When the pandemic threatened the closure of Madison, Wisconsin’s alternative newspaper, Isthmus, a subset of the staff mobilized, publishing online and quickly launching a reader donation program that generated thousands of dollars within its first few weeks. Now, in 2023, Isthmus operates as a nonprofit, offers a membership program to generate steady reader revenue and recently celebrated its two-year anniversary of a return to print publishing.
The challenge
Staff of Isthmus were notified in March 2020 by the publication’s owners that the paper would be shutting down production and laying off employees. While the weekly print edition ceased immediately, a group of staff banded together to continue reporting and publishing online, and to launch a donation program in an attempt to keep Isthmus alive.
“Our readers were very concerned that Isthmus would disappear and were eager to pitch in and help,” said Publisher Jason Joyce, who rejoined Isthmus in 2021 after a previous 15-year run as the paper’s digital media editor from 1998 to 2013. “They really understood our value to the community and how the business model was changing in real time.”
While the early donations were an excellent start, Isthmus would need to focus on its audience funnel and build out a reader revenue strategy to ensure its long term success.
The strategy
Isthmus enlisted the help of BlueLena in the spring of 2020 for support to launch its initial donation program, which included an on-site donation landing page and email campaigns appealing to readers for support. On-site sign-up prompts would help grow the top-of-funnel audience, while email campaigns would help convert readers into supporters.
The first iteration of the audience development strategy included:
- A four-email, 21-day welcome series for new contacts, with donation appeals and a reader survey
- An automated thank you email for new donors
- On-site “Support Isthmus” call-to-action in the main navigation bar
- Newsletter calls-to-action for the donation program
- One-off email campaigns highlighting impactful reporting along with a donation appeal
By the summer of 2020, the Isthmus team announced its plan to convert to a nonprofit, which would allow reader contributions to be tax-deductible, and open the organization up to underwriting and sponsorship opportunities as well as grant funding.
With the transition to a nonprofit model, Isthmus continued developing its reader revenue strategy, shifting to a tiered membership model, expanding on-site CTAs and continuing email campaigns to encourage reader support.
Today’s audience development strategy includes:
- An expanded, 11-email, 90-day welcome series for new contacts
- A re-engagement series to catch the attention of disengaged contacts and identify contacts to stop emailing
- A reacquisition series to message churned members
- A membership model with exclusive member perks, such as ticket giveaways and early previews of special sections
The results
More than three years after first appealing to its readership for support, Isthmus has built a solid member base, with reader revenue now accounting for a third of the publication’s operating revenue, according to Joyce.
“Between sustaining members and one-time donors, Isthmus readers are the reason why we continue to operate today,” Joyce said. “Not only is it a source of needed operating revenue, it’s a signal to businesses and grant-making organizations that the community is invested in what we do.”
Joyce said the fourth quarter of each year is an important time for the organization to focus on fundraising, cash flow and its budget process, running end-of-year campaigns, in conjunction with the Institute for Nonprofit News’ NewsMatch program.
With on-site acquisition and other tactics to sign up readers, Isthmus has tripled its known audience over the last three years, with about 22 percent of its average monthly website users subscribed to newsletters. About 4.7 percent of Isthmus readers have converted to paid supporters, either through recurring monthly or annual memberships, or through one-off donations one or more times in the last few years.
Part of what continues to drive new memberships in 2023 is consistent, ongoing messaging to readers in editorial columns, email campaigns and on-site language. The messaging tells the story of Isthmus, from its founding as Madison’s weekly alternative newspaper in 1976 to its near closure in 2020 to its return as a monthly publication and nonprofit organization. It’s a history new readers might not be familiar with, and retelling it helps remind readers old and new of the publication’s deep community ties and the importance of reader support.
The Isthmus story was retold, along with highlighting recent impactful reporting, as part of a four-email membership drive this September, two years after the publication’s return to print, which staff call the Isthmus Rebootiversary. More than 90 new supporters signed on during the week of the campaign, generating thousands of dollars in immediate revenue, and tens of thousands in estimated lifetime value.
As Isthmus has continued to build upon its audience development and reader revenue strategies over the last 3-1/2 years, BlueLena has acted as a consistent resource for the team as they strategize and execute projects to ensure the publication’s long term sustainability.
“BlueLena has been a great source of advice, along with executing reader engagement campaigns,” Joyce said. “With a greatly reduced staff and only so many hours in each week, we rely on them to negotiate the technology stack and best practices for driving reader revenue.”
About BlueLena
BlueLena creates a sustainable future for independent local media with strategies to build audiences and tools to support journalism funding models for long-term success. Today, over 200 brands leverage our audience management platform, strategy consulting and marketing services to accelerate their digital transformation.
BlueLena is founder-funded and backed by investment from Automattic (owner of WordPress), Local Media Association and Old Town Media, a New York-based firm that has supported The Colorado Sun, Block Club Chicago, Chalkbeat and Medium, among other successful media-related projects. Visit us at bluelena.io.