Hello from Amsterdam, where we’re working with our partners at De Correspondent to turn what we’ve heard from members into design provocations and testable ideas. Using the expectations members have for the sites they support, we've developed a series of prompts you can use to designing and improve upon your own program.
Sounds easy, right? If only. We heard that supporters of news sites are seeking more openness (in the form of inclusivity of people who don’t pay and financial transparency) and distinctiveness (in coverage they don’t see anywhere else). And they’re seeking more opportunities for quality engagement with reporters and other supporters, especially if those people share their values but have different points of view.
We recognize the complexity of these requests, especially for resource-constrained newsrooms. We encourage you to be selective in picking the area(s) where you can bring fresh approaches. To spur ideas, we’ve created questions based on the Stanford d.school’s “how might we?” framing and added a twist for the sake of actionability: how can we meet these needs for the communities we serve?
As you review the list, know that each question represents news membership needs and concerns of supporters of independent media around the world. The questions suggest rich opportunities for creativity and chances to distinguish yourselves (you’ll also quickly see the ways that news today isn’t working for them).
To get started brainstorming, print the question guide and select a group of questions or a single question in an area that’s particularly challenging for your team. Pull together some snacks and drawing paper -- and ideally prospective supporters to help you come up with ideas. Happy idea generation, all.
Emily Goligoski
Research Director
@emgollie
Unique value
How can we...
Stand out from commodity news and offer a unique take in story selection, reporting, and presentation?
Diversify the writers, sources, and parts of the world we highlight to be more inclusive and to bring more points of view?
Really represent diversity in staffing, education, and reach, not just talk about it?
Expose people to leaders and ideas they might not seek out on their own?
Write stories at an altitude that feels inviting and educational for newbies and experts alike? Should it?
Marketing distinctiveness
How can we...
Show that our site is different (especially in countries where free press is limited or regions where reporting is limited)?
Be generous in pointing to other experts’ and publications’ work?
Show that our work is complementary to other media and meets a different need?
Better message the news and analysis gap that we fill?
Show that this is one way of looking at a topic, not the only way?
Demonstrate discretion and modesty in an industry where both are increasingly rare?
Communicate knowing that members are wary of marketing talk and “membership hype”?
Go beyond membership hype to convey the feeling of a new and unique relationship?
Highlight our own unique and local rituals?
Member contribution
How can we...
Design comments on platform to be easy to read (and to contribute, for the set of people who want to)?
Offer more opportunities for participation, including lighter touch and in person changes to offer knowledge to benefit the journalism?
Recognize members’ high values alignment, which extends beyond the way many individuals think about local media and education?
Inspire contributions among people who may not initially think they have worthwhile information to add (but do)?
Member influence
How can we...
Show that our work can’t get done without member support (including but not limited to time, energy, money, ideas)?
Make supporters’ impact more tangible?
Show members that we value them?
Show members that we recognize that they have agency and judgement, which most media fails to do?
Design for people who don’t consider themselves “joiners”?
Invite members play to their strengths when giving, whether with expert knowledge, finances, or creativity?
Social contract
How can we...
Design for simplicity, demonstrating that we respect members and don’t take advantage of their attention?
Resist the urge to give expensive physical goods that supporters don’t really want anyway?
Personalization
How can we...
Design benefits that reflect what members want and use?
Tailor gatherings around members’ availability and interests?
Design products (and potentially benefits) knowing that people may use only one, not all of them?
Let members pick their own benefits? How can we personalize based on their needs?
Offer special information to members that is useful without stumbling into exclusivity, which most members say is less useful than intended?
Offer live journalism for children, elderly people, and others who can benefit from and contribute to it?
Transparency & trust
How can we...
Be transparent in sharing processes and finances?
Convey core values as we grow?
Be solutions-oriented, not just telling why a problem happened and why it matters, but also what members and their leaders can do about it?
Showcase situations where staff reporters disagree on a topic of interest?
Sound like people talking, not institutions?
Encourage writers to show vulnerability and blind spots in their research, which actually earns their audience members’ trust? How can we acknowledge what we’re thinking about and where we’re coming from?
Show references and invite expert participation?
Host more and more vibrant interactions
• Between members and editorial staff?
• Among members?
Financial sustainability
How can we...
Allow people to pay what they want, knowing it may be much less or more than what we’d otherwise ask?
Encourage feelings of ownership and pride in our work?
Encourage joining even when there isn’t a major “event”?
Organizational leadership
How can we...
Create a leadership succession plan for long-term sustainability?
Feature and highlight the contributions of staff who aren’t the leader?
This list is only partial. We’re eager to hear what you’d add, particularly around cultural and market considerations that your publication is thinking about. Please share how you put these questions and more to work for your supporters.
If you’re interested in more research tools for designing with your supporters, see this toolkit and the worksheet we designed to learn about member motivations. Do keep us apprised of other tools we might create with your input to benefit your site’s work.