I had an interesting Twitter conversation this morning and wanted to collect and share some a few more thoughts and some of the side conversations it spawned.
Responding to this tweet by Josh Stearns (of the Dodge Foundation) I recalled some research we've done here at INN (and would love to continue) looking at how nonprofit news sites can better communicate their reliance on member/donor support.
https://twitter.com/jcstearns/status/633640971394240512
Essentially, we've found that it can be very difficult for nonprofit news sites that rely on donations to distinguish themselves and stand out as distinct from for-profit sites that often rely more on advertising. In fact, some preliminary user testing we've done suggests that if nonprofit news sites have advertising AND donation/membership messaging visitors are more likely to assume the organization makes its money primarily through advertising. We have not yet done research with enough sites to definitively confirm this finding or to show that there is a resulting drop-off in donations, but it definitely gives us pause.
Communicating "nonprofitness" (or at least that donations are a significant source of revenue) is crucial if nonprofit news organizations need visitors to understand just how important their donations are to the organization's survival.
https://twitter.com/jcstearns/status/633642599178469376
https://twitter.com/aschweig/status/633646670941556736
https://twitter.com/aschweig/status/633646914622259200
https://twitter.com/aschweig/status/633649183023456256
https://twitter.com/aschweig/status/633649354213998593
https://twitter.com/aschweig/status/633649543314194432
@aschweig Great question for http://t.co/un70pfhvvS too! How can we ask for donations when we have ads on the site?
— David Wilder🖌 (@ItsWilder) August 18, 2015
https://twitter.com/aschweig/status/633649673631215616
https://twitter.com/aschweig/status/633650057527472128
https://twitter.com/aschweig/status/633651107659563009
This exchange spawned a number of interesting side conversations. Steve Katz, the publisher of INN member Mother Jones brought their creative director, Ivylise Simones, into the conversation:
https://twitter.com/Steve_Katz/status/633656382294638592
@Steve_Katz @aschweig (2) nonprofit mission shd drive design anyway, and that shd distinguish each nonprofit site.
— Jo Ellen Kaiser (@jgksf) August 18, 2015
@Steve_Katz agree it's tough, but don't necessarily believe that nonprofit news sites need to be visually displayed as a nonprofit...
— ivylise (@ivylise) August 18, 2015
@Steve_Katz I think our goal is to communicate that we are Mother Jones, and what that means (which includes that we are a nonprofit)
— ivylise (@ivylise) August 18, 2015
@Steve_Katz Cracking the code on how to stand out visually as a news site in general is a huge challenge in both non and forprofit
— ivylise (@ivylise) August 18, 2015
Mother Jones is in a unique position where they rely not only on donations but also print subscriptions and advertising. While not common to many INN members (most are web-only, a handful have a print products, most don't realize a significant amount of revenue from advertising/sponsorship), this is a situation that IS shared by some other nonprofit publications.
https://twitter.com/aschweig/status/633674251027877888
@aschweig @Steve_Katz Actually a lot of @tmcmedia members have ads+subs+donations--print legacy. https://t.co/UbchUoacOM
— Jo Ellen Kaiser (@jgksf) August 18, 2015
More well-established organizations struggle with adapting to changing conditions without harming the strong brands that they've established over time.
https://twitter.com/Steve_Katz/status/633674984720740353
https://twitter.com/Steve_Katz/status/633675215730446336
https://twitter.com/Steve_Katz/status/633675364779200512
https://twitter.com/Steve_Katz/status/633675522086584321
https://twitter.com/Steve_Katz/status/633675727775264768
https://twitter.com/Steve_Katz/status/633675902505713664
@aschweig @Steve_Katz oh yes. Very yes.
— Max Pfennighaus (@MxPf) August 18, 2015
https://twitter.com/Steve_Katz/status/633678000513396737
@aschweig @Steve_Katz the biggest problem with achieving success is that everyone always disagrees about what got you there.
— Max Pfennighaus (@MxPf) August 18, 2015
There's also a lot more to being a nonprofit news organization beyond just asking for money and relying on contributions from your visitors. The most successful organizations think about "membership" not as just a financial transaction, but focus also on involving their community in the editorial process, being responsive, getting out into the community and really providing a valuable public service.
@aschweig I feel like membership really helps there, for pub media and any other nonprofit. People join, feel connected, not just give $$
— erika owens (@erika_owens) August 18, 2015
https://twitter.com/aschweig/status/633648645779292160
@aschweig for sure, and lots of nonprofits already foster a sense of community. gotta put the effort into building those pathways.
— erika owens (@erika_owens) August 18, 2015
@aschweig nonprofits can (and must) focus on their mission and their community, offer many ways to connect AND followthrough on the tips
— erika owens (@erika_owens) August 18, 2015
https://twitter.com/aschweig/status/633651691154313217
@aschweig @erika_owens A thing to remember (we do @wearehearken) is that tech *supports* engagement practices, is not substitute.
— corey haines (@coreyhaines) August 18, 2015
And of course there's a lot nonprofit news organizations can learn (and share) from and with the broader nonprofit sector.
@aschweig @jcstearns I would also *love* to see news orgs more engaged with the broader np+nptech sectors. We can learn, and teach, a lot.
— erika owens (@erika_owens) August 18, 2015
https://twitter.com/jcstearns/status/633654355766452224
https://twitter.com/jcstearns/status/633654619432992768
@jcstearns @aschweig @KATELESNIAK hell yeah! Even when the examples aren't totally analogous, it sparks new ideas to try.
— erika owens (@erika_owens) August 18, 2015
@jcstearns @aschweig @neworganizing oh yeah, I've used them too. I often forget how much bits and pieces from other industries really help.
— erika owens (@erika_owens) August 18, 2015
@jcstearns thanks for that reminder that it's possible, and useful, to bring together skills from seemingly disparate types of orgs.
— erika owens (@erika_owens) August 18, 2015
@erika_owens @jcstearns @aschweig + I always keep an eye on @actblue contribution page logic/layout. Their ONLY JOB is to optimize giving.
— kate lesniak (@kateotherkate) August 18, 2015
@KateLesniak that's awesome, I love learning from others. I went to the NTC once and most orgs were enormous, but some lessons translated
— erika owens (@erika_owens) August 18, 2015
@erika_owens Yeah, just interesting to see what answers others come up with. Even more interesting to see what questions are being asked.
— kate lesniak (@kateotherkate) August 18, 2015
Communicating why your work has value and how the community can get involved are some additional points many donors look at when deciding whether to give. Does your site make this clear to visitors or do they have to go hunting?
@jcstearns @Steve_Katz @aschweig I think this could be rephrased from "nonprofit" to "needing your donations."
— Scott Lewis (@vosdscott) August 18, 2015
https://twitter.com/jcstearns/status/633662222452064256
https://twitter.com/jcstearns/status/633662593673117696
https://twitter.com/jcstearns/status/633663064978685952
https://twitter.com/RunGomez/status/633664342320287745
https://twitter.com/RunGomez/status/633665118459396097
https://twitter.com/RunGomez/status/633665271987744769
https://twitter.com/jcstearns/status/633666074270109697
https://twitter.com/RunGomez/status/633666337697501186
And finally, while the tax status of nonprofit news organizations does distinguish them from their for-profit peers, the tax implications of a donation is far less important to many smaller donors. They care much more about the mission of the organization they're pledging their support to.
https://twitter.com/RunGomez/status/633672223765561344
https://twitter.com/RunGomez/status/633672656563208192
https://twitter.com/jcstearns/status/633673688764841984
https://twitter.com/jcstearns/status/633673898966577152
https://twitter.com/RunGomez/status/633674266244853760
https://twitter.com/aschweig/status/633674753362935808
Should nonprofit news sites look different than their for-profit counterparts? What would they need to do to clearly communicate this to visitors? Leave a comment and let us know what you think!