"Richard J. Tofel, the former president and founding general manager of ProPublica, offers actionable strategies to help nonprofit newsrooms and news entrepreneurs build sustainable organizations. Drawing on his years of experience in managing and running a nonprofit newsroom, Tofel shares how to: d ... raft a strong mission statement; create a business plan, devise a fundraising strategy; build a board; sustain organizational structure; and much more." (Back cover) more

"What’s working to generate revenue and sustain journalism collaborations, beyond philanthropy? To answer this question, the Center for Cooperative Media, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism and the Solutions Journalism Network conducted a survey, interviewed collaborative project managers, funde ... rs and ecosystem support staff from around the country, and ultimately identified eight innovative examples of collaborative revenue experiments in progress to share with you. These experiments range from new reader revenue streams to newsletter sponsorships, monetizing events and sharing back-office services." (About this report) more

"Our research suggests publishers should invest in capabilities to engage in constant testing and experimentation in digital — to build engagement among digital audiences and ultimately convert engaged readers into paying subscribers. For commercial and for-profit models in particular, publishers ... should become smart across a range of new strategies, including how to configure meters and rules to calibrate a mix of free and paid access. The trends we have observed across the publishers studied suggest pricing models, marketing tactics, and new approaches to audience engagement can help publishers succeed in a news environment increasingly friendly to robust digital programs. Produced through surveys of more than 500 for-profit newsrooms, this research suggests new best practices to aid publishers in increasing and sustaining digital subscriptions. This initiative complements existing research at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public policy uncovering sustainable business models for local news and nonprofit publishers. This paper begins with recommendations for publishers to propel shifts to subscriber-focused models, how to define their news organization’s market, and how to measure engagement within that market. They are followed by a set of suggested strategies to drive a reader’s intent to subscribe, and to maintain that digital subscribership once that reader has entered a publisher’s ecosystem." (Abstract) more