And now, the good news: Borderland exceeded its fundraising goals, by $20! Keeping track of the progress on my Apple, hour by hour, was a hair-raising process last night. This morning brought a great finale to the story of Comics with a cause: “Borderland” warns kids about human trafficking: $8020 from 157 backers will allow Dan Archer and Olga Trusova to distribute the comic — seven true stories by human trafficking survivors — in Eastern Europe. Dan, a founder of Archcomix.com and a 2010 John S. Knight Journalism Fellow, and Olga, a Fulbright Fellow from Stanford University, are understandably jubilant.
“We are very grateful to everyone who contributed on Kickstarter! This makes it possible for us to print and distribute the comic in the U.S. and to also reach a wider audience with an interactive iPhone app in order to raise awareness about human trafficking in the West. The Ukrainian version of the book will also be distributed to 136 schools in Ukraine by the International Organization for Migration. Additionally, we are talking with the U.S. Embassy in Kiev about having an exhibit to showcase Borderland as a preventative educational material for youth.
Half of the jubilant team
In terms of fundraising, Dan and I have reached out to our respective communities of educators, journalists, artists, designers, NGOs, activists, students, etc. and it’s been great to see so many people come forth to support the project. Kickstarter placed us in the “Featured” section of the website, which also brought its core audience to learn about Borderland. Overall, we utilized a lot of social media tools and in-person events in our outreach campaign, and have especially seen an increase in support in the beginning and at the end of the pledge drive.”
See more about their story in yesterday’s post.
Tags: comics, Dan Archer, graphic novels, Olga Trusova