How BlueLena helps indie news publishers turn readers into loyal, long-term supporters

BlueLena is a Reception Sponsor of the 2025 Independent News Sustainability Summit. LION is featuring some Summit sponsors in Q&As to help members learn more about their work. Find out how to become a Summit sponsor.

If there’s one thing we know that interests most of our members, it’s sustained audience and revenue growth. That’s why we’re excited to welcome BlueLena, an expert in this arena, back as a sponsor of our event for the second year in a row. In 2024, we spoke with Ned Burke, BlueLena’s chief strategy officer, about how the organization uses technology and expert consulting to drive news organizations toward sustainability. You can read that Q&A here. This year, we were delighted to meet Mariangela Salmeron, a publisher success manager on the strategy team. Read on to learn how she and her team help indie news publishers master the funnel.

Hayley: Building on last year’s Q&A with Ned Berke, could you share a bit about BlueLena and how you support LION members and other indie news entrepreneurs? Have there been any big changes since 2024?

Mariangela: Absolutely! One of the biggest changes we’ve seen since 2024 is a shift toward longer-term strategic thinking. More publishers are recognizing that investing in their audience strategy and technology to set them up for success isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s core to their sustainability! Since last year, we’ve deepened our partnerships with LION members and other indie publishers, helping them move from siloed tools and scattered campaigns to more cohesive, data-informed audience strategies. 

A great example of how we are supporting the industry is through the development of an integrated CRM and fundraising platform to support mid-level and major giving. Unlike off-the-shelf tools adapted from other industries, our CRM is designed specifically for newsrooms, with the needs of publishers like LION members at its core. What makes it especially effective is that it’s fully integrated with our email service provider (ESP), bringing key functions and data together in one system. The goal is to help publishers streamline their workflows, reduce friction, and do more with less, all while making their reader revenue growth efforts more strategic and impactful. Our publishers on the system grew individual giving by 30% YOY – an incredible stat that demonstrates the potential for every independent local newsroom.

Hayley: And can you tell us a bit more about what you do at BlueLena? Why did you join the team?

Mariangela: I’ve always loved working at the intersection of media and technology; it’s where storytelling gets smarter, and at BlueLena, it happens in a very special way. As a publisher success manager on the strategy team, I help newsrooms implement the right tools and build a tech stack that actually works for them. Once the technology is in place, their data starts to make more sense, and that’s where the real transformation begins. I get to partner with them to turn insights into strategy, helping them convert loyal readers into long-term supporters. It’s incredibly rewarding to see teams gain clarity and confidence in how to use their data to improve their product and power their long-term sustainability.

And honestly, what keeps me here is the team I work with and the people we serve. We don’t drop in a CRM and wish folks luck. We stick with our partners, helping them make the most of their tools and grow in ways that actually align with their mission. The journalism these teams are producing is remarkable. They’re holding power to account, telling local stories that matter, and serving their communities with dedication and purpose. They deserve thoughtful, long-term strategic support, and I’m proud to be part of a team that shows up for them.

Hayley: Considering that you help independent news leaders grow their audiences and revenue, what is one thing these publishers usually underestimate or overestimate when starting these kinds of projects?

Mariangela: Great question. One thing many publishers tend to underestimate is just how much time and consistency it takes to build genuine trust with readers. It’s not about a one-time donation appeal, it’s about sustained, meaningful engagement that consistently delivers value. At BlueLena, we often remind our publishers what the data consistently shows: the higher the engagement, the higher the likelihood that readers will support your work.

At the heart of it all, there needs to be a clear and compelling value proposition: a strong sense of why you exist and why your work matters. When that is consistently reflected in your messaging and content strategy, it will build a deeper connection and lasting loyalty with your audience. Pairing that clarity with a willingness to experiment, and using those insights to refine your audience and reader revenue strategies, is essential for long-term growth and sustainability.

Hayley: The last time we connected with you all, you had recently launched the BlueLena Academy, “a reader revenue training program that provides the technology and the skills to grow reader support in-house.” Could you provide a success story from the program, along with any actionable insights for LION members?

Mariangela: Definitely. A great success story from the BlueLena Academy, led by Sam Bennet on our team, is Fredericksburg Free Press. FFP is a nonprofit newsroom that launched in early 2024 with an ambitious mission but no established reader revenue strategy. When they joined the Academy, they were starting from scratch: limited brand awareness, a small inherited email list, and no experience running fundraising campaigns.

Through the Academy, FFP built out their lifecycle automations, milestone-based appeals, and recurring giving campaigns. They also gained the tools and strategic coaching needed to use their data more effectively.

The results were impressive: in under a year, FFP grew their email list from 4,000 to over 10,000 subscribers, achieved open rates above 46% on their welcome series, and secured nearly 1,000 individual donations, 80% of which were recurring monthly gifts. Just as importantly, their donor retention rate hit 96%, a remarkable benchmark for any newsroom.

This success wasn’t about a flashy campaign or a massive team, it was about having the right infrastructure, clear messaging, and a consistent approach. That’s the biggest takeaway I can share with LION members: You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Start with your mission, use your data to guide timing and segmentation, and build a repeatable system for engaging and retaining your supporters.

Hayley: What’s one thing you’ve seen in the past year that excites you about the independent news industry? And what’s something you’d like to see more folks focusing on moving forward?

Mariangela: The increasing sophistication we’re seeing around audience engagement. More publishers are moving away from generic email blasts and embracing lifecycle messaging. We’ve helped standardize a set of “core automations” across our publisher base: welcome series, abandoned carts, reacquisition and reengagement campaigns, etc., that every publisher should have in place. Looking ahead, I’d love to see segmented appeals become the norm. Whether it’s donation appeals or subscription and membership growth campaigns, by combining engagement and transactional data, publishers can create more personalized, effective messaging. 

Ultimately, I’d love to see more newsrooms shift their focus to long-term retention and donor lifetime value. It’s tempting (and important!) to focus on list growth, but true sustainability comes from building meaningful, lasting relationships with your audience, so they continue to support your work and become true advocates.

Hayley: Are there any upcoming initiatives that BlueLena is working on that you’d like to preview for us?

Mariangela: One of the most exciting developments we’re working on is the continued rollout of our purpose-built CRM for newsrooms. As I mentioned at the beginning, it is designed specifically to meet the needs of independent publishers, combining audience insights, email marketing, and donation tracking and engagement in one place. It empowers small teams to work more efficiently and make smarter data-informed decisions around fundraising efforts. We’re proud of Megan Wofford’s leadership, who is spearheading this work with a deep technical expertise and a strong understanding of what newsrooms need to succeed. It’s truly a game changer.

We’re also expanding our commitment to newsroom experimentation. Dustin Block and Judi Kamien from our team are working closely alongside a cohort of AJP publishers to lead structured experiments and uncover what truly drives engagement and reader revenue growth. The goal is to generate actionable, data-informed insights that not only support the cohort’s success, but also deliver shared learnings that strengthen the broader independent news ecosystem.

Hayley: And how can folks get in touch with you and/or the BlueLena team?

Mariangela: For more information or to schedule a consultation, publishers can contact BlueLena’s VP of growth, Ashley Woods Branch, at ashley@bluelena.io. You can also schedule a call with us here!

Hayley: Many thanks, Mariangela! We can’t wait to see the BlueLena team in St. Louis.

Join us at the 2025 Independent News Sustainability Summit to meet fellow independent news leaders, supporters, and funders.