Summary — Fall 2009
THE PUBLIC PRESS is a startup nonprofit news organization in San Francisco that aims to do for print and Web journalism what public broadcasting has done for radio and television. We are developing a business model that re-imagines the daily newspaper as a public-media institution that is accountable to the community and dedicated to strong public-service journalism.
SINCE MARCH 2009 we have been publishing public-interest news reporting on the Web with the help of more than 40 volunteer journalists and nonprofit professionals. We have received support from one foundation grant and more than 150 individual donors. We hope to scale up this effort in the coming year by hiring additional reporters and editors to fill the void of hard-hitting accountability reporting that’s been lost with the downsizing of the daily commercial press.
OUR MISSION is to enrich the civic life of San Francisco by delivering public-interest journalism to broad and diverse audiences through print and interactive media not supported by advertising. An essential part of this strategy is to promote community engagement by determining and satisfying local residents’ unmet information needs.
OUR STRATEGIC PLAN identifies three phases of development. In each of these scenarios, we have created low, medium and high budget projections to demonstrate how we could develop the organization under various financial conditions. These budget projections were based on market research and analysis by Chris Lasiter and Ronny Lai, honors students at the business school at San Jose State University.
Phase One — online only
- Revenue sources: foundation grants and donations from individuals.
- Major expenses: news editor, office rent, Web site development, freelance journalists.
- Staffing: 1 FTE (low), 1 (medium), 2.7 (high).
- Budget: $32,860 (low), $79,860 (medium), $199,900 (high).
Phase Two — online five days a week, plus weekly print edition
- Revenue sources: fundraising, memberships (subscriptions) and single-copy paper sales.
- Additional major expenses: employees, printing, home and retail distribution.
- Weekly circulation: 10,000 copies (low), 15,000 (medium), 20,000 (high).
- Staffing: 5.6 FTE (low), 7.9 (medium), 12.5 (high).
- Budget: $573,695 (low), $798,432 (medium), $1,180,879 (high).
Phase Three — online and print five days a week
- Revenue sources: more than half from membership and single-copy sales, supplemented by philanthropy.
- Additional major expenses: increased staffing, increased printing and distribution.
- Daily circulation: 20,000 copies (low), 35,000 (medium), 50,000 (high).
- Staffing: 19.35 FTE (low), 22.5 (medium), 25 (high).
- Budget: $2,837,509 (low), $4,383,684 (medium), $5,591,608 (high).
The Public Press — budget summaries
(Note: phases do not necessarily correspond to years)
|
|
|
|
Phase 1A (low) |
|
|
Revenue: |
|
|
Fundraising |
$33,000 |
|
Sales |
$0 |
|
Total Revenues |
$33,000 |
|
Expenses: |
|
|
Personnel |
$23,400 |
|
Wire Services |
$0 |
|
One-Time Costs |
$1,500 |
|
Freelance |
$0 |
|
Facilities/Rent |
$7,960 |
|
Other Costs |
$0 |
|
Print Costs |
$0 |
|
Total Expenses |
$32,860 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Phase 1B (medium) |
|
|
Revenue: |
|
|
Fundraising |
$80,000 |
|
Sales |
$0 |
|
Total Revenues |
$80,000 |
|
Expenses: |
|
|
Personnel |
$39,000 |
|
Wire Services |
$0 |
|
One-Time Costs |
$15,000 |
|
Freelance |
$15,000 |
|
Facilities/Rent |
$10,160 |
|
Other Costs |
$700 |
|
Print Costs |
$0 |
|
Total Expenses |
$79,860 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Phase 1C (high) |
|
|
Revenue: |
|
|
Fundraising |
$200,000 |
|
Sales |
$0 |
|
Total Revenues |
$200,000 |
|
Expenses: |
|
|
Personnel |
$145,000 |
|
Wire Services |
$0 |
|
One-Time Costs |
$15,000 |
|
Freelance |
$20,000 |
|
Facilities/Rent |
$18,700 |
|
Other Costs |
$1,200 |
|
Print Costs |
$0 |
|
Total Expenses |
$199,900 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Phase 2A (low) |
|
|
Revenue: |
|
|
Fundraising |
$400,000 |
|
Sales |
$171,500 |
|
Total Revenues |
$571,500 |
|
Expenses: |
|
|
Personnel |
$302,500 |
|
Wire Services |
$9,600 |
|
One-Time Costs |
$28,750 |
|
Freelance |
$25,000 |
|
Facilities/Rent |
$18,200 |
|
Other Costs |
$110,333 |
|
Print Costs |
$79,312 |
|
Total Expenses |
$573,695 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Phase 2B (medium) |
|
|
Revenue: |
|
|
Fundraising |
$540,000 |
|
Sales |
$259,200 |
|
Total Revenues |
$799,200 |
|
Expenses: |
|
|
Personnel |
$431,250 |
|
Wire Services |
$9,600 |
|
One-Time Costs |
$32,250 |
|
Freelance |
$30,000 |
|
Facilities/Rent |
$27,400 |
|
Other Costs |
$165,000 |
|
Print Costs |
$102,932 |
|
Total Expenses |
$798,432 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Phase 2C (high) |
|
|
Revenue: |
|
|
Fundraising |
$800,000 |
|
Sales |
$381,500 |
|
Total Revenues |
$1,181,500 |
|
Expenses: |
|
|
Personnel |
$688,750 |
|
Wire Services |
$14,400 |
|
One-Time Costs |
$37,500 |
|
Freelance |
$40,000 |
|
Facilities/Rent |
$44,000 |
|
Other Costs |
$229,667 |
|
Print Costs |
$126,563 |
|
Total Expenses |
$1,180,879 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Phase 3A (low) |
|
|
Revenue: |
|
|
Fundraising |
$900,000 |
|
Sales |
$1,972,500 |
|
Total Revenues |
$2,872,500 |
|
Expenses: |
|
|
Personnel |
$1,048,750 |
|
Wire Services |
$19,200 |
|
One-Time Costs |
$48,000 |
|
Freelance |
$45,000 |
|
Facilities/Rent |
$57,300 |
|
Other Costs |
$986,500 |
|
Print Costs |
$632,759 |
|
Total Expenses |
$2,837,509 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Phase 3B (medium) |
|
|
Revenue: |
|
|
Fundraising |
$1,100,000 |
|
Sales |
$3,303,000 |
|
Total Revenues |
$4,403,000 |
|
Expenses: |
|
|
Personnel |
$1,209,375 |
|
Wire Services |
$19,200 |
|
One-Time Costs |
$98,750 |
|
Freelance |
$50,000 |
|
Facilities/Rent |
$68,800 |
|
Other Costs |
$1,716,500 |
|
Print Costs |
$1,221,059 |
|
Total Expenses |
$4,383,684 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Phase 3C (high) |
|
|
Revenue: |
|
|
Fundraising |
$1,050,000 |
|
Sales |
$4,636,500 |
|
Total Revenues |
$5,686,500 |
|
Expenses: |
|
|
Personnel |
$1,331,250 |
|
Wire Services |
$19,200 |
|
One-Time Costs |
$55,000 |
|
Freelance |
$55,000 |
|
Facilities/Rent |
$82,800 |
|
Other Costs |
$2,460,000 |
|
Print Costs |
$1,588,358 |
|
Total Expenses |
$5,591,608 |
|
|
|
