We are radically independent

In-depth investigative journalism takes time. The support from contributing members gives our journalists the freedom to pursue the stories they believe are most important. We do not feature advertisements or sponsored content of any kind on our website, which means that advertisers cannot influence what we write. The same applies to the grants and donations we receive: nobody apart from our editorial staff has any say over our content; nobody tells us what to research or write.

Would you like to know how we spend our money and where our income comes from? Then read our 2021 annual financial report (in Dutch).

Corporate social responsibility

Follow the Money is not a charity but a company with a responsibility towards society. To ensure that the money we receive is spent on our journalism, our depository receipt holders’ agreement stipulates that a maximum of 5 percent of the return on invested capital may be paid out to the shareholders.

Why?, you might ask.We are not interested in maximising profits but in fulfilling our mission. We are a business, and we think like entrepreneurs on the basis that: journalistic work must be paid for so that we do not have to be dependent on others. FTM cannot be taken over by a party with a different profit criterion.

Ample time for research dossiers

Our journalists don’t have to worry about producing daily content. Instead, they are able to focus 100 percent on their investigative work. This gives them time to become experts in their field.

As such, our journalists mainly work on long-running research dossiers. This provides them with unique insights and enables them to quickly spot important developments in, for example, the financial sector or within European Union politics.

As we are not dependent on advertisers, our journalists do not have to wonder if the investment will pay off when we launch a new dossier. We do the research that our editors think is most needed at that moment, enabling us to do research that is unique in the Dutch journalism sector.

Are you interested in what our editorial staff is working on right now? Please take a look at the overview page of our collections.

Our readers’ participation

We believe in the public’s power to share knowledge and contribute ideas that will improve our journalism. Therefore, we invite our audience to participate actively.

For example, readers can submit a research proposal for an article or dossier via FTM Pitch several times a year. Readers can also vote on those proposals and make contributions. Read more about FTM Pitch here.