On Monday we challenged our readers to join Tyee Builders, our supporters’ program, and help us get to 2019 monthly supporters by 2019. We started at 1,787, so we need to add 232 new members.
We’re happy to announce that as we write this, we’re already 35 per cent of the way towards our goal!
Will you join Tyee Builders now and help us hit our goal by Dec. 31?
Tyee Builders, readers who pay us a few dollars a month (or more than a few, whatever level they are comfortable with), make it possible for The Tyee to operate without a paywall, and make sure that we can pay our feisty reporting team and roster of freelancers to do original, in-depth stories that you won’t read anywhere else.
The Tyee’s funding comes from a variety of sources, including ongoing investment, a small amount of advertising, revenues from our live events, and our Tyee Builders (read more about our funding here).
We won’t get too into the weeds about the volatile nature of the digital advertising world, but suffice it to say that the old model for paying for news — attracting page views to earn money from advertisers — isn’t working anymore, at least not for everyone. And it certainly isn’t the right model to pay for in-depth reporting that takes much time and care.
What is working, and what many publications are starting to figure out, is asking the end-user of a publication, the readers, to consider supporting this work with a reasonable amount of money on a monthly basis, whatever that means to you.
Not only does this strategy mean that we have a consistent, reliable source of funds to plan ahead and invest in stories, it means that our focus is squarely on publishing stories that are worth something to readers, that add to your lives and help make sense of the world.
So far, this strategy has been paying off — in our last fiscal year, contributions from readers made up a full 35 per cent of our budget. It’s no exaggeration to say The Tyee wouldn’t be what it is without reader support.
So, what do you say, are you in?
Please join Tyee Builders today as a monthly supporter and help us reach our goal by Dec. 31.
And if you’re already a Tyee Builder — our sincerest thanks.
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