Team up with historical societies to offer dual membership perks

Some communities may already have a strong sense of identity that news organizations can foster. Others may be missing that piece — and historical societies can help fill that gap, giving people the ability to explore connections to the past while building community with likeminded neighbors.

In Southern California, the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation is pioneering collaborations with local historical societies to help support the journalists of today — while working to ensure that the stories of yesteryear are preserved and rediscovered.

The 501(c)(3) grassroots nonprofit is dedicated to strengthening local journalism in the Palm Springs area and supports newsrooms through about $100,000 in annual grants for reporting and editing positions, plus internships.

Last year, to boost donations, the organization created a membership program that gives supporters free membership to one of five local historical societies, says Julie Makinen, secretary-treasurer at CVJF. Donors are eager to take advantage of this offering, and the local organizations are pleased with the partnership as well, she writes in an essay for API, where she also shares tips for others looking to replicate this funding model.

News philanthropy + historical societies: A win-win partnership

When a local newspaper was going to eliminate the opinion editor’s job to save money, the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation funded the position. We’ve also provided a portion of a reporter’s salary at the local alt-weekly newspaper, sent a TV reporter to Washington, D.C. to report on a story of local interest and helped a new startup digital outlet raise launch funding.

Our all-volunteer foundation has been growing, but so have local newsrooms’ needs. We want to fund more positions and make a bigger impact. But to do that, we need much more money.

We struck upon historical society partnerships because many people who care about quality news are also history buffs. Our local daily newspaper runs a weekly history column that’s popular with readers. Once we began contacting history groups in our region, our imaginations were sparked.

The cornerstone of the collaboration is membership partnerships. When someone joins CVJF’s membership program at the “supporter” level or higher — $500 annually — they can receive a free annual membership in one of five local historical groups.

These historical society memberships range from $25 to $50. When a CVJF donor opts in, we remit the full membership fee directly to the selected historical society along with the new member’s name and contact information. After that, it’s up to the historical society to follow up and get the new member onboard.

It’s a cost-effective strategy: For just 5-10% of the $500+ donation, our foundation offers a meaningful benefit that incentivizes membership growth, strengthens local institutions and aligns with our mission. Plus, we don’t have to do anything else!

The historical societies have been very receptive. What, they say? You will give us money and help us find members? We are in!

Since the start of the year, about 20% of our new Fourth Estate members have opted into that historical society offering. As we add the four other societies to the program, we are optimistic that the percentage will rise.

So far, CVJF has about 115 Fourth Estate members. Many of these local history groups are even smaller, so adding 10 to 20 new members would mean a 15-30% growth in their own membership ranks — a significant boost.

While the joint memberships are a valuable incentive, the collaboration is envisioned as much more, including training for journalists on how to use historical archives to deepen reporting, public events co-hosted by journalists and historians and community oral history projects.

Try it out now

Although our foundation supports multiple newsrooms, it is easy to envision a single local newsroom that offers subscriptions or paid memberships executing a similar partnership.

1. Identify aligned missions. Historical societies and journalism organizations share a commitment to public knowledge and democratic engagement, but you need to connect the dots explicitly. For example, point out that news articles are key components of archives at museums, and museums can help reporters with important context and background to stories.
2. Be prepared to do some legwork. In our area, historical societies are generally a labor of love run by volunteers. Tracking down the right person may take time. Going to meet in person to explain the proposed partnership can pay huge dividends.
3. Offer reciprocal value. Memberships, access to archives and co-branded programming can benefit both partners and the community.
4. Build for long-term impact. Consider how joint efforts like training, events and oral history can have ripple effects.
5. Insist on co-promotion. Like any good partnership, this should be a two-way street.

Julie Makinen is secretary-treasurer of the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation. Email her at julie@cvjf.org