Fund raising made easy for publishing

Online publishing comes for free once you have built your audience but wish we could say the same about print. The cost of printing is usually the biggest challenge that small print publishers face. It is often a matter of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars for each issue. With print advertising becoming more and more challenging, publishers need to focus on who benefits the most from the publication, namely, the consumers of the content of the publication. The community itself. If the content taps into the common bond within the community and is compelling enough, it’s just a matter of reaching out to the community and making them aware of the publication. Wouldn’t the community pay a few dollars to read about themselves? Less than the cost of a cup of coffee or an hour of parking …

Today publishers have to set up ad-hoc subscriptions on their websites or GoFundMe campaigns that are scattered. Instead, now with aPrintis, small community publishers have a comprehensive, integrated yet easy-to-use way to set up and execute fund raising campaigns in three ways – sponsorships, subscriptions and advertising. Publication sponsors (subscribers, sponsors and advertisers) can conveniently fund your publication online using credit cards. They pay No Additional Cost beyond credit card processing fees.

Sponsorships

Some members in your community would have more stake or interest in your publication than others. Some folks will have better affordability than others. Some will be motivated when they see their friends’ names on the sponsors list. You can set up different sponsorship levels within aPrintis’s platform and also an “Any donation” option that makes it easy for your community to express their support for your publication. You might consider dedicating some space to thank significant sponsors in the magazine as well as online – this can play a big role in driving more sponsorships. Setting up a few sponsorship levels say $50, $100, $200 should be sufficient. If you can get 30-50 sponsors in your community, that could finance a few issues (~1000 32pg magazines). Learn more about how to set up sponsorships at aprintis-features

Subscriptions

In contrast to the above-mentioned Sponsors who go over and beyond to support the publication, for folks who just want to pay for what they read – subscriptions is the way to go. You can set up different subscription levels within aPrintis and send invites to your community to subscribe. If subscriptions are slow to develop in the beginning, you could start with a smaller circulation (though more expensive per copy) and once your community has had a chance to see the product, subscriptions and sponsorships will be easier to come by. As you publish more statistics on fund raising, you will start to enjoy the benefits of the network effect. Again, subscribers pay no extra cost other than the credit card processing fees. Learn more about how to set up subscriptions at aprintis-features

Advertising

While advertising is the go-to fund raising option for most publishers and the best way to get higher amounts of financing across many issues for the publication, the proposition is stronger when there’s already been an issue or two published and some buzz built about the publication. It helps to show sponsor and subscriber lists as further evidence of readership or support to compel advertisers. And, of course, the list of other advertisers. You can create an advertising rate sheet in aPrintis, send sneak previews and promotions to advertisers. They can conveniently pay online by credit card, submit their ads and communicate with your editorial staff through the platform. Learn more about how to set up ad rate sheets at aprintis-features

Magazine sneak previews & invitation to contribute

Never underestimate the power of balanced promotion to energize fund raising. When coupled with giving people the option to also contribute content to the publication, the resulting engagement is many times higher. Crowd sourcing also guarantees the constant inflow of content ideas. It is important that the promotion be effective in the first few opportunities that you have with your audience (prospective sponsors). Sending sneak previews of the magazine to the community to whet their appetite in advance is a great way to do that.

Effective fund raising is the backbone of successful publications. Diversifying beyond advertising by drumming up community sponsorships and subscriptions primed with well timed sneak previews is key to effective fund raising – all done easily within the aPrintis platform.