Info Exchange: What's your unique value proposition? (2021)

A value proposition is your organization’s core DNA. It helps articulate what you stand for (consistently!), can be a guiding post when you have a strategic decision to make, and communicates to your community why they should support your work.

This is where fundraising begins. Your newsroom’s value proposition will ground your case for support during the NewsMatch campaign.

Topics covered

• What is a value proposition and how is it different than a mission statement?
• How do you go about creating a value proposition?
• And once you have one, how do you use it?

Related Resources

Deck: What's your unique value proposition?: This is the deck that was presented at the Info Exchange, and includes the slides Ariel presented on The Richland Source. 

Example: Richland Source's Unique Value Proposition: See how one organization went through the process of identifying its strengths to developing an editorial and membership value proposition statement.

Short Guide: What's your unique value proposition?: A 1-page overview of the key concepts covered in this webinar that you can share with your team.

Reader Revenue Playbook (Google News Initiative): This workshop was created based on Chapter 3 of the GNI Reader Revenue Playbook, Developing and communicating your value proposition. The GNI Reader Revenue Playbook was developed with the help of industry experts and news publishers to help small and mid-sized news publishers explore reader revenue models, understand key factors for success, implement performance benchmarking, and build your own strategy.

Reader Revenue Webinars (Google News Initiative): On-demand webinars on the best practices for establishing your unique value proposition.

Membership Puzzle Project Membership Guide: "The Guide is like a little course in membership. It takes you through the steps. It tells you how to do each one. It identifies best practices. It warns about common mistakes. And it gathers into one place the lessons people have learned as they built their membership programs— including, of course, the errors and wrong turns.”  - The Membership Puzzle Project

Recorded Date

July 22, 2021

Panelists

• Courtney Hurtt, NewsMatch
• Ariel Zirulnick, Fund Director, Membership Puzzle Project
• Arun Venkataraman, Global Strategy Lead, Google News Initiative
• Chris Horne, President, The Devil Strip

About the Digital Growth Program: The Google News Initiative's Digital Growth Program is a free program aimed at helping small and mid-sized news publishers around the world develop the capabilities required to accelerate the growth of their businesses online through a range of free playbooks, interactive exercises, digital workshops, and Labs, designed with industry experts and news publishers. Explore free resources and learn more here.