"For digital-first news outlets in Latin America, lessons learned from reader-funding experiments are being transformed into highly tailored membership programmes that offer a chance at a more sustainable future. Independent, mission-driven or subject-specific news sites, in particular, are leading the way, converting close relationships with audiences into funding through editorially-linked, labour-intensive initiatives. While membership is having a moment in the Global North too, building an audience-funded organisation has been on the agenda for some time for several outlets in Latin America. Colombian politics news site La Silla Vacía and Brazilian investigative journalism agency Agência Pública launched membership programmes after running crowdfunding campaigns since 2012 and 2013. Tiempo Argentino’s rebirth as a member-funded title in 2016 saved journalists’ jobs at a time of mass layoffs and secured a loyal audience in the face of declining print circulation. Elsewhere, Peru's Ojo Público, El Salvador's El Faro, Chile’s investigative journalism outlet CIPER and La No Ficción in Colombia have all built different membership or reader donation programmes. This piece looks into some of the things these news organisations have learned along the way." (Introduction)