Overview:

The Fredericksburg Free Press (FFP), a nonprofit newsroom launched in spring 2024, rapidly achieved significant growth by joining the BlueLena Academy Growth Accelerator. The partnership enabled FFP to build a loyal donor base, significantly grow its email audience, improve operational efficiency, and establish itself as a trusted local news source, demonstrating the potential of community-powered journalism when supported by the right infrastructure and strategy.

Background

Launched in the spring of 2024, the Fredericksburg Free Press (FFP) was founded “on the principle that local, independent journalism builds social cohesion, encourages community participation in the political process, improves the efficiency and decision-making of local government, and promotes economic development, the arts, and social welfare in the community it serves.”

In just over a year, this nonprofit newsroom has built a loyal base of nearly 1,000 individual donors and grown its newsletter subscriber list to more than 10,000 members — a milestone that shows the promise of community-powered and member-supported local news.

A critical element of FFP’s rapid success resulted from its participation in the BlueLena Academy Growth Accelerator, a structured 12-month program designed to help emerging news organizations lay the foundation for sustainable audience development and revenue growth.

The Challenge

At launch, the Fredericksburg Free Press faced challenges familiar to many local news startups:

  • Low brand awareness in a media landscape dominated by social media and legacy outlets.
  • Limited internal resources to support audience acquisition, email marketing, and fundraising strategy.
  • An urgent need to build credibility and trust while monetizing through voluntary reader support.

FFP had an ambitious vision but needed a framework, tools, and expert guidance to accelerate growth and achieve long-term sustainability.

The Solution: Partnering with BlueLena

In the summer of 2024, the Fredericksburg Free Press joined BlueLena and enrolled in its BlueLena Academy program, a growth accelerator designed to help early-stage newsrooms master audience engagement and fundraising fundamentals.

Through the 12-month program, FFP gained:

  • Strategic coaching on list-building, segmentation, and donor engagement from industry veterans at BlueLena.
  • Technical setup and optimization of their email platform, including integration with a modern CRM built specifically for journalism organizations.
  • Custom fundraising campaigns, including an onboarding welcome series, donation appeals, and milestone-based engagement.
  • Peer support and continuous shared learnings from a cohort of other mission-driven newsrooms.

BlueLena also provided hands-on implementation support, ensuring that strategic plans were designed, customized and executed to achieve SMART goals.

“As a journalist moving into a role more focused on membership and growth, the BlueLena Academy provided me with the confidence and support to help our organization grow sustainably,” said Kathy Knotts, Audience Engagement and Content Editor at the Fredericksburg Free Press. “While we’ve always had a clear vision of where we want the Free Press to go, the Academy really delivered the roadmap to achieve those goals. I would have been lost without their guidance and partnership.”

Key Results

1. Email Audience Growth

  • FFP grew its newsletter list from approximately 4,000 (inherited from a donated site) to over 10,000 subscribers in less than 12 months.
  • Through high-impact lead generation campaigns, social media cross-promotion, and in-person outreach, FFP averaged more than 800 acquired newsletter subscribers per month post-launch.
  • A high-performing welcome series achieved open rates over 46%, helping to establish early trust and engagement.

2. Donor Revenue and Membership

  • In less than a year, FFP secured over 900 donations, with 80% on a monthly recurring basis.
  • BlueLena’s donor engagement strategies, including tiered giving levels and recurring support incentives, helped drive annual donor retention above 96%.
  • Major giving and local partnerships also began to take shape, positioning FFP for sustainable long-term impact.

3. Operational Efficiency and Capacity Building

  • FFP implemented BlueLena’s best-in-class audience management stack, including integrated tools for email, CRM, donor management, and analytics dramatically improving campaign efficiency.
  • The newsroom established a repeatable process for audience listening, newsletter publishing, donor acquisition, and performance reporting.

Impact and Takeaways

Fredericksburg Free Press has quickly established itself as a recognized and trusted, independent voice in its community, covering local government, education, and public safety — stories often overlooked by larger regional outlets.

The Fredericksburg Free Press is a powerful example of what’s possible when mission-driven journalism meets the right strategy and infrastructure. Through their partnership with BlueLena, FFP turned a bold vision into measurable results – rapidly growing their audience, building donor trust, and laying the foundation for long-term sustainability. They are a news outlet to watch: a high-powered, focused team that’s swinging for the fences. They excel at communicating the value of civic information in a place like Fredericksburg, and their success shows how local journalism can thrive, when backed by community support and a clear roadmap to scale.

— Ashley Woods Branch, Vice President of Growth and Publisher Success, BlueLena

Key factors in FFP’s success:

  • Start with mission, then scale with infrastructure: FFP’s editorial vision inspired readers, while BlueLena’s infrastructure enabled rapid growth and scaling.
  • Accelerate learning curves: Rather than spending months testing strategies alone, FFP fast-tracked growth through the Academy’s proven playbooks and hands-on support.
  • Audience is everything: By focusing on list-building from day one, FFP built a direct relationship with its readers that continues to yield both financial support and community trust.

What’s Next

With a solid foundation in place, the Fredericksburg Free Press will be adopting BlueLena’s CRM and fundraising platform to deepen their relationships with donors. Their growth strategy includes coverage, building new donor campaigns, and exploring strategic partnerships to deepen community impact.

Its journey from launch to 1,000+ donations and 10,000+ subscribers stands as an inspiration for the next generation of local nonprofit news — proving that with the right support, community-powered, member-supported journalism can thrive.

About Fredericksburg Free Press

Founded in 2024, The Fredericksburg Free Press is an independent, community-focused news organization dedicated to delivering accurate, in-depth, and timely reporting on the issues that matter most to residents of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the surrounding region. With a commitment to journalistic integrity and civic engagement, the Free Press covers local government, education, public safety, business, and culture, aiming to inform, empower, and connect its readers. As a trusted source of local news, it prioritizes transparency, accountability, and the voices of the community it serves.

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.