As Indiegraf’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Sam Hoisington will be sharing his journey of building a community news outlet in this recurring column. Follow along as he shares the milestones and challenges of news entrepreneurship.
Compared to paywalls, donation or voluntary giving programs rely more on emotion than logic. For these programs to succeed, publishers need to tap into the motivations of their supporters and use that to build a personal connection.
All too often, however, publishers with voluntary giving programs skip an crucial step: asking people why they made their gift.
This is some of the most valuable data we collect at The Bentonville Bulletin. As soon as supporters make a contribution, they’re redirected to a form that asks just two questions — “What inspired you to support The Bentonville Bulletin today?” and “Would you like us to publicly acknowledge your support?”
It’s important that these questions are asked after the checkout process is completed, instead of adding more friction to the checkout flow.
From the first question, we expect distinct themes to emerge over time, which we can use to refine our fundraising strategy and recruit more supporters.
For example, during my time at Inside Climate News, we asked this question to supporters. For the most part, their answers centered on climate change, such as “We need to do something about climate change,” rather than specific coverage, like – “I love that recent story about X, Y, Z…”
Feedback like this indicates what broader themes a publisher should mention when crafting fundraising messages.
The second question allows us to share their responses in our marketing materials to inspire others to give. Hearing why other readers supported the publication is often more compelling than what I have to say.
This data is key to our long-term revenue strategy, but we also put it into action immediately. As soon as someone submits the form, the Indie Tech form tool emails their responses to me and The Bentonville Bulletin’s managing editor.
The feedback isn’t just valuable for marketing and fundraising; it’s also a morale booster. These notes from readers always seem to come at just the right moment, and I respond to each and every one of them.
⬇️ Indiegraf publishers: For details on how to set this up, click here.
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