INN @ Temple: Business Intensive for Nonprofit News

INN @ Temple: Business Intensive for Nonprofit News

October 3

10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Temple University Center City

Invest One Day. Set up Your Year

 

Join INN at Temple University in Philadelphia on Oct. 3 for a special one-day business planning intensive for nonprofit news leaders. You’ll get training and coaching from top advisers in two key areas for nonprofit newsrooms: Audience development and sales.

Media adviser Tim Griggs and sponsorship sales experts from public media and independent nonprofits provide a day of training tailored to executive directors, development and revenue directors, COOs and audience engagement managers for nonprofit and independent media. The program is free to all INN members, thanks to generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

 

Session One: Audience Funnel Discipline.

An organizational approach to reach new readers, deepen engagement, and convert loyalists into paying supporters

  • Get out of the weeds: Learn about the importance of audience funnel discipline and why it's important to orient your whole operation around it
  • Learn how you can customize the funnel approach to your specific market/content/audiences
  • Learn how you can use a funnel approach to keep track of the metrics that matter – and ONLY those that matter -- and build scorecards to track your progress

We know the maxim “build it and they will come” isn’t true when it comes to digital news. Audiences expect news to find them. But most news organizations aren’t particularly good at making it easy for potential readers/viewers/listeners to discover them.  Difficult as it is, building audience and affinity is not optional. Newsrooms that struggle to attract and retain the right audiences not only miss out on the chance to share their mission-driven journalism with the widest possible group, they also severely hamper their chances of sustainability.

This 2+ hour session will help you set your strategy to grow audience, affinity and revenue.

Presenter Tim Griggs advises top media organizations and one of the most sought-after audience growth specialists, based on his work generating audience gains for the New York Times and Texas Tribune. He also consults on revenue growth, sustainability, product development, consumer user experience and digital strategy. His life's work: To create purpose-driven journalism and help find effective, innovative business models to support it.

 

Session Two​: Growing and Managing Sponsorship & Underwriting Sales

Sponsorship and underwriting sales are important and growing revenue streams for many nonprofit news organizations. ​We’re not talking programmatic advertising here, but developing sponsors around the kind of high-value, targeted audiences that nonprofit newsrooms can generate. Join us to learn the key success factors for effective underwriting and sponsorship programs:

  • The role of your marketing plan in developing a underwriting/sponsorship program
  • How to assess the revenue potential of your website and other products
  • How to hire a sales/business dev person, and what kind of sales management works? (Hint: it’s a lot different than newsroom management)

Presenters:  Panel led by Kirk Nelson, founding partner, Market Enginuity.

You’ll learn from a panel of INN members who have succeeded in growing sponsorship and underwriting revenue, with expert discussion led by Market Enginuity, a firm that particularly understands the current state of nonprofit news sponsorship. Market Enginuity provides outsourced underwriting development and sales for local public radio and television stations. It started back when digital sales for public media were similar to those for nonprofit independent newsrooms now -- just emerging as a significant revenue stream. They understand the state of play and bring expertise in evaluating and leveraging underwriting opportunities and managing performance.

Participants: Watch for a survey in advance so we can gauge your current state of sponsorship and collect your questions. Those will be used to tailor the presentation.

 

Register here: INN @ Temple