Coach Todd Stauffer helped Judi think through how to launch an events vertical for the Daily Citizen. She was concerned that the donor-focused events she felt most familiar with, like annual galas, were the wrong fit for the organization. She said she found inspiration from Todd’s experience launching community events at the Jackson Free Press. Realizing that events didn’t need to be highly-programmed and expensive in order to succeed, Judi created a series of free and low-cost community events and developed a strategy to fund those events through corporate partnerships. Her idea satisfied several goals – free events would create more community goodwill and opportunities for in-person donor conversion, while the events themselves created far more opportunities to develop corporate partnerships.

Judi was able to get her team on board with the new revenue strategy and create a position for Springfield’s first partnerships manager, who will help Judi sign more deals and execute community events. Judi also credits Todd with helping her feel more confident about launching a new revenue stream and focusing on hosting frequent low-touch gatherings and meetups, rather than large-scale and high pressure events. “In a place where so many people have been so hungry for news, real news, for a long time … I think Todd’s right, there's almost nothing we can do that’s going to fail.”

Successes:

Created a new revenue strategy that satisfied multiple business objectives

Created a new role for a partnerships manager