Sponsorships

Growing a solutions-oriented sponsorship revenue stream

For several years, Richland Source, a for-profit newsroom based in Mansfield, Ohio, has turned to local businesses and other organizations for financial support under what it calls “newsroom partnerships.” The digital publication hatched this strategy in 2018 by putting forward a couple of solutions-oriented projects that helped it raise close to $70,000 from more than 20 local funders. Three years later, this sponsorship program brought in $166,000, with a projected $82,000 in additional revenue from individuals for 2021.

From the outset, Richland Source anchored its pitch in solutions journalism: defining the publication’s core principles, reporting on responses to problems affecting local communities, and shaping a value proposition to present to stakeholders.

In 2018, Jay Allred, president of Richland Source, wrote, “Solutions journalism guided us through complicated topics that needed a local lens.” By 2021 the publication had produced at least seven solutions-driven series, which all appear in the website’s solutions journalism section. A banner at the top of the page reads: "Trusted, rigorous reporting that seeks to make our community a better place to live and work."

KEY TIP:

Develop a value proposition for sponsors.

In the latest round of fundraising, Richland Source developed a value proposition, focused on solutions journalism, that puts the interests and needs of funders at the center:

“The Source’s Newsroom Partnership program helps you make Richland County a better place through support for independent, solutions-focused reporting. Newsroom Partnership bridges the gap between you and the reporters that cover your life. Together, we form a vital partnership that fosters trust, togetherness and growth through journalism.”

For more details about the strategy and process for generating sponsorship money, read this excellent step-by-step explanation by Allred. Key elements of his advice include ensuring the newsroom and corporate sponsors know where the boundaries are in this financial relationship, that the hero of the pitch’s story is the financial backer and not the journalists, and that a fundraising campaign requires time — although that time can be carved out with a few dedicated hours here and there throughout the week.

Here are templates and resources used by Richland Source for its first Newsroom Partnership drive, and the project-specific pamphlets created in 2018 for the series Rising from Rust and Gray Matters.

Getting sponsorship for beat-specific solutions series

The Current embraced solutions journalism as a “companion method for accountability and investigation,” according to its founder and executive editor, Christiaan Mader.

Beginning in 2020, this nonprofit digital publication based in Lafayette, Louisiana, published over a dozen solutions-oriented articles on a range of topics that aligned with the news cycle. This editorial momentum led to the creation of the Solution Hub, a landing page giving prominence to The Current's solutions coverage.

In response to the pandemic, The Current developed a solutions journalism series, “Lifeline: COVID,” focused on the provision of health care and other pandemic-related services by telephone.

That reporting led to an opportunity to secure financial support in the form of sponsorships from two local health care providers. Putting forward a pitch leveraging the solutions journalism aspect of the project, the publication raised $7,500 and $1,000.

Mader said, “They loved it,” and added: “Our biggest sponsor leapt at the idea and asked us to create a [sponsorship] level 50% higher than what we tried to sell. That wouldn’t have happened with a typical investigative project, especially in this [media] market.” The sponsor came on board explicitly because of the solutions focus, with a clear understanding that there would be no editorial influence. Mader said, “A solutions brand smooths that edge for sponsors who nonetheless want to support robust journalism.”

That was the first time The Current pursued sponsorship revenue from local businesses for a specific, serialized editorial project. It provided the blueprint for future similar initiatives.

KEY TIP:

Pitch the quality of your audience and product, not eyeball numbers.

With a reporting series focused on health care solutions, The Current created a list of potential clients operating in the health sector. This narrow selection helped identify companies that would have a likely interest in marketing their brands by supporting this type of coverage.

As a relatively young publication with a small but growing audience primarily interested in government, politics and policy issues, The Current anchored its pitch on the profile and loyalty of its readers, rather than their numbers.

Here is the two-page sponsor kit The Current put together for potential clients.

Sponsorship for one-off solutions-focused public engagement campaign

In 2019 Outriders, a Poland-based publication covering global issues in Polish and English, generated $8,000 in sponsorship revenue from the Santander bank in Poland to support a solutions-driven reporting package.

The project, called #WeHaveCommonGoals, involved a community engagement initiative designed to crowdsource ideas for the article topics. Jakub Górnicki, CEO of Outriders, told SJN that pitching a solutions journalism project to a business increases the chances of success in bringing in revenue.

In this instance, the bank was interested in supporting work that would help “promote the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” Górnicki said, without interfering with the publication’s journalism. In a statement Santander said, “The journalist conducts research, compares various approaches to the issue and finally presents to the readers an accurate picture of the situation, telling them how different solutions work and what impact they have in various places worldwide.”

KEY TIP:

Be creative and mission-aligned when seeking project partnerships.

Securing money may involve more than simply committing to the publication of articles. In this case, Outriders developed a project that fit into its objective to engage with the public by soliciting ideas for solutions-driven stories that could feed into its production of content. To bring both visibility and revenue to this initiative, it found a company with corporate goals that were suited to supporting this kind of work.

Selecting a solutions focus that overlapped with the SDG framework offered one way to tap into a company’s corporate social responsibility goals and align both parties’ needs. Find out more about the project here.

Sponsorships for solutions-focused events

The Philadelphia Citizen’s mission is to generate civic engagement through reporting on solutions that can improve the lives of communities in Philadelphia. The nonprofit independent digital publication exists to challenge the journalism industry’s most common bias.

“Media that only chronicles what’s wrong without considering how to fix things is only doing half a job,” states the website. Together with its journalism, the outlet offers guides for readers interested in taking action in areas such as social justice issues, democracy and voting, homelessness and support for black businesses.

When it comes to attracting revenue, Roxanne Patel Shepelavy, executive editor and co-executive director, says that funders and readers are primarily interested in impact and supporting civic engagement.

For The Citizen, journalism isn’t an end in itself. Solutions-focused journalism isn’t the selling point; it’s merely a means to an end. Financial stakeholders care about helping foster solutions, and solutions journalism is part of the process of raising awareness about what can be done to address problems. It provides a foundation for putting out calls to action to The Citizen’s readership and people who come to its events.

Community events are a core tenet of the publication’s activities and business model. The annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival is its flagship event, dedicated to showcasing initiatives that the city of Philadelphia could replicate to address a range of issues.

Events are a significant and growing piece of The Citizen’s budget. The amount they have brought in has also grown year over year, by 38% in 2019, and 56% in 2020.

“We don’t have to say to sponsors that they will not influence the content of the festival or the journalism,” said Patel Shepelavy. “It’s clear on the website.” The Citizen has never taken money from sponsors that wanted to recommend something. Newsroom staff members are not involved in sales.

A corporate sponsor might be affiliated with the subject matter discussed during an event — such as a real estate company sponsoring a topic related to community-focused development. In any situation where a funder is mentioned, whether at an event or in an article, The Citizen discloses its contribution. “It’s important to always be transparent about financial relationships,” Patel Shepelavy says.

Besides receiving income through sponsorships, The Philadelphia Citizen raises money from foundations, as well as reader revenue from its membership program.

KEY TIP:

Look beyond traditional editorial work to grow the potential for revenue.

The Citizen believes community events are an editorial product that serves to inform and activate people. According to Patel Shepelavy, “getting people to support a daylong event that shines a light on solutions is more sellable than asking to support The Philadelphia Citizen’s journalism itself.”

That is in part because of the visibility sponsors get from the promotion and attention that come with this kind of event, and because it connects them with an engaged audience looking to make a better Philadelphia.

Sponsorship pitch deck (see in full here).