Local newsrooms prove the promise of reader revenue on RevEngine Free
When the News Revenue Hub launched the free version of its contribution management platform, RevEngine, the goal was clear: to give newsrooms of all sizes an affordable way to raise money from their audiences.
Since its launch in 2023, the free tier of RevEngine has helped news organizations raise more than $2 million, with close to $1 million of that coming in the last 12 months alone. Today, outlets on RevEngine Free are raising meaningful support from readers, proving that even the smallest newsrooms can build sustainable revenue programs.
Among them, three U.S.-based organizations — Waterbury Roundabout in Vermont, Winchester News in Massachusetts, and the Fayetteville Flyer in Arkansas — bring in more than $100,000 a year from their audiences collectively.
“The success of these newsrooms shows that our purpose-built software is doing what it was meant to do: help newsrooms validate the promise of the membership-based revenue model, and to make it easy for readers to support and sustain news sources they trust,” said Lizzy Hardison, the Hub’s director of product and success.
Small teams, big results
After the Waterbury Record folded in March 2020, Waterbury Roundabout soon launched to serve the community. The digital-only nonprofit, which covers news in Waterbury and Duxbury as well as the local school district, operates with just one editor/reporter and a handful of part-time staff and freelancers. Reader donations have quickly become the Roundabout’s largest source of funding.
“We tell people that even $5 or $10 a month is helpful, and it is,” said editor Lisa Scagliotti. “Having a free platform for this function is very, very helpful. Paying for it would basically make my small stipend even smaller.”
The switch to RevEngine in 2023 was seamless, Scagliotti said, and the platform’s flexibility allows readers to give in ways that work for them — whether one-time, monthly, or annually.
Winchester News, a hyperlocal nonprofit covering a town of around 23,000 outside of Boston, also depends on reader donations to sustain its work. With a part-time editor, a board of volunteers, and a small network of freelancers, the newsroom runs lean — and every dollar counts.
“While we have diversified our funding, reader donations are very important to our sustainability and in making us more of a community asset,” said Tara Hughes, Winchester News staff writer and president of the board of directors. “Having an easy way to donate online is very important.”
For the for-profit Fayetteville Flyer, which has served readers in Northwest Arkansas for nearly two decades, RevEngine has opened the door to diversifying revenue streams.
“We’ve been advertising-supported for most of our existence, so being able to diversify our revenue a little bit will pay big dividends in the long run,” said co-founder Dustin Bartholomew. It’s given the Flyer’s three-person operation room to dream, he added. “It feels like, over time, we’ll be able to build our reader revenue program enough to be able to expand our coverage into new areas.”
Soliciting audience contributions helps readers “to feel invested in what we’re creating,” Bartholomew said. “It also has enormous potential to help us grow into the publication our community deserves.”
Proving the promise of reader revenue
Across these three outlets alone, RevEngine Free is powering more than $100,000 in annual giving — at no cost to newsrooms. Multiply that by dozens of news organizations nationwide, and the cumulative impact is clear: affordable, purpose-built software that lowers barriers to fundraising and helps sustain local news.
“The purpose of RevEngine has always been to make it as easy as possible for readers to support local journalism,” said Mary Walter-Brown, founder and CEO of the News Revenue Hub. “The fact that organizations are raising significant funds on our free tier has shown that when you remove barriers, communities step up.”
Looking ahead, the Hub plans to continue supporting and expanding access to RevEngine, with opportunities for additional subsidy spots through upcoming grants. The free tier is designed as a springboard, Walter-Brown explained, giving newsrooms the tools to launch their reader revenue programs and prove early success. As those programs grow, many outlets will benefit from the advanced features offered by the paid tiers — RevEngine Core and RevEngine Plus with Salesforce CRM. These tiers add capabilities like automated email marketing, campaign-specific donation pages, customer relationship management integrations, and benchmarking tools, all at affordable pricing. The goal is to make it possible for newsrooms not to just get started, but to build sustainable, sophisticated revenue programs over time.
“These examples are just the beginning,” said Hardison. “We’re excited to keep working with newsrooms of all sizes to make sure they have the tools to experiment, raise money, and build the future of local news.”