Approaching a Decade of Service: What We’ve Learned About Building Sustainable Revenue for Independent News
In 2026, News Revenue Hub marks 10 years of working alongside independent newsrooms to build stronger, more sustainable business models for journalism.
As we approached this milestone, we’ve been reflecting on what nearly a decade in this work has taught us — about what helps news organizations endure, where the field has evolved, and what sustainability truly requires today. That reflection is also shaping the next chapter of our work.
What Nearly a Decade Has Taught Us
For almost 10 years, News Revenue Hub has been known for helping newsrooms strengthen audience engagement and membership. Working alongside publishers across the country, we’ve helped independent newsrooms generate more than $160 million in reader revenue, turning trusted relationships into mission-driven investments.
That work remains foundational. Strong audience relationships are still the bedrock of sustainability, especially as artificial intelligence increasingly commodifies information.
But nearly a decade of hands-on experience has also surfaced some hard truths.
Across hundreds of newsrooms, we’ve seen that even the strongest membership programs typically represent about 25% of a healthy revenue mix – at best. Membership matters deeply, but it cannot carry an organization alone.
At the same time, recent industry research from organizations like LION Publishers and the Institute for Nonprofit News shows that institutional philanthropy has become the most common — and often the largest — source of revenue for independent newsrooms. According to LION, institutional philanthropy was the primary revenue stream for nearly 50 percent of newsrooms that underwent a LION sustainability audit in 2025.
Philanthropy has been essential to the growth of independent news. But over-reliance on any single funding source — no matter how mission-aligned — introduces risk and limits long-term self-sustainability.
The lesson is clear: sustainability doesn’t come from maximizing one revenue stream. It comes from balance.
The Newsrooms Best Positioned for the Future
After working closely with hundreds of newsrooms, we’ve seen that the healthiest news organizations are those building diversified, interconnected revenue systems, where different forms of support reinforce one another.
In these newsrooms:
- Membership supports major donor cultivation
- Major donors unlock sponsorship and partnership credibility
- Advertising and sponsorship benefit from engaged, trusted audiences
- Social media fuels awareness and demand across all revenue streams
- Websites and newsletters serve as shared infrastructure for engagement, conversion and retention.
None of these elements work in isolation. Together, they form a system — one that is more resilient, more flexible, and better aligned with long-term independence.
Our Next Chapter: Doubling Down on What Drives Results
As we approach our second decade, News Revenue Hub is sharpening its focus on what we do best: consulting that drives real, measurable results for independent newsrooms.
Building on our membership-first foundation, we are expanding our role as a full-service, mission-driven consulting organization — one that helps newsrooms design and operate integrated revenue systems where engagement, philanthropy, advertising, sponsorships, and platforms work together rather than compete for limited attention and capacity.
Our focus is simple and intentional: helping newsrooms make smarter decisions, prioritize what matters most, and build revenue strategies that actually work.
What That Looks Like in Practice
Today, our work spans the full revenue ecosystem, including:
- Membership and audience engagement strategy
- Major donor and philanthropic program development
- Business membership, advertising and sponsorship consulting — alongside management of the News Revenue Ad Network
- Platform strategy and vertical video training through Civic Studio
- Ongoing optimization of websites and newsletters as core revenue infrastructure
What sets this work apart isn’t any single service — it’s how intentionally they are designed to work together, guided by experienced consultants who understand the realities of newsroom capacity, community trust, and long-term sustainability.
No other organization combines advertising consulting with operating an ad network, or social strategy with hands-on vertical video training and production support, within a single, integrated consulting model. The Hub’s approach allows us to help newsrooms move beyond siloed tactics toward durable, self-sustaining revenue systems.
A Clearer Picture of Financial Health: Our Expanded Data Studio
Integrated systems require integrated insight.
For years, News Revenue Hub has maintained one of the most robust benchmarking databases in independent news, helping publishers understand their audience growth, email performance, and donor revenue compared to industry peers.
As part of this next chapter, we’re expanding that work into a more comprehensive News Revenue Data Co-Op designed to give newsrooms a clearer, more holistic picture of their overall financial health.
Building on our existing audience, email, and donor benchmarks, our dashboards and KPI reports will soon incorporate:
- Census and total addressable market data
- Advertising and sponsorship revenue
- Major giving performance
- Foundation and institutional grant funding
This expanded view helps newsroom leaders see how revenue streams interact, identify risk and opportunity across the system, and make decisions grounded in data — not guesswork.
Bringing the Right Expertise — and Real Capacity — to the Work
Being a full-service consultancy doesn’t mean doing everything ourselves.
One of the clearest lessons we’ve learned over nearly a decade is that the strongest results come from pairing deep in-house expertise with best-in-class external specialists, all coordinated and executed through a single strategic lens.
Alongside our full-time team of revenue strategists and specialists, we’re expanding our network of trusted subject-matter experts — such as our partnership with Local News International, led by former Washington Post “TikTok Guy” Dave Jorgenson, who has worked alongside our consulting team to develop Civic Studio’s vertical video strategies and training.
At the same time, we’re expanding our in-house production support team to help newsrooms execute on strategy — building email campaigns, cleaning lists, creating pitch decks, and preparing materials that often stall progress when teams are stretched thin.
Our role isn’t to be experts in everything, it’s to ensure that strategy, expertise, and execution come together to move the needle and hardwire success.
Leading Into the Next Decade
Approaching 10 years of service is both a milestone and a responsibility.
This next chapter is made possible by an exceptional team at the Hub—one that has steadily built the skills, expertise, and perspective required to do this work well. Led by Daniel Craigmile, Evan Mackinder, Sarah Bishop Woods, Abbey Gingras, Sophie Ho, and Lizzy Hardison, our team brings deep experience across audience engagement, revenue strategy, advertising, major giving, and execution. They are among the most thoughtful, caring, and committed people I’ve had the privilege to work alongside.
The next decade won’t be defined by tools or tactics alone.
It will be defined by people, clear strategy, integrated systems, and trusted partnerships—working together to help journalism thrive for the long haul.
That’s the work we’re proud to carry forward.