I’ll admit it, sometimes when nobody is looking I’ll watch a late night infomercial. These people are fascinating to watch. They are master salespeople.

I realize the idea of a journalist fundraising money for their work is new. Normally it’s a duty we’d hand off to the advertising/marketing people and stick to creating content. But “the times they are-a changing” and so is the job description. There is a reason why freelance journalists have to write a “pitch.” They are selling their services. Normally we sell to high-end repeat customers (editors) because they have a freelance budget. But Spot.Us believes that journalists should pitch the public and that if members of the public band together they too can have a freelance budget.

Rather than treat journalists fundraising as taboo, we should have a healthy discussion about the right and wrong approach. I don’t claim to know the answers, so your comments are valued.

Raising money online isn’t easy. It’s an art. At BlogHer last week I heard a wonderful discussion where Beth Kanter explained how she raised 90k for Cambodian children. I imagine most reporters are going to be raising 2-3k for topics that are very close to people’s lives, such as the upcoming SF election. My point here: yes, it is possible.

What are the best practices? Are they different for text and video? How can journalists best explain the value of their services? I don’t claim to know the answers to these questions (so your comments are highly valued), but I do think these questions need to be tackled. If journalists are going to become more independent, they need to learn how to re-master the art of the pitch.

The list below is my own and I think will evolve over time.

10 Things to Keep in Mind To Get Community Funded Reporting

Creating the pitch

1. Make it clear. Explain the value proposition to potential donors. Answer this question: “What valuable information are they going to get if they donate.”

2. The more precise and clearer you are on the deliverables of the pitch the easier it is for somebody to pledge.

3. Use multi-media. Even a quick video of you talking to a camera explaining your pitch can go a long way. If you have a webcam most video sites like YouTube or Viddler will let you record directly from your computer. Check how Chris Amico did it in this Seesmic video.

4. Be creative and have fun with it!!! Show your passion and it will come through.

Spreading the word

1. Selling points: (a. At Spot.Us credit cards are only charged IF the fundraising goal is reached, so you know your donation is meaningful. (b. This will be free high quality content that will be made available to the public to republish anywhere, including blogs. (c. Tax deductible donation. (d. If a news organization buys the rights to the story, donors will get their money back.

2. Spread the word through social networks: Start with your personal networks on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace. Reach out to new social networks on Ning, meetup.com or Yahoo’s Upcoming but only if you think it will serve their interests.

3. If you know specific people that would be interested contact them directly. The best outreach is personal. People are (literally) 100x more likely to donate if somebody they know asks them.

Who Are Potential Donors?

1. Civic organizations: nonprofits, community organizations and good willed companies. No matter the pitch there is probably an organization that would support it, even if they just spread the word to their own members.

2. Bloggers and small news organizations: Passionate bloggers will be happy to spread the word if your pitch is about a topic they believe in. That’s what Eco-Localizer did and when the article is finished, they’ll have high quality content to republish. Try Placeblogger, blogcatalog.com, BlogNetNews or just Google Blog Search to find and meet new bloggers.

3. Small news organizations: You’d be surprised how open small news organizations are to working with new people. Don’t forget – this could result in low-cost, high quality content for them.

Related posts:

1. Spot.Us Publishes Content – You Can Make Money Off It
2. Lessons from – Have Money Will Vlog
3. Spot.Us Gives Lunch Money Back to Users – Two Stories Refunded by Two New Partners
4. Support Fact-Checking in San Francisco's Election
5. Proof of Concept – Coming Up!