💸 Turn your newsletter into a moneymaker

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As we mentioned in last week’s spotlight, more LIONs are adding newsletters to their product strategy as a way to connect with their audiences. Newsletters can be a valuable tool for growing and retaining audiences, leading indirectly to revenue through donations or memberships, but many LIONs are also directly monetizing newsletters through advertising and sponsorships.

In this new spotlight, we dive deeper into how one LION, BoiseDev, has built its successful newsletter advertising program. The Idaho digital-only site earns 60 percent of its advertising revenue through its high-open-rate email projects, in partnership with local ad agencies. It’s a strategy that’s working well enough to power year-over-year growth in staff, audience, and revenue, yielding enough revenue to profitably support eight full-time staff.

Read the post.

– Andrew Rockway, LION’s associate director of sustainability audits

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2024 Summit schedule and ticket updates

If you still haven’t purchased your ticket to the 2024 Independent News Sustainability Summit, don’t wait too long — we’ve already sold more than 70% of tickets and expect to sell out soon.

Secure your spot today, and take a look at the latest five sessions in our impressive lineup:

1. “Nothing but net (profit): How three publishers grew revenue by six figures in a year” with Maritza L. Félix, founder of Conecta Arizona, Luanne Rife, executive director of Cardinal News, Amber DeLind, membership and engagement director at Bridge Michigan/BridgeDetroit, and Graham Ringo, VP of success and growth at News Revenue Hub

2. “Making a difference: Measuring and communicating the impact of strong local journalism” with Kara Meyberg Guzman, CEO and co-founder of Santa Cruz Local, Shane Pekny, grants manager and development consultant at Flatwater Free Press, and Rebecca Neuwirth, chief strategy officer at Documented

3. “Navigating the major donors’ journey” with Kimberly Griffin, publisher, chief revenue officer, and co-founder of Mississippi Free Press

4. “Strategic engagement: Innovative approaches to building audience relationships” with Anita Li, publisher and editor-in-chief of The Green Line, Camille Padilla Dalmau, founder and CEO of 9 Millones, Allison Levine, founder and CEO of the Local Journalism Initiative of Delaware/Spotlight Delaware, and Larry Graham, founder and CEO of The Diversity Pledge Institute

5. “From growing to thriving: Sustainability for large publishers” with David Grant, head of growth at Blue Engine Collaborative, Larry Lee, president and publisher of The Sacramento Observer, and Andrew Rockway, LION’s associate director of sustainability audits

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LION welcomes new members

We’d like to warmly welcome all the new LION members who joined us this month, including Wichita By E.B., Queer & Trans Wealth, Kingston Springs Gazette, The Paper, AsAmNews, and DC Witness and Baltimore Witness.

All LION membership apps are paused until August 6 as we roll out our new membership management system. In the meantime, if you want to join LION, please contact Sarah Gustavus Lim at [email protected].

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Get your AI questions answered

LION will be hosting an “Ask Me Anything” in our News Entrepreneur Slack Channel on Thursday, August 8, from 3-4 p.m. ET. Nikita Roy, founder and CEO of The NRI Nation and Harvard-recognized AI futurist, will answer attendees’ questions about AI and journalism. Here’s how you can participate:

🔹 Submit your questions by Wednesday, August 7

🔹 If you’re not a member of the NEC Slack, request an invite

🔹 Log in to the NEC Slack on August 8 and join the AI channel between 3-4 p.m. ET

🔹 Nikita will answer questions live, and you can join in on the conversation by adding more questions or comments

Please note: All questions and discussions in the NEC Slack must follow LION’s Code of Conduct.

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8 resources for independent publishers

(Get ’em while they’re hot — the deadline for the first three is today!)

1. Prepare to cover the Democratic National Convention. Don’t miss this free virtual legal training conducted by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the National Press Photographers Association. (TODAY at 1 p.m. ET)

2. Align profit with purpose. Join Indiegraf and Agencia Media’s Amanda Zamora for a Q&A webinar designed to help independent content creators and publishers align their mission with revenue generation. (TODAY at noon ET)

3. Share your product knowledge. Submit a session proposal for the News Product Alliance’s virtual Summit 2024, which seeks to address journalism’s toughest challenges through audience, technology, and business expertise. (Proposals due TODAY)

4. Rethink your government reporting. The Solutions Journalism Network’s Building Democracy Fellowship will provide $10,000 and nine months of support to help selected newsrooms integrate solutions journalism into their government reporting. (Q&A on July 29; apply by July 31)

5. Pursue an investigative interest. The New York Times is accepting applications for its Local Investigations Fellowship, a one-year paid program for local beat reporters and freelancers to produce signature investigative work focused on their state or region that will be published by The Times. (Q&A webinar on Aug. 15)

6. Boost your capacity. Report for America, which places early-career journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities, has opened applications for host newsrooms. (Apply by Sept. 13)

7. Right-size ambitions with reality. LION members: This NEA course covers how to measure organizational capacity so you can confidently pursue (or pause) projects.

8. Strengthen your criminal justice journalism. The Marshall Project’s Investigate This! initiative offers story toolkits, which include data downloads, story ideas, multimedia assets, FOIA guidance, expert sources, style guidance, and more.

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What we’re reading

AI from all angles. How Tiny News Collective balanced privacy, accessibility, and safety in its new AI community care agreement. (TNC)

“All news is local.” How one local news solopreneur’s deep well of community connections gave his reporting a leg up on national media amid the Trump assassination attempt.  (The Washington Post)

Cookies in Chrome. Despite Google’s decision reversal about removing cookies in Chrome, publishers are still plowing ahead with plans to adapt to a cookie-less future. (Digiday)

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LIONs in the news

This week, we’re sharing an inspiring example of giving back brought to us by Sioux Falls Simplified.

The newsroom helped raise $5,000 for a local nonprofit, Journey of Hope, through a month-long give-back campaign called “A Little Help.” They wrote five stories highlighting the nonprofit’s impact, and each story included a link to donate.

“I’m not great at the sales-y “for the price of one cup of coffee”-type schtick,” wrote Megan Raposa, the founder of Sioux Falls Simplified. “But I do know that if you want to make an impact with the money you donate, donating locally is the way to do it.”

In other LION member news:

⭐ Mississippi Free Press is hiring a fundraising associate and a development director. And here’s another win (literally) for MFP: The publication received four AAN Awards.

⭐ Tucson Sentinel also took home several AAN Awards, including the top prize for beat reporting, and Editor & Co-Publisher Dylan Smith was elected to AAN’s national board of directors.

⭐ The Harvey World Herald requested the renewal of a $50,000 grant from the Square One Foundation and received a two-year $120,000 grant instead.

⭐ FāVS News is hiring a development director.

⭐ ARLnow’s Founding Editor and Publisher Scott Brodbeck sat down with media expert Simon Owens to discuss the outlet’s exemplary audience engagement.

⭐ Mission Local’s outstanding election coverage won them the “General Excellence” category at the California Journalism Awards.

⭐ The Maine Monitor recently received nine awards from the National Newspaper Association Foundation.

⭐ Nebraska Journalism Trust/Flatwater Free Press’ Ciara Lee, LAist’s Stefanie Ritoper, and CalMatters’ Shyla Nott have been selected for ONA’s 2024 cohort of the Women’s Leadership Accelerator.

⭐ CalMatters, The Lens, InvestigateWest, and San José Spotlight have received new grants from the Fund for Investigative Journalism, which will provide individual reporters and organizations with critical support for investigative projects.

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How to reach us

When you reply to this email, we all receive it, and you’ll hear back from one of us. You can also email us directly at [email protected].

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