{"id":217340,"date":"2023-05-01T20:08:50","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T00:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lionpublishers.com\/?p=217340"},"modified":"2023-05-02T18:41:36","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T22:41:36","slug":"lion-members-increased-diversified-revenue-in-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lionpublishers.com\/lion-members-increased-diversified-revenue-in-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"LION members increased, diversified revenue in 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here at LION, we believe the most durable progress for independent news organizations is incremental. Real movement happens through intentional actions, strategically taken over time. A key hire here, a more consistent revenue stream there \u2014 it all adds up to the kind of smart growth that leads to sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But journalists like to show, not tell. So we\u2019ll let the numbers do the talking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve analyzed the latest aggregate data from our members to get a sense of how the independent news ecosystem is doing overall, and we see promising indicators that this method of steady progress is producing results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The median revenue for LION members is ticking up. Member publications that have been operating for more than a year saw a median annual revenue of $130,000 \u2014 up from $125,000 at this time last year. It\u2019s a modest increase, but it\u2019s an increase nonetheless. And considering that last year\u2019s figure was up 38% from the year before, we can confidently say that the trend is heading in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The revenue picture looks even more promising when we dig into the numbers for returning members. Of those who renewed their membership in 2023, 82% experienced an increase in revenue year-over-year. These renewing members increased their annual revenue by about $50,000, or a median increase of 28%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take The Haitian Times<\/a> as an example. The publication, which covers Haiti and the Haitian diaspora in the United States, saw a revenue \u200b\u200bincrease of 27.3% in 2023, adding about $70,000 to its bottom line. Founder and publisher Garry Pierre-Pierre said he achieved this progress by investing in audience development to amplify advertising efforts while building out the operational capacity on his team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That freed him up to leverage his considerable network and relationship-building skills to focus more on revenue generation and undertake long-dreamed-of ideas for the business-side of his organization. But even then, he forces himself to slow down and take it step-by-strategic-step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a marathon, not a sprint,\u201d Pierre-Pierre said. \u201cIf I try to go too fast, I\u2019m gonna crash.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only is median revenue for LION members increasing, it\u2019s doing so through a more sustainable mix of revenue streams.  The number of members who rely on direct sold advertising as a primary revenue stream is 42% \u2014 down 20% from 2021. But that\u2019s because publications are adding more primary revenue streams to the roster. Around 34% of members now claim some form of reader revenue \u2014 either membership or subscriptions \u2014 as a top revenue source. And events have emerged as a popular earner, with 40% of publications saying they host some sort of public gatherings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does that look like on the ground? The Hingham Anchor<\/a>, a hyper-local news site in coastal Massachusetts, has primarily focused on direct sold advertising since its launch in 2018. Co-founders Hilary Jenison and Laura Winters made a strategic decision to revamp their website rather than the costlier, longer process of migrating to a new CMS. From there, the wins began to domino. That decision allowed them to increase their go-to-market strategy for reaching new advertisers, which in turn resulted in enough revenue to fund their website for the entire year, which then allowed them to focus their efforts on piloting a reader revenue program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Springfield Daily Citizen<\/a> is another example of a publication building a more diverse revenue foundation. Chief Development Officer Judi Kamien knew she wanted to launch an events vertical, but also knew she didn\u2019t want to transfer the costs to the attendees. By developing a strategy to fund them through corporate sponsorships, she achieved the twin goals of gaining readers, donors and community goodwill while attracting even more corporate sponsors through the events themselves.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[This was] \u200b\u200bexactly what I needed \u2014 a jump-start in creative thinking toward our second year of generating revenue,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kamien\u2019s success building out the Daily Citizen\u2019s events strategy enabled them to hire a partnership  manager to focus on creating even more events. Which leads us to our next member insight. We always take a look at the number of full-time employees across our membership to see if revenue growth is leading to team growth. And while we don\u2019t see a noticeable increase in FTEs from last year, we do see a bump in paid part-time and freelance contributors. Organizations that submitted data in 2022 and 2023 saw a median increase of two contributors, which we think could lead to more full-time growth in the future. More money, it seems, is leading to more paid team members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LION Membership Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Organization information<\/h4>\n\n\n\n