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 readingDesigning effective welcome series for new followers
A welcome series is one of the most powerful elements of a publisher’s audience toolkit, and an essential component of BlueLena’s audience development strategy. These reader journeys welcome readers at their moment of highest attention and curiosity, setting expectations, building…
Continue readingEight tips to design audience surveys that work
Audience surveys are one of the most effective tools publishers have for understanding their readers – and one of the easiest to get wrong. When they’re done well, surveys give you something analytics can’t: direct insight into what your audience…
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 readingEffective strategies for renewing last year’s donors
It’s the end of the year, and many independent news publishers are feeling the pressure: At the same time, your database is full of people who have already said “yes” with their wallets: last year’s donors who haven’t yet given…
Continue readingHow 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,…
Continue readingTen ways to grow your email list before year end
End of year campaigning is right around the corner, and there’s no better time to grow your email list before reaching out with year-end asks. Below, find ten of our top tactics for boosting email signups. Optimize on-site popups On-site…
Continue readingBest practices for effective fundraising campaigns beyond email
Effective fundraising campaigns for reader-supported media require engagement across various channels beyond just email. Here are some key best practices for incorporating donor appeals across communication channels to maximize impact.
Continue readingWhat to do when you’re hiring your newsroom’s first development director
Is your newsroom ready to hire your first development director? Congratulations on reaching this important milestone in your organization’s growth! Before you start your search, it’s crucial to understand the role of a development director and how they will collaborate…
Continue readingBlueLena’s 2025 midyear report: growing local news sustainability
Introduction At the midpoint of 2025, BlueLena is pleased to report strong progress in publisher efforts to grow audiences, and build sustainable reader revenue through community-centered fundraising, along with a range of membership and subscription growth strategies. In the face…
Continue readingCritical steps before launching a multipart campaign
Decide on a multi-part seasonal campaign Segment your campaign audience Expand your campaign to all of your platforms Review your automations
Continue readingWhat to do when a campaign flops
What can we do when a campaign doesn’t do well? Sometimes the advice to “send campaigns more frequently” simply won’t cut it. How can we support publications that lack a loyal, engaged audience — or what types of interventions can…
Continue readingThree tips to launching a pop up newsletter
A pop up newsletter is a great opportunity to reach readers who wouldn’t ordinarily sign up for your newsletter. It’s also a good way to engage with a niche segment of your audience. Here are three guidelines for launching a…
Continue readingHow 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…
Continue readingExpanding local news: strategies for market growth
BlueLena hosted a Community Roundtable in February 2025 featuring three BlueLena community members — Jay Senter (Johnson County Post), Jimmy Boegle (Reno News & Review, Coachella Valley Independent) and Rita McNeil Danish (Signal Ohio) — on how to expand into new…
Continue readingBoost newsletter performance with Google Postmaster Tools
Email has become one of the most important channels for news publishers to share updates with readers, so making sure messages are consistently delivered is critical. Google Postmaster Tools is a free platform that bulk email senders can use to…
Continue readingWhy newsrooms need abandoned carts to re-engage potential supporters
What is abandoned cart recovery? When consumers are shopping online for retail products, they often put items into their virtual shopping carts, but don’t follow through with completing their purchase — at least not right away. In fact, shoppers “abandon cart”…
Continue readingCollaborative journalism: tips for successful partnerships
Collaborative journalism, in which newsrooms work together on reporting and distribution, can drive impact that’s greater than the sum of what they’d achieve individually – but it’s not without its challenges. During the March 2024 BlueLena Publisher Roundtable, organizations who…
Continue readingEffective LYBUNT campaign strategies for publishers
What is a LYBUNT? First things first: What is a LYBUNT? LYBUNT stands for “last year but unfortunately not this [year].” It’s an audience segment of lapsed supporters who gave in the previous calendar year but not in the current…
Continue readingHow to prevent Gmail email clipping
After taking the time to design an email and send it out, the last thing news publishers want to see is that a portion of the message is clipped, causing friction and impairing the reader’s experience with the content. Gmail…
Continue readingEmail deliverability tips for publishers
News organizations have expanded their use of email in recent years, contributing to the rise of email send volume worldwide. With hundreds of billions of emails sent daily, also on the rise is spam, phishing and malware, leading Gmail and…
Continue readingWhen to send: optimal timing for end-of-year campaigns
With concerns about the final day of the year falling on a weekend, we looked back at last year’s data to see when campaigns performed best and how to map out your end-of-year reader revenue campaign timeline. The challenge In…
Continue readingShould you run an end-of-year campaign?
The answer is yes. Autumn is in full swing, and all your nonprofit friends are up to their ears in end-of-year fundraising preparations. It’s got you wondering: should you do an end-of-year campaign? Won’t you be drowned out? What if…
Continue readingGmail’s new policies for bulk senders explained
This October, Gmail introduced new policies for “bulk senders” — anyone who sends more than 5,000 emails to Gmail addresses in one day. While the headlines surfacing about the new guidelines may seem like major changes will be needed, as a BlueLena client,…
Continue readingThe ABCDs of a Successful Newsletter Launch
A newsletter is one of the best ways to reach your audience on a regular basis. Through a newsletter, you can share daily or weekly news, communicate your priorities and make yourself accessible to your readers.
Continue readingEffective calls-to-action for reader engagement
Calls-to-action, or CTAs, are an essential part of the digital experience, driving engagement, conversion and a deeper relationship with your publication by making it clear to readers how they can be involved.
Continue readingForging a path from solutions journalism to reader revenue
This article was originally published in The Whole Story (June 7, 2021) Solutions Journalism Network’s previous research shows that stories that focus on responses to problems can increase readers’ intention to become civically engaged and impact the public discourse. While that alone may…
Continue readingCrafting a compelling value proposition for local news support
This isn’t a new article, but I read it for the first time this week, and couldn’t stop nodding along. Value propositions are so important, especially for local and independent news organizations that rely on reader support. Your value proposition answers…
Continue readingSeven essential steps for optimizing newsletter performance
Teresa Ristow outlines key strategies for optimizing email newsletters to enhance audience engagement and drive reader revenue. The practices include crafting compelling subject lines using A/B testing, designing clear and contrasting call-to-action buttons, ensuring newsletters are accessible across devices and…
Continue readingFive tips for optimizing subscription landing pages
Tips for building an effective landing page (and a few things not to do) A key component of a successful reader revenue strategy is having an effective landing page to convert readers into donors, members or subscribers. Readers who land…
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