The Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) and crowdfunding website Indiegogo have partnered to offer Canadian documentary filmmakers a bit of a break.

Under the partnership, documentary filmmakers who are members of DOC and who put their campaign on the DOC’s partner page will save 25% on Indiegogo’s admin fees. For a campaign that reaches its fundraising goal, the admin fee is usually 4% – with the partnership, it will be 3%. For campaigns that do not meet their goal, Indiegogo charges a fee of 9%. Under the DOC partnership, that fee would be 6.75%. The fees are based on the fundraising goal of the campaign.

The announcement comes on the heels of a DOC-commissioned report released in May by DOC, analyzing the state of alternative funding in Canada.

With inventory for documentaries declining on traditional TV channels, and funding often tied to broadcaster greenlights, doc-makers are facing an increasingly challenging financing landscape. And, as the report noted, alternative financing options are few and far between, making crowdfunding an increasingly popular financing tool.

Thirty-five per cent of Canadian documentary filmmakers surveyed used crowdfunding to support their projects, with an average Kickstarter campaign raising only about $10,000 to $20,000 for feature-length projects.

“It is, right now, probably the only true alternative means of financing,” Lisa Fitzgibbons, executive director of DOC, told Playback Daily, noting that crowdfunding presents unique challenges, such as determining what a realistic goal might be for your project.

“There is a learning curve for those who are undertaking it,” Fitzgibbons said.