Hi Tree,
After a few years of reviewing the our magazine line item every budget cycle and talking with our stakeholders, I realized that the print magazine was too precious an item to let go. The amount we spend on them annually is significant, so we're looking to make it worth our while in terms of moving key relationships forward and communicating about our mission in a compelling way.
1) We moved from 4 a year to 2. This is more financially attainable and lessens the staff burden.
2) We reviewed content to be sure that we're representing the many programs our organization delivers. We don't include a photo collage of who attended our events, rather we talk about the mission we're accomplishing daily.
3) Every article contains a "how you can support our work in this area" message. We have funds set up for our major program areas, so we refer to the fund that would keep the mission work going at the end. It is often italicized and is crafted to feel like a part of the article. E.g. "You can help our efforts to conserve pseudoZziphus Celata and other endangered plant species with a gift to the Rare Plant Conservation Fund."
We also try to reference the funding source for the mission work in the article. E.g. "With support from Duke Energy and donors to the Rare Plant Conservation Fund, our conservation team...."
4) We send our magazine in a 9x12 envelope and cover it with an annual fund solicitation letter and reply envelope. The giving coupon lists the funds featured in articles within the magazine.
5) Finally, we back all this up with companion emails that include links to the digital version of our magazine.
Now, our annual fund cycle includes two additional mail drops (our 3rd of the year is a #10 for year end), our donors get to see their money at work, and we enjoy a tidy net profit rather than an expense.
Meantime, we invite our constituents to opt in to a "digital only" membership because one day print will, indeed, be obsolete. We anticipate that being many years in the future, but we're building our data now to be ready then.
Hope this is helpful to you as your evaluate your program!
M
------------------------------
Melissa Tyrone CFRE
Director of Philanthropy & Membership
Lake Wales FL
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 02-11-2026 11:20 AM
From: Tree Callanan
Subject: Members' Magazines: Print v PDF
Hi folks,
We love our member magazine (see attached) but it is a pretty large expense. We're tossing around several different ideas to cut costs. Here's the list so far:
- Still print but cut out all extraneous content (no BoD or Staff list, no programs, no internal adverts) just content.
- Switch to online version only
- Some sort of a hybrid, send a pdf of the content including all the above. Print the shorter version
Is anyone else mulling over the same?
Have you discontinued a print version altogether? If so, what was the reaction
Or have you come up with some other approach?
I'd love to hear your thoughts?
------------------------------
Tree Callanan
Director of Museum Operations and Communications
Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum
Bristol, RI, 02885
------------------------------