A public-private partnership

Crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, where contributors earn rewards in kind, are often likened to fundraisers for public broadcasting. "99% Invisible" flips this logic on its head. The quirky, design-oriented public-radio show has raised $160,000 through Kickstarter to produce the next season. Other public-radio types are taking notice.

Roman Mars, who produces and hosts "99% Invisible", turned to crowdfunding as an experiment to gauge the audience's interest in a third series of the program, which runs 4.5 minutes on broadcast radio (with a separately edited longer podcast version available) and considers topics such as audio poetry of sounds made by escalators, the origins of the use of cavemen in GEICO ads and reasons for the limited supply of Trappist beer. Mars, who runs the show on top of his part-time involvement with the Public Radio Exchange (PRX), a non-profit that helps stations share programs, wondered if it had enough of a following to bypass the footwork necessary to secure regular underwriters (firms and individuals who receive short sponsor messages during broadcasts) and to raise extra revenue to hire additional help. Should the Kickstarter drive have flopped, Mars says he would have been winding the show down. Its roaring success means Mars is able not only to make more episodes, but think beyond the third season and into new related projects, such as a book. He is not, however, planning to tap Kickstarter again. Since the show will have proved its viability and popularity, underwriters should be knocking on Mars's door.