How BlueLena’s direct mail program delivered strong ROI during end-of-year fundraising
In this best practices case study, BlueLena highlights how seven independent newsrooms partnered with its team to extend end-of-year fundraising efforts beyond digital channels by executing targeted direct mail campaigns between late October and early December.
Continue readingHow Ashland.news grew year-end giving by 26% in 2025
Like many nonprofit newsrooms, Southern Oregon’s Ashland.news entered the 2025 year-end season with a clear goal: continue revenue growth while expanding the donor base beyond existing recurring supporters.
Continue readingHow Montclair Local exceeded year-end fundraising goals
The Challenge Like many independent nonprofit newsrooms, Montclair Local has worked to cultivate a highly engaged readership but entered its year-end fundraising season needing a strategy that could reliably convert that engagement into financial support through a focused, time-bound campaign.…
Continue readingHow The Washington Spectator boosted donations by 50% in 2025
The Challenge As a legacy nonprofit newsroom with a highly engaged readership, The Washington Spectator sought to maximize end-of-year giving without over-soliciting its audience. The objective was to convert loyal newsletter readers into donors through a focused, time-bound campaign that emphasized urgency,…
Continue readingHow Montana Free Press found revenue growth hiding in plain sight
Montana Free Press, a member of the American Journalism Project portfolio, achieved significant growth in reader revenue using concrete, replicable strategies. Montana Free Press increased revenue by 22% in 2024, not through expensive new campaigns or additional staff, but by…
Continue readingHow Midcoast Villager repackaged a print guide to a popup newsletter to land new readers
In summer 2025, Midcoast Villager — a news publication serving midcoast Maine — worked with BlueLena to test a new growth strategy: a pop-up newsletter built around its Summer Guide. Instead of treating the guide as a static special section,…
Continue readingHow The Berkeley Scanner is growing readership and revenue
With a sustainability grant from LION Publishers in hand, The Berkeley Scanner enlisted the services of BlueLena last year to begin leveraging automations, AI-assisted reader revenue campaigning and strategic support, growing the publication’s audience and sustainable, recurring revenue significantly within…
Continue readingNews is Out: streamlining newsletter growth across a collaborative of LGBTQ+ publishers
This case study is one of several features as we celebrate Pride Month and the history and courage of some of America’s most important LGBTQ+ journalism organizations. Background News is Out is a pioneering national collaborative of leading local queer…
Continue readingHow AI helped local newsrooms save time and drive results in fundraising
By Maggie Cogar, Ph.D., consultant for American Journalism Project’s Product & AI Studio and Startups Studio At the end of 2024, local nonprofit newsrooms faced the same challenge they do at the end of every year – launching effective year-end…
Continue readingBlueLena empowers Fredericksburg Free Press growth with strategy and tools
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…
Continue readingMontclair Local’s growth journey with BlueLena
Background Montclair Local, a nonprofit newsroom based in Montclair, New Jersey, and a proud member of the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), joined the BlueLena community in January 2024. In less than a year, the organization has achieved impressive growth: a 28% increase in newsletter subscribers and a 19% growth…
Keep readingCardinal News accelerates growth with BlueLena partnership
Background Launched in the summer of 2021, Cardinal News is an independent, nonprofit newsroom dedicated to in-depth, nonpartisan reporting on issues in Southwest and Southside Virginia – regions historically underserved by traditional media. With a lean team and a mission-driven approach, Cardinal News relies on reader support to sustain its…
Keep readingFive publisher insights from end-of-year campaigning (2024)
The most successful campaign highlights how you showed up for your community In previous years’ end-of-year campaigns, the Indianola Independent Advocate had not used messaging that referenced specific stories or reporters, opting for a more general approach to their campaigns. This year, they chose to try our new AI-assisted campaigns,…
Keep readingHow Richland Source Transformed Its Member Experience
Richland Source’s innovative overhaul of its membership program resulted in monumental newsletter list and membership growth, and kicked off a new chapter of long-term sustainability after a decade of serving North Central Ohio with independent journalism. Partnering with industry experts BlueLena and Blue Engine Collaborative, Richland Source focused on optimizing…
Keep readingSpotlight Delaware: Elevating Local Journalism in Delaware
Spotlight Delaware celebrated its official launch on Monday, March 1, with a newly designed website, a base of community-informed and action-oriented news, a weekly newsletter curated by editor Jacob Owens — and more to come, including community events and a members-only newsletter. Spotlight Delaware is the flagship initiative of the…
Keep readingMirror Indy, AJP’s latest project, surpasses fundraising goal on launch day, backed by BlueLena services
Mirror Indy celebrated its launch on Tuesday, December 5, debuting a newly designed website, a robust collection of in-depth, community-informed news serving Hoosiers, a daily newsletter — and more to come. The rollout is the culmination of an exciting partnership between Mirror Indy’s experienced team, BlueLena, the American Journalism Project…
Keep readingIndependent news is growing: end-of-year performance report (2023)
Clicks, conversions and monthly revenue averages are the metrics to look for in your end-of-year reader revenue campaign analysis.
How a reader revenue strategy rebooted Isthmus, Madison’s alternative newspaper
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…
How Net Promoter Scores can help publishers measure reader satisfaction
Publications that collect net promoter scores regularly are able to measure reader satisfaction over time, and there could be opportunities to see how the scores change based on where a reader is in the audience funnel. For a publication’s supporters, an NPS survey can identify brand advocates and readers in…
How BlueLena increased email signup rates by 61% on Newspack sites
When building email signup popups on the Newspack platform, publishers can include options for readers to sign in with Google or log into an existing account through the modal. A simplified approach where a reader’s only choice is to enter an email and submit the form is also available. A/B…
What 7,500 news readers say about supporting and engaging with news
Surveys are a powerful audience listening tool for newsrooms, allowing journalists to better understand what readers are thinking, helping to plan coverage, messaging and new products more effectively. As part of BlueLena’s support of newsrooms across the United States, an 11-question reader survey is typically deployed to existing readers, and…
BlueLena fueled the Springfield Daily Citizen’s successful launch
Originally published in Editor & Publisher (Saturday, March 4, 2023) – The challenges are many when launching a new local, nonprofit news outlet, especially in the current newspaper industry climate. Deciding to be a digital-only news source with a hard registration wall meant the Springfield (Missouri) Daily Citizen had to rely…
Journalism has impact. So do business models
In November 2020, Lookout Santa Cruz was launched with a singular mission: to “make Santa Cruz County a better place for all who live here.” Six months later, the pure digital brand startup boasts more than 11,500 newsletter subscribers and a paid membership program that has thus far exceeded its initial growth projections.…
How BlueLena helped INDY Week launch a robust membership program
A streamlined approach to tech helped INDY Week’s reader membership program bring in over $150,000 in one year. Here’s how your online publication can replicate it. Steph Zimmerman, January 15, 2021 (Original article from MetroPublisher.com viewable here) This spring, many publishers were financially reeling from the effects of the coronavirus…
How the Shawnee Mission Post tripled its paid subscriber growth rate
By Alex Wagner | The Byline (republished from Pico) Roughly a decade ago, when Jay Senter and Julia Westhoff moved back to their hometown in Kansas, they noticed the metro area news sources were providing no consistent coverage of local government and schools where they lived in northeast Johnson County. Senter and…
How the American Prospect grew its revenue and site traffic without losing site of its…
Steph Zimmerman, October 12, 2020 (Original article from MetroPublisher.com is viewable here) The American Prospect has been busy. Within the past two years, the team at the progressive political magazine switched publishing platforms and launched a brand new reader membership program. Updating software and leaning more on reader-driven revenue has…