Appeals to insure Kedistan’s sustainability will continue, although in a modified format.
Following the retrospective on the outgoing year, the beginning of a new one is always an occasion for great resolutions.
Several hundreds of you provided financial support which allowed for Kedistan’s continuity since our last appeal, 17 months ago.
We received 6965 € in donations to cover the 6800 € budget required to insure Kedistan’s livelihood over that period. And so, once again, a huge thank you to those of you who contributed. Needless to say, 6500 € have already been spent.
17 months of Kedistan represents the publication of over 2000 articles and a freely accessible archive on Turkey and parts of the Middle-East. As a reminder, the small team of volunteers, whether journalists or not, has grown and changed over time.
17 months, now resting on a registered status as an association, represents 17 months of layouts and publication, translations (now also in English), partnerships, whether online or during public events. Those months also represent powerful human contacts and ongoing links.
Those of you who read us regularly know that we provided logistical support to some campaigns, such as the one for writer Aslı Erdoğan, who is now fully in the limelight at last, still facing charges but, luckily on “time-out” in Germany. You were wonderful on that one. We can’t say as much for the ones who provided support in the final hours, attracted by said limelight… Once Asli was out on provisional release, you also know we started telling you about Zehra Doğan, another emblematic figure in the resistance, a young Kurdish woman aged 28, who is a journalist, a writer and a painter combined. She will be everywhere on our website in 2018 and we will do everything so that she can be out in the light of day too, just as Aslı Erdoğan. And we hope not to be alone on that essential emergency either.
A few figures for the year now ending. (Source : statistics from Kedistan server)
1 185 000 readers including 480 000 habitual connections.
6 537 000 articles read, for an average of 5 articles read per connection.
(For the geeks among you, there were some 21 million hits on the site in 2017).
To this date, readers identified as “connection originating in France” remain the highest, representing 60% of the total. Followed, in declining order, by the United States of America, Great Britain, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, Spain, China, Israel, Italy, Switzerland…and many others. Statistics for Turkey are unreliable since VPNs often move traffic statistics over to more “exotic” locations.
You should also know that, in order not to expose our readers to any number of web searches, we have eliminated the statistics delivered to google, and that those on our own server will always remain confidential.
So here we are with a responsibility to insure that the alternative information source that is Kedistan, among others, stays active and in constant improvement.
Don’t worry, we’re not interested by the “buzz” nor is our ambition to boost figures and become the Middle-Eastern version of Paris Match. We will continue to inform outside the mainstream, be it on the website or on our social media accounts. Therefore, we won’t be wasting donations to buy sponsors for our articles or “likes” on Facebook…
Let’s get back to the appeal.
Between now and end of January 2018, we will be redesigning the existing “crowdfunding” since it appears complicated to some and not sufficiently practical at first sight. It will remain on the Hello Asso site which is no more and no less ethical than others, but less prone to merchandizing and well secured.
For instance, those who wish to donate small monthly amounts will be invited to do so.
As a reminder, the magazine requires an average of 400 € per month to insure its security, ongoing operations, maintenance, travel and reserves for recurring expenses. No one in the team is paid for their work.
Therefore, the mutual support requested is within the capabilities of our readers, if we look at the statistics mentioned above. Even 1 € when you come by would be largely enough if everyone proceeded to donate in three clicks (this is meant for those who haven’t tried yet, of course).
We understand you may feel as if funding appeals rain down on you from every website, not to mention the firemen’s or the postal workers’ calendars – or you income tax return. But what is left of free internet access if worth a bit of mutual support in its defence.
Finally, you have surely noticed that Facebook regularly makes trouble for us. Not really because our content upsets them (although, who knows…) but mainly because we don’t play the sponsor game on our articles nor are we willing to pay for “likes”, something we will never do. So, start by visiting the Kedistan Facebook page, or subscribe to our Twitter feed if you use that service. And get into the simple habit of sharing our articles, when you agree with them, by clicking on the article itself, or directly from the social media page. This help is even more precious that a donation.
For now, still in its current formula, here is our funding appeal for Kedistan’s ongoing financial health.
For transfers:
Les amis du Kedistan Crédit Mutuel / CM Mazé
IBAN FR76 1027 8394 1000 0219 6880 186
BIC CMCIFR2A
For online donations: Click on the illustration below
Français : Appel à dons… Encore et toujours pour Kedistan Cliquez pour lire