Credit: Reveal

Earlier this month, we launched a Kickstarter campaign to help us take our radio show and podcast weekly in 2016 and power more partner-driven investigations. With your contributions, our Collaborations Fund will enable us to produce more in-depth reporting with local radio stations, other nonprofit news organizations, newspapers and more.

We’ve made great progress so far with our Kickstarter. Fourteen days into our campaign, we’ve raised nearly $15,000 of our $75,000 goal. To sweeten the pot for contributors, we’re offering some stellar rewards from our multitalented staff, including one-of-a-kind music playlists, custom voice messages, DJ classes, an hourlong coffee brewing lesson and more.

But in order to hit our mark, we need more of you to give. That’s why we’re rolling out two special new sets of bonus rewards that we’ll unlock as we move closer to our goal. Here’s what’s in store:

Our ‘GIF’ to you

Let’s face it: Reporting serious investigations sometimes calls for some decidedly nonserious downtime. At each $5,000 benchmark (starting at $15,000), we’ll share a new GIF of a Reveal staffer performing a hidden talent. It could be juggling, blindfolded free-throw shooting or an impeccably choreographed performance of Drake’s “Hotline Bling.” We’ll accompany each new GIF with a teaser about the next one. You won’t want to miss our grand finale at $75,000.

Watch our staff perform ‘Periscope karaoke’

You heard it here first: It is impossible to spell “investigate” without the word “sing” tucked in there. So we’re handing the mic over to Reveal staffers and taking your requests. To submit a song, just drop it in a comment on Kickstarter after you’ve donated. With each new $10,000 (starting at the $20,000 mark), we’ll select a staff member and pull a request from our hallowed press fedora. The uncut ( and non-auto-tuned) performances will stream live via Reveal’s Periscope account. We’ll send out a one-hour warning each time we hit a goal, so keep a close eye on Reveal’s social media.

By the way, there’s still time to snag one of our original staff-powered rewards. To learn more about them and the work you can help support in 2016, please visit our Kickstarter page.

Byard Duncan is a reporter and producer for  engagement and collaborations for Reveal. He manages Reveal’s Reporting Networks, which provide more than 1,000 local journalists across the U.S. with resources and training to continue Reveal investigations in their communities. He also helps lead audience engagement initiatives around Reveal’s stories and assists local reporters in elevating their work to a national platform. In addition to Reveal, Duncan’s work has appeared in GQ, Esquire, The California Sunday Magazine and Columbia Journalism Review, among other outlets. He was part of Reveal’s Behind the Smiles project team, which was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2019. He is the recipient of two Edward R. Murrow Awards, a National Headliner Award, an Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award, and two first-place awards for feature storytelling from the Society of Professional Journalists and Best of the West. Duncan is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.