By Anika, our Cool Nerd Queen Kachingler – Social Media Marketing Manager, located in Bremen, Germany
We proudly present our first Happy Kachingler!
Name: Ansgar Warner
Twitter: e_book_news
Homepage: http://www.e-book-news.de
Ansgar Warner works as author and journalist in Berlin. He is writing and producing articles for magazines and the radio but his passions are e-books and everything about them.
When was the first time you heard about Kachingle? What were your thoughts about it?
Actually that dates back to late 2009. I was looking for working examples of crowdfunding concepts and then I stumbled upon Kachingle. I was immediately spellbound by the name which sounded mysteriously hillbilly-Germanesque, I thought like “Hm, must be some geeky stuff invented by a Herr or Frau Kachingle from Bavaria or Swabia”.
When I grasped the idea behind it I was even more thrilled. Because Kachingle came right at the moment when German media corporations began discussing paywalls & started yelling about the immorality of “Kostenlos-Kultur” (“culture of free content”). And whoops there was a ready-to-use solution to the problem that did not imply the use of paywalls or clunky DRM-techniques. But okay, most of the newspapers are still on the wrong track, with prominent exceptions like die tageszeitung (taz.de).
What I liked even more were the apparent prospects for blogger, independent authors & journalists. Many of them were looking for a way to monetize their work without having to rely on ads or sponsoring. Crowdfunding was an intelligent approach to fill the gap, and Kachingle gave them a simple and effective way to reach their crowds.
What is your favorite feature of Kachingle?
Well, it has to be KachingleX, because now I’m kachingling my favorite news sites & magazines, some of which I proposed myself to the Kachingle staff. And as I’m a fan of guerilla marketing I really love the “friendly takeover” flavor of the plugin. It’s a very clever way to actively promote crowdfunding. And maybe someday in the near future at least some of the sites that have been shanghaied virtually will rethink their views on crowdfunding & the open Internet.
Which are your favorite sites?
The sites I’m visiting most often are taz.de and Wikipedia. But I also like well-made blogs like Carta, Medialdigital or Netzpolitik. And to tell you a secret: I’m a true fan of Bunny the K9 Kachingler and his doggy blogspot page 
Do you think the world is ready for saving the Open Web? Or is it too early? Or are people too selfish?
The best time to save the world is always now, so I guess it should be the same for the open web. Even more so because people are beginning to realize that a big part of their world is happening online. The digital natives are starting to change everyday life, and the rise of crowdfunding is part of that process. I would even argue that social media make people become less and less selfish and take new responsibilities within their virtual communities.
What group or type of people do you think would be most interested in becoming a Kachingler?
I think for early adopters there were certain criteria, like being a digital native, showing extraordinary commitment for their agenda, but by now the idea of kachingling online content should appeal to everybody. People do want to have full control over where there money goes and who they are helping, instead of giving it all away to opaque corporations and their anonymous shareholders…
Why do you love Kachingle?
…and that’s what I like most about Kachingle: namely the individual approach. Okay it’s the crowd, the big numbers that make crowdfunding work, but then if you take a closer look Kachingle is transparent in both ways, you’ll see who is making donations to this or that creator of content, and how often. You could really call it the “Facebook of crowdfunding”. If I know who’s funding my site, I feel much more flattered than by abstract numbers.
Do you want to be a Happy Kachingler, too? Send us an email, and you will receive our questionnaire!
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