FROM LITTLE THINGS: NM Subscribers Give Away $29,250 in Free Advertising to Charities and Aboriginal Businesses

Last month, as our latest subscription innovation, we offered New Matilda readers the opportunity to subscribe and then give away NM advertising free to their favourite not-for-profit or Aboriginal business.

For the month of June, New Matilda subscribers donated $29,250 worth of free NM advertising to organisations as diverse as the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Amnesty International and the Milingimbi Art Centre (the complete list is below).

The free advertising has started rolling out across the New Matilda site (and in our tri-weekly digest) this week, and you’ll continue to see it over the next few months.

We like to think that almost $30,000 in free advertising is a pretty big effort for a small, independent media outlet, and we’re extremely grateful to our subscribers who helped make it happen.

More broadly, our long-term goal is to gain enough subscribers so that we can ‘turn off’ corporate advertising altogether, and give all our advertising space away to the not-for-profits and Aboriginal organisations that our readers are passionate about.

Imagine that – an independent media site that gives its advertising away to deserving organisations who share our values.

It’s a big dream, but it’s more than possible, and it can only happen with reader support. We need to lift our paid subscription level to 20,000 subscribers to achieve it, and at the moment, we’re at just over one-tenth of that figure, so there’s a long way to go. But from little things, big things grow.

So, during July, readers who subscribe at the $180, $330 or $1,000 level can still donate advertising to their favourite orgs. You can read in more detail about the ongoing offer here.

As far as we’re aware, no other independent media outlet on the planet gives away its advertising to subscribers’ favourite organisations. If you think this is something worth supporting, you can do so here.

We’ve recently re-established the capacity to pay for a subscription via Paypal. And before the end of July, we’ll have the periodic payments system back up and running as well (so you can pay a monthly amount, rather than a big one-off hit).

And a hearty thanks as always to the generous subscribers who’ve supported our initiative so far.

Regards
Chris Graham
New Matilda
 

The Organisations You’ve Chosen So Far

The following organisations were chosen to receive free advertising by our readers during our June promotion. We've extended the offer through July. You can choose any of these organisations, or pick your own. The only condition is that they must be either a mainstream not-for-profit, or an Aboriginal for-profit or not-for-profit.

3CR Radio
Aboriginal Legal Service – NSW/ACT
Aboriginal Medical Service Redfern
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre (AILC)
Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME)
Brisbane Indigenous Media Association (BIMA)
Bush Heritage Australia
Cathy Freeman Foundation
Foodbank in West Footscray
Jimmy Little Foundation
Indigenous Community Volunteers
Medecins Sans Frontiers
Milingimbi Art Centre
National Indigenous Radio Service
Nitmiluk the tour organisation that is part of the Jawoyn Association.
North East Bioregional Network
Refugee Action Coalition
Refugee Advocacy Casework Service
Radio RRR FM Melbourne
Sea Shepherd
SOS Blak Australia