Beyond the Paywall: How for-profits can make membership work

There’s a little less than a month until year-end-campaigns end — and we hope you’re all on track to meet your 2022 member revenue goal. 

If you need a little inspiration to get over the finish line, check out this fundraising language from some of our clients:

• Oaklandside’s “life without us” email
• El Paso Matters’ double match email 
• Montana Free Press’ infographic appeal
• Mississippi Today’s matching grants article
• CT Mirror’s election-focused email 
• The CITY’s newsletter kicker

By the way, through the end of the year our consulting team is providing Hub newsrooms with weekly tips and data for their year-end campaigns. For access to our Slack community with the full breadth of our campaign advice, consider joining the Hub.

And now, on to our last case study of the year about how two for-profit newsrooms have created revenue through successful membership programs.  

Rachel Glickhouse
Director of Learning and Labs

For many nonprofit newsrooms, membership programs are a proven way to diversify their organization’s revenue. In fact, more than 90% of the News Revenue Hub’s clients are nonprofit organizations. Still, a growing number of Hub clients, including Noozhawk and The Capital Times, are for-profit newsrooms. Like their nonprofit counterparts, they’re on a quest to turn readers into loyal supporters. 

So far, they’re finding success. At Cap Times, a digital-first newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin, membership profits currently account for 20% of their revenue. At Noozhawk, a news site based in Santa Barbara, California, 30% of revenue comes from their membership program.

The success is encouraging, said Mary Walter-Brown, founder and CEO of the News Revenue Hub. She hopes to work with more for-profit clients in the years ahead.

Read the full case study.

Our job board is sponsored by The Diversity Pledge Institute, which helps newsrooms achieve outstanding results in diversity, inclusion and retention. Need help finding the right candidates? Contact DPI today.

Job listings accompanied by the 💸 emoji offer salary transparency — a necessary step towards salary equity.  

• We’re hiring! The Hub is hiring an Agile Project Manager/Product Owner. [Remote] 💸
• The CITY is hiring a Product Developer. [New York] 💸
• Bridge Michigan is hiring a Breaking News Reporter. [Michigan] 💸
• El Paso Matters is hiring a Border Climate Change Reporter. [El Paso] 💸
• The Marshall Project is hiring an Audience Director, a Senior Editor, and a Senior Editor of Investigations. [Remote] 💸
• CalMatters is hiring a Newsletter Writer, an Assistant News Editor, an Investigative Editor, and a Senior Investigative Reporter. [Sacramento] 💸