--- title: "PolitiFact’s Membership Program Gets Started, Fast" id: "36883" type: "post" slug: "politifacts-membership-program-gets-started-fast" published_at: "2017-02-07T22:33:04+00:00" modified_at: "2017-02-07T22:33:04+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2017/02/07/politifacts-membership-program-gets-started-fast/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2017/02/07/politifacts-membership-program-gets-started-fast.md" excerpt: "The fact-checking website PolitiFact, riding the recent tide of support for media outlets focused on accuracy, launched a membership program last month. The program is already showing some major success." taxonomy_category: - "Membership" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "Fundraising" - "Membership" - "public support" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Executive Leadership" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » PolitiFact’s Membership Program Gets Started, Fast Donald Trump’s recent election has put more attention than ever on the organizations dedicated to reporting the news and fact-checking the claims of public figures. Sometimes, that means Meryl Streep [giving a shout-out (opens in a new tab)](http://time.com/money/4628570/meryl-streep-golden-globes-cpj/) to the Committee to Protect Journalists; other times, [it means a spontaneous campaign (opens in a new tab)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/02/01/presson-campaign-wants-you-to-support-facts-by-paying-for-journalism/?utm_term=.d44453031bc4) to encourage people to pay money for the newspapers they read. In the case of PolitiFact, the fact-checking offshoot of the *Tampa Bay Times*, it means starting a membership program at just the right time. Last month, the Pulitzer Prize-winning website announced [its first-ever membership program (opens in a new tab)](http://membership.politifact.com/) , complete with different tiers of perks for supporters and superfans alike. The organization, [which announced the “Truth Squad” endeavor (opens in a new tab)](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/jan/17/support-politifact-join-truth-squad/) during the week of the election, teamed with a group of nonprofit news organizations to come up with the membership strategy, an endeavor called the [News Revenue Hub (opens in a new tab)](https://www.fundjournalism.org/) . “We hope reader contributions will help us as we work to find a financially sustainable model for public accountability journalism in the 21st century,” PolitiFact Editor Angie Drobnic Holan and Executive Director Aaron Sharockman [wrote last month (opens in a new tab)](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/jan/17/support-politifact-join-truth-squad/) . ### Early Success How’s it going? Well, so far, the website seems to be benefiting from the overall push for more fact-checking. According to Poynter (the nonprofit that owns the *Tampa Bay Times*), [the website has raised $105,000 (opens in a new tab)](https://www.poynter.org/2017/politifact-raised-105000-in-20-days-through-its-newly-launched-membership-program/447559/) in just 20 days—with 611 people donating at least $50 in annual support for the website. In comments to Poynter’s Alexios Mantzarlis, Sharockman noted that the organization, which isn’t a nonprofit, is benefiting from the current news climate. (The organization raised $3,000 alone during Sean Spicer’s first White House press conference.) Even so, the results could potentially prove lasting for an endeavor that requires a constant stream of revenue to keep fact-checking a never-ending stream of news stories. “What I’m really excited about is that we’ll have the ability to have a steady way for us to fund our work in a way that ensures we remain independent, nonpartisan and objective,” Sharockman said to the website. “And also in a way that won’t yo-yo with the elections.” (PolitiFact screenshot) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. 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