How to leverage development thinking — without a development team

In March 2025, BlueLena hosted a Community Roundtable with Director of Publisher Success Judi Kamien, a seasoned development leader with 30 years of experience in cultural institutions and newsrooms. The workshop was a 101 on building or strengthening a newsroom fundraising operation, packed with insider tips and practical guidance on understanding major gifts, philanthropic revenue and corporate sponsorships — and where to get started building the process with minimal resources. Below are insights on development, including the five love languages of donors (members and subscribers too!).

Think Like a Development Officer

While you may not be a development officer, you can think like one as you build your newsroom’s development program. To begin, set your framework as a relationship. As Judi noted, “You’re building relationships. You are not selling widgets. Fundraising is not transactional. It is about meaningful relationships.”

Not all development work is accomplished in the same way. Major donors should be approached differently than foundations, and both are certainly different from advertisers.

Overall though, you do not have to be a fundraising expert. As a journalist, you already have the skillset you need to be a development officer. You know how to craft a narrative, which translates to pitching to a potential donor or foundation. Talking to your donors to understand why they support you is just like interviewing sources. And, you know how to explain to the newsroom that fundraising is not only essential, it’s meaningful. You already have everything you need to begin.

Reframe Ad Sales as Corporate Partnerships

When you think about advertising as a collaboration rather than a transaction, you can reframe the working relationship as a partnership. Businesses have budgets set aside for marketing purposes, and they want to reach your audience. Ads can be mutually beneficial: your newsroom receives funds that sustain it, and the advertiser is able to reach your readers and showcase their impact to the community.

You do not have to lose your sense of mission either; there are many businesses that are also mission-driven who may align with your values. Make it easy for those businesses to find you with a clearly defined media kit and sponsorship packages, and consider offering content underwriting, where businesses could choose to underwrite a particular vertical or event.

Simplify Foundation Giving

Start small with your foundation giving; and for that, Judi suggests starting locally. Know your story, goals and impact, and be prepared to share them with foundation officers, who require details to offer funding. Use those goals and impact to create templates for grant applications, and do not be afraid to reuse your successful messaging.

In your templated language, use metrics to explain your impact, but do not overcomplicate your story. If you are a young organization, highlight anecdotes and testimonials to showcase the impact you have already made and will continue to make.

Focus on Major Gifts

What is a major gift? It can vary by organization. Simply put, it is a donation you deem large enough to significantly advance your newsroom’s mission. For some newsrooms, that’s $500; for others, $1,000 or even more. It depends on your organization’s size and context.

Major gifts are an excellent way to diversify your revenue stream. Internally, working with major donors encourages you and your organization to build relationships. Crucially, major gifts also bring stability: they are gifts you can rely on to fund larger projects and initiatives.

As you consider both small-dollar donors and major givers, keep in mind that today’s $25 donor is next year’s $500 donor. Individual donors can be cultivated to become major donors, and you can use data — like how recently someone gave, how frequently and how much — to spot potential major donors early.

Establish Your Toolbox

Your development toolbox begins twofold, with referrals and networking — relationship-building — and data.

Referrals are often your best source for new donors. People already connected to your newsroom want to introduce you to others who share your values. Start by tapping into your existing circles: board members, colleagues, friends and family. Next, reach out to community leaders, local businesses and event attendees, who are connected and engaged with your work.

On the data side, invest in a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool to manage your relationships and your time. CRMs can range from simple spreadsheets to sophisticated tools, but the main goal is to help you manage relationships efficiently. They save you time and keep your information organized.

Wealth screening data is critical to establishing capacity because it helps determine donor potential. Knowing who has capacity ensures your time and energy go to the right relationships. BlueLena has built a fully integrated CRM within our BlueLenaCXA platform, tailored specifically for mission-driven publishers. We collaborate closely with our partners to customize workflows that simplify and streamline relationship management with mid-level donors, funders, and corporate sponsors. In addition, our proprietary BlueDepth model identifies, scores, and automatically engages high-potential major donors based on their likelihood to give — helping you focus your energy where it matters most.

Externally, you can look at public records, real estate holdings and past giving history to help you understand a donor’s capacity and giving potential.

Through individual donors, major gifts, foundation giving and advertising, you can build sustainability, resilience and lasting impact for your newsroom.

Interested in learning more about how you can partner with BlueLena to build or diversify your reader revenue streams? Contact us at solutions@bluelena.io

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About BlueLena

BlueLena is a strategy consulting and audience management platform founded in 2020 to support the sustainability of independent local media. By combining cutting-edge technology with expert-driven services, BlueLena helps over 250 news organizations across North America develop and manage subscription, membership, and donation models. Its unique shared-resource management approach provides publishers, regardless of size, with access to enterprise-level tools and personalized support, enabling them to focus on high-quality journalism while building loyal, revenue-generating audiences. 

BlueLena is majority employee-owned, and backed by investors including Automattic (the parent company of WordPress), the Local Media Association, and Old Town Media.