matched campaigns

Descriptions are submitted by the organizations themselves

MALDITO BULO

2019 will be crucial in Spain. We will have European elections, as well as local and regional elections — maybe even a general election. Disinformation already proved \an excellent tool to somehow shift and influence a large number of voters. With the IFCN’s help, we will bring a new person for one year to MALDITA.ES to join our political disinformation team. With this new help, we will improve our vigilance over disinformation, investigate and publish more cases and strengthen our reach, defending the right of every person to truthful information.