Peer to Peer fundraising for Bellingcat

Bellingcat is a global collective uncovering facts to hold power to account. 

Founded in 2014, we are an independent investigative collective brought together by a passion for open source research. We share everything, including our methods, because the truth belongs to everyone. We have pioneered the use of open source research methods to investigate a variety of subjects of public interest—ranging from the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine to police violence in Colombia and the illegal wildlife trade in the UAE. Our research is regularly referenced by international media and has been cited by several courts and investigative missions, as we publish evidence rigorous enough to hold up in court, alongside exactly how we found it.  

We are the only investigative organization where the collective builds society's capacity to find the truth. 

We design and share verifiable methods of ethical digital investigation. By publishing walkthroughs of open source research methods and holding expert-led training sessions, we turn obsessive curiosity into a teachable research skill. We promise to empower anyone with the ability to verify the truth through open source research. By maintaining spaces for collaborating, innovating, and learning, we are making the tools of accountability accessible as a civic right, not a specialist art.  

Our work is independent, our methods are public, and our community is global.

With over 40 staff and contributors in more than 20 countries, we operate in a unique field where advanced technology, forensic research, journalism, transparency, and accountability come together. Rigorous but irreverent, principled but down to earth, we go where the evidence leads, no matter where that takes us. Because democracy depends on people who won’t take the truth at face value, Bellingcat is built for curious and critical thinkers who want to go deeper than the headline and learn to find answers themselves.