[Lnc-business] ROI - LP News vs Reason Magazine

Tue Feb 16 20:16:05 EST 2016

Wes,

I like you as a person.  Just wanted to say that first.

But professionally speaking here, I'm really embarrassed at this vague
attempt of business reasoning that ultimately concludes analysis can't be
done, so let's keep pushing forward anyways.

The fact that we spend such a significant chunk of our budget on this and
yet you guys apparently can't figure out how to measure the output it, at
least to some very basic degree, is incredibly disheartening.  Better still
is the conclusion that even though we can't figure it out, we should just
continue down the same path, value be damned.  So how can we justify
increasing it?  Obviously we can't, but it gives us the warm and fuzzies so
let's do it.

Further, you mention how other organizations use a mix of print, digital,
social-media, etc.  Am I to conclude from your email that we're going to
start splitting up the $9,000 per mailing and mixing it through all of
these mediums?  I would be delighted to help the group spend $4,500 on a
different medium.  I feel pretty confident what the results will be.

Thinking towards the future, a few people in leadership have questioned why
we felt it was so important to form a caucus with the intent of changing
how we do business.  THIS is a pretty good example of why.  I don't expect
the task to be trivial.  I don't expect the task to be perfect.  No
reasonable person would.  But to simply ignore why it needs to be done on
the idea that it CAN'T be done speaks volumes to the kind of organization
that we're running.  I hope to help change that.

So here's an idea: how about we put a straw poll on the front page of lp.org.
We can ask people if they want to increase the number of issues, keep it
the same, decrease the number of issues, or do away with it altogether.
You can even ask how many people throw it in the trash.  And just for fun,
feel free to make it a "vote with your dollars" so the LP can get a little
something from it.

At least then you'll have you're democratic answer.

-Kevin Ludlow

On Tue, Feb 16, 2016 at 6:35 PM, Wes Benedict <wes.benedict at lp.org> wrote:

> "Reason magazine--which is known as 'the largest and most influential
> libertarian publication in the world today'-needs to raise an additional
> $300,000 per issue to pay its bills. . . That's on top of the money we earn
> from subscriptions, advertising, and other commercial activities." (Matt
> Welch - Reason Magazine fundraising letter, 2013, copy attached.)
>
> I've been asked the ROI on LP News. Rather than write about it several
> times, I thought I'd share a few thoughts with the board all at once, and
> then forward this email to the people who ask me about it again over the
> next few months.
>
> LP News is a newsletter. It's #1 goal isn't to raise money directly,
> although it does raise some money directly. As a newsletter, it informs the
> readership about our activities. It sometimes inspires, sometimes educates
> and trains, and sometimes bores people I'm sure. I usually throw Reason
> Magazine in the trash without reading it, but I do think it's great for a
> libertarian publication and I hope they keep it up.
>
> LP News acts as an advertisement to our subscribers to show what the
> national, state, and local candidates and affiliates are doing so that when
> those same subscribers receive fundraising letters, they are more likely to
> donate in response to fundraising requests.
>
> Some people have very strongly urged us to increase production of LP News
> to a monthly publication. Others have very strongly urged us to discontinue
> it altogether. Others have urged electronic only. I personally prefer 4 to
> 6 issues per year. But if the LNC ever or LNC members ever mandate 12 or 0
> and I'm still here, I'll comply.
>
> LP News is posted online at our website LP.org. If you don't know where,
> that proves a point about the likelihood of people reading the online
> version. I want it in print too because I want to put in your mailbox right
> in front of you from time to time.
>
> Wikipedia definition: "Return on investment (ROI) is the benefit to an
> investor resulting from an investment of some resource."
>
> In trying to calculate a financial number of ROI for LP News, two
> Libertarians could argue extensively over what items should be included as
> investments, and what should be included as returns.
>
> For those interested in trying to calculate ROI using whatever numbers
> might be available, you might find some numbers in the LNC meeting archives
> for that:
> http://www.lp.org/leadership/lnc-meeting-archives
>
> I'm not interested in trying the calculation myself, because I don't think
> any reports have enough data to make an accurate calculation, and I think
> even more detailed reports would probably only provide more precise
> misinformation. The LNC adopted a membership plan that required publishing
> major donors' photos in LP News, presumably to recognize them, thank them,
> encourage them to donate again, and encourage others to follow suit. What
> is that worth and how do we measure it? The upcoming LP News has a
> convention registration form in it, which saves us the postage of an extra
> convention mailing. Should the money coming in from that be counted as a
> return to LP News, or to the convention? I suppose in the long run, the sum
> financial ROI of all our non-profit's activities, which are highly
> co-dependent, are close to zero, as we spend most of what we raise, rather
> than build up a large pot of money, but one of our economists or accounting
> gurus might be able to state that more correctly.
>
> Some people have said LP News is a print medium, which is becoming
> obsolete, and we should end it and go all electronic. Well, I'm for raising
> funds using multiple channels. The LP is mostly white males, but we should
> still reach out to women and minorities. Less than half our revenue
> currently comes from online sources, although it has been growing steadily
> as a percentage of the total.
>
> The experts in the political industry continue using a combination of
> print and online fundraising techniques and newsletters. There's a reason
> for that. There's a reason the grocery store and department stores still
> put newsprint flyers in your mailbox, and Chinese restaurants put door
> hangers on your doorknob.
>
> While I am in favor of continuing LP News at 4 to 6 print issues per year,
> at least for a while, I'm more interested in what people think of Liberty
> Pledge News. Liberty Pledge News is a monthly print publication that gets
> mailed to our monthly pledgers. If you're not familiar with Liberty Pledge
> News and would like to sample it for a few months, please sign up for a
> monthly pledge of $10 or more here, https://www.lp.org/contribute, or as
> part of a membership here: https://www.lp.org/membership.
>
> Sample Liberty Pledge News with a monthly contribution today:
>
>
> * <https://www.lp.org/contribute>https://www.lp.org/contribute
> <https://www.lp.org/contribute> https://www.lp.org/membership
> <https://www.lp.org/membership>*
>
> and help me decide - keep it, or kill it!
>
> If every LNC member and officers signs up for a $15 per month monthly
> pledge, M Carling has offered to donate ten times that amount, or $150 per
> month.
>
> Yours in Liberty Pledge News <https://www.lp.org/membership>,
>
> --
> Wes Benedict, Executive Director
> Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
> 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314(202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict at lp.orgfacebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
> Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership
>
>
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>

-- 
========================================================
Kevin Ludlow
512-773-3968
http://www.kevinludlow.com
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