# Guardian’s membership & donation campaign boosts paying readership to 800k

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/11/17/guardians-membership-donation-campaign-boosts-paying-readership-to-800000/
- Published: 2017-11-17T15:30:41+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The Guardian newspaper’s recent charity-like fundraising appeal for members and
donors has increased the number of paying readers to 800,000.**

In a year and a half it has grown from 12,000 to 300,000 members. Editor [Katharine Viner said last month](https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2017/oct/26/together-we-are-safeguarding-the-guardians-independent-journalism)
that The Guardian had 500,000 people paying monthly or as print/digital subscribers,
and had attracted 300,000 one-off donations.

According to [NiemanLab](http://www.niemanlab.org/2017/11/asking-members-to-support-its-journalism-no-prizes-no-swag-the-guardian-raises-more-reader-revenue-than-ad-dollars/),
this means that “by the end of 2016, reader revenues — that’s memberships, subscriptions,
newsstand sales, and one-time contributions — comprised more of the Guardian’s revenue
than advertising dollars did.”

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The campaign has focused on asking Guardian readers to support the paper for the
quality of its journalism and for its independence. Adverts on the website and in
the printed paper have highlighted its investigative journalism achievements, in
particular its role in exposing the Panama Papers in April 2016.

The campaign has included a sense of urgency for support, highlighting the divisive
national and global politics of the past two years against a backdrop of Brexit 
and President Trump.

![Guardian's fundraising appeal based on its coverage of Brexit](https://wfay6x.
infiniteuploads.cloud/2022/01/guardian-appeal-brexit.webp)

The Guardian highlights the quality of its reporting in its appeals.

The fundraising appeal has invited subscriptions, one-off donations and regular 
donations. The language and style has been very similar to charity campaigns.

Adverts on the website include a variety of written calls to action – with no images.
Usually one or two points are highlighted in yellow to stand out, very like a traditional
charity direct mail appeal.

## Options for support

The Guardian is inviting readers to join as:

 * **supporters** for £5 per month with ticket access to events
 * **partners** for £15 per month. This includes tickets to Guardian Live events
   or Guardian-published books.
 * **patrons** for £60 per month, including access to “exclusive, behind-the-scenes”
   events.

The appeal for this kind of reader support was chosen because it had been decided
specifically not to charge for access behind a paywall, an approach taken by other
newspapers such as The Times and The Daily Telegraph.
Katharine Viner said: “We 
haven’t put up a paywall. Instead, we want to remain a strong, progressive force
that is open for all.”

Equally, The Guardian was facing an insurmountable challenge of increasing digital
advertising income.

![Guardian membership thank you card](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2022/
01/guardian-membership-thank-you-card-e1516276273674.webp)

Guardian membership thank you card

 * **[Nominations sought for Guardian Christmas Appeal](https://fundraising.co.uk/2000/09/19/nominations-sought-guardian-christmas-appeal/)(
   19 September 2000)**