Die Presse is one of the major daily newspapers in Austria and this article covers the recent German launch of our service. Two of our early adopters, Bill Mitchell (Poynter Entrepreneurs) and David Röthler(http://politik.netzkompetenz.at/), are quoted. Mitchell explains that neither paywalls nor advertising will provide sufficient revenue for major media companies but crowdfunding (a la Kachingle) just might. Röthler says he likes Kachingle’s simplicity, transparency and social recognition.

Crowd Founding mittels Kleinstbeträgen gilt in den USA als Erfolgsmodell für Onlinemedien. Zum Beispiel via “Kachingle”, das eben auf Deutsch gestartet ist

Bill Mitchell, Leiter u. a. der internationalen Programme, meint: „Simple Bezahlschranken (Paywalls) im Internet werden nicht funktionieren.“ Mehrere große Medien, darunter die „New York Times“ wollen demnächst Geld für ihre Online-Artikel verlangen. Doch mit dem einfachen Verlagern des Zeitungsgeschäfts in die digitale Welt – z.B. klassische Inserate, die zu Onlinebannern werden – sei es nicht getan, so Mitchell. Stattdessen rät er: Werbeagenturen sollten sich in Sachen Vertrieb ihrer Botschaften etwas ganz Neues einfallen lassen. Medien sollten Partnerschaften – „frenemies“, halb Freund, halb Konkurrent – schließen.

Am Poynter-Institut hält man das Kachingle-Modell für erfolgversprechend. „Weil es so transparent ist“, sagt auch Mitchell. Und dabei auch auf sich selbst nicht vergisst: 20Prozent der „Spende“ des Users an seine Kachingle-Lieblingsseiten, also rund 80Euro-Cent, behält die Plattform ein. Für Kosten und „Profit“. Nötig für die, die keinen Stifter wie Poynter im Rücken haben.


Our English Translation:

„Kachingle“: A piggy bank gets generous

In the US, crowd funding via micropayments is deemed a successful approach for online media. For example with “Kachingle”, which recently became available in German.

“I haven’t met my great-grandchildren. I might not like them”, said American publisher Nelson Poynter in 1975 and established a foundation, just three years before his death. Still today the St. Petersburg Times benefits from this legacy. And it serves a second cause: the financing of the “Poynter Institute”, a school for journalism and a media research institution. “Die Presse am Sonntag” visited it in April.

Bill Mitchell, among other duties in charge of the international programs, says: “Simple paywalls won’t work on the internet”. Several major websites, one of them the New York Times, intend to charge money for access to their articles. But simply transferring the newspaper business to the digital world – like turning classical paper ads into online-banners – is not enough, according to Mitchell. Instead his advice is: Advertisement agencies should come up with completely new concepts to get their messages across. Content producers should build partnerships among themselves, acting as “frenemies” – half friend, half enemy.

The one they should treat as their real friend is the reader: He should be offered something special for which he doesn’t have to be
forced to pay (with paywalls), but is rather willing to pay for out of his free will. Out of his free will? There is prove that this is possible even today: Journalism-platforms already ask there user for donations – for example spot.us or the international correspondent-agency globalpost.com. Both can (to some extent) live from their revenue. Another example is Kachingle: Every user pays 5 USD per month, which is then distributed to media-sites, blogs and platforms that he visits.

The name is based on the American “Kaching”, which represents the sound of a cash register. Since last week the service can be used in a German version. As of now users in Austria, Germany and Switzerland also pay 5 USD, but a euro version is said to be in the works.

One of the test participants in the German-speaking internet was Salzburg-based blogger David Röthler (politik.netzkompetenz.at). In the end of 2009 he placed the Kachingle-button on his website – with one simple click the user supports the blogger with a part of his 5 dollars. Röthler came into contact with the US venture by meeting its European head online. He sees the transparency of the transactions and the symbolic recognition associated with the payment as the key features of Kachingle. He claims to have earned about 15€ with his blog, which he updates infrequently. “Ridiculous”, says Röthler – but he is more interested in the system of “crowd funding” than in his mere profit.

At the Poynter-institute the Kachingle model is regarded as promising. “Because of its transparency”, says Mitchell as well. But it doesn’t ignore its own needs: 20 percent of the users’ donations to their favorite sites are kept by the platform. For costs and “profits”. Necessary for those who cannot rely on a foundation like Poynter’s.