December 10, 2001 | Read Time: 6 minutes
BRAINSTORMS
By Tom Chalkley
As a field organizer in political campaigns in the 1980s, Andrew Hastings learned what a candidate needs in order to win a campaign: wide name recognition, a well-defined public image, and strong identification with issues. Nine years ago, when Mr. Hastings became head of the Delaware Association of Nonprofit Agencies — a job he leaves this month to become vice president of the National Philanthropic Trust — he found that charitable organizations have similar needs for image and visibility, but those needs are not being met.
Because of the limited coverage of nonprofit organizations by the mainstream press, many worthwhile charities are practically invisible to the general public. As Mr. Hastings puts it, “The number-one reason people don’t know about nonprofit organizations is that they don’t know about them.” For years, he felt that his organization, which provides technical support services to 375 member groups, needed a better way to tell the rest of the state about Delaware’s charities.
The solution took creativity and initiative. Instead of just pleading with the local media to cover charities as news, the Delaware Association of Nonprofit Agencies joined with the state’s largest daily newspaper to produce a special bimonthly supplement devoted to the nonprofit field.
It didn’t happen overnight. Mr. Hastings had been chief executive officer of the Delaware association for years before he focused on the weaknesses of its conventional bimonthly newsletter, which was distributed to its members and their supporters, but not to the general public. In 1998, hoping to broaden its reach, the organization replaced the newsletter with a glossy magazine, which was mailed to 22,000 addresses, a list expanded to include non-member groups, businesses, community leaders, and public officials.
“It was a good way to market and promote our programs, and it grew our membership, but it got prohibitively expensive,” Mr. Hastings says. “Sponsors and underwriters were just non-existent.” The magazine cost roughly $25,000 out of the organization’s $285,000 annual budget, he says. After two years, the association suspended publication.
A Different Approach
In the wake of that experiment, Mr. Hastings came up with another idea: piggybacking a magazine about Delaware charities on an existing publication with a large readership. He turned his attention to the daily Wilmington News Journal, which boasts a circulation of 265,000 and is distributed in Delaware and three neighboring states.
In September 2000, he sent the News Journal a two-page proposal, appealing to the publisher’s self-interest and self-image. Mr. Hastings argued that by running a supplement about nonprofit groups, the News Journal would reinforce its status as a major news provider and good corporate citizen. The publication could support itself with ad revenue, he reasoned, and would help the News Journal build relationships with new advertisers. Profits, should there be any, could be split evenly between the paper and the Delaware association.
The paper’s marketing department was persuaded by the appeal to the News Journal’s community spirit, Mr. Hastings says, and the new partners moved rapidly to formalize their relationship and design their first issue. The name “goodcause” was chosen because of its inclusive appeal.
Getting Coverage
The premiere issue of the supplement, went to press in March, with 32 pages and $90,000 worth of advertising. A tabloid-sized newsprint publication, goodcause is largely “advertorial” in style, with brief articles and notices about campaigns, hirings, promotions, awards, fund raising, and grant making, plus a calendar of events. Mr. Hastings serves as editor and, combined with his staff’s assistance, each bimonthly issue requires about 40 hours of work. (The Delaware association has not yet appointed anyone to take over the editor’s duties after Mr. Hastings’ departure.)
Most of the editorial content comes directly from member groups, typically in the form of e-mail. Coverage in goodcause, Mr. Hastings says, is a free service the association offers only to its members.
Michelle Sands, communications coordinator for the Delaware Community Foundation, which provides grants to many of the association’s members, says she has been “pretty aggressive” about submitting stories to goodcause. Ms. Sands says that the magazine gives her organization far more print exposure than it receives from conventional media and direct mail. “It gets the message across that philanthropy is very important, that giving is important,” she says.
The exposure itself is what matters most, says Tony Allen, president of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League. “The News Journal is the only game in town, so we’re almost guaranteed a read,” Mr. Allen says. “We’ve been in goodcause every time it’s been published, and I can’t tell you how many people comment on it.”
Making a Difference
Some of the association’s member groups can testify to the impact goodcause has had in helping them reach the public. Recently, when information about the children’s-services organization Supporting K.I.D.D.S. appeared in goodcause for its free “survival kits” for children coping with death or divorce, the charity’s staff members worked weekend hours to respond to an unexpected surge in orders for the kits, double the usual amount the group receives.
If the magazine’s emphasis on the inner workings of Delaware’s nonprofit organizations seem a bit dry to attract a general readership, Mr. Hastings says it’s in keeping with the solid, businesslike image the association and its members want to project to the public. “We want to change people’s perception of the nonprofit sector,” he says. “These are not just do-gooder enterprises that are run by volunteers. These are professional organizations that are accountable, and not only need the support of the public but warrant that support.”
Besides getting a strong response both from readers and member groups, the magazine has been a hit with advertisers. According to Mr. Hastings, goodcause has consistently paid for itself with ad revenue. Ads are sold by the News Journal‘s sales staff, including one employee who is devoted to the project full time. (News Journal staffers also handle final layout and production chores.)
Recent issues have included ads from the association’s members, insurance companies, schools, high-technology businesses, consultants, and foundations. The current and fifth issue of goodcause runs 76 pages — more than twice the supplement’s debut — and may turn a profit.
Even in the absence of profit, the publisher is pleased with the result of its partnership with the association. “Over all, it’s been a very successful relationship,” says Joni Silverstein, the News Journal‘s vice president for marketing. “It gives us a way to work with area nonprofits and provide a very good service to our readers as well.”
Although the supplement is still in an early phase, Mr. Hastings feels that the goodcause model is already successful compared with his organization’s previous attempt to use print to give its members visibility. “We’re getting 20 to 25 times greater distribution,” he says, “and not paying anything for it.”
Goodcause is published on the Web at http://www.delawarenonprofit.org/goodcause.htm. To contact the Delaware Association of Nonprofit Agencies, write goodcause Magazine, c/o Delaware Association of Nonprofit Agencies, 100 West 10th Street, Suite 102, Wilmington, Del., 19801, or e-mail at editor@good-cause.org.
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