case questions at bottom

Bellingcat's staff and contributors in over 20 countries have adopted an open approach to their investigations and share their methods of newsgathering. Being accountable and pooling these sources is a core element of their values. As transparency is so important, they share their resources model. Their income is funded by a range of grants, plus they hold chargeable workshops and request donations on their website. There's a Call to action (see Key Term in Chapter 3) on the website that states: "Your donation to Bellingcat is a direct contribution to our research. With your support, we will con- tinue to publish groundbreaking investigations and uncover wrongdoing all around the world." To collect these donations, they use the crowdfunding platform Patreon (see Chapter 11) which enables them to take recurring contributions. Additionally, they explain that some companies provide in-kind donations of MarTech and these are listed on their website. Unlike many organisations, they also share details of staff salaries which are based on the NGO (non-governmental organisations) sector salary scale and they follow guide- lines from the Charities Association in the Netherlands (Goede Doelen Nederland), as the Bellingcat website notes: The remuneration for staff and employees is within the middle of the NGO-sector salary scale. The yearly remuneration of the executive director is 90.000 EUR (including pension and holiday allowance). This explicit approach not just to sharing the salaries, but also to justifying why they have been set at these levels, is unusual. However, it is part of the organisation's DNA - they need to make sure that their entire business model is open for anyone to examine. Case questions Bellingcat's business is based on sharing its resources - how can the organisation ensure it continues to be successful if digital competitors appear? What other methods of income generation could Bellingcat adopt? The marketing model for many charities is based on donations. What challenges may arise when creating a budget based on donations