--- title: "How The New York Times Turned Unsolicited Donations Into a Successful Program" id: "37299" type: "post" slug: "how-the-new-york-times-turned-unsolicited-donations-into-a-successful-program" published_at: "2017-03-13T22:18:43+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T16:21:07+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2017/03/13/how-the-new-york-times-turned-unsolicited-donations-into-a-successful-program/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2017/03/13/how-the-new-york-times-turned-unsolicited-donations-into-a-successful-program.md" excerpt: "The large for-profit newspaper used the public’s interest in donations to help buoy its ongoing educational programs. The “sponsor a subscription” program has received enough in funds to offer 1.3 million students free subscriptions to the newspaper." taxonomy_category: - "Fundraising" taxonomy_post_tag: - "arts education" - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "donation" - "donors" - "Fundraising" - "Media" - "Membership" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Industry Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » How The New York Times Turned Unsolicited Donations Into a Successful Program For slightly more than a month, *The New York Times* [has been asking its subscribers (opens in a new tab)](https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/sponsor/) for a little help in donating subscriptions to U.S. students. The model is fascinating because the *Times* isn’t a nonprofit, and so contributors aren’t eligible for the tax benefits they get when they donate to a nonprofit organization. Even so, the approach is working—and well. Last week, the newspaper announced that it had gained enough in donations [to cover 1.3 million annual student subscriptions (opens in a new tab)](http://investors.nytco.com/press/press-releases/press-release-details/2017/13-Million-Students-Benefit-From-Generosity-of-More-Than-15000-Individual-Contributors-to-The-Timess-Sponsor-a-Subscription-Program-Including-One-Anonymous-Contribution-of-1-Million/default.aspx) to NYTimes.com at $3 apiece—including a $1 million gift from an anonymous donor. More than 15,500 individual donors have given to the initiative so far, including more than 830 international donations—surprising because the program doesn’t assist international students at all. The strategy came about after [the Times received a number of unsolicited donations (opens in a new tab)](http://www.nytco.com/sponsor-a-subscription-program-raises-enough-contributions-for-209000-student-subscriptions-in-first-week/) in the wake of the 2016 election. The paper decided to tie the donations to its long-running educational efforts, [which date back to 1932 (opens in a new tab)](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/insider/the-times-in-the-schools-or-get-them-while-theyre-young.html) and continue with its ongoing [Learning Network (opens in a new tab)](https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning) site, which offers educational resources to teachers. “The genesis of the ‘sponsor a subscription’ program came directly from readers who approached us with the desire to help support independent journalism and promote news literacy after the U.S. elections,” said Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. [in a news release (opens in a new tab)](http://investors.nytco.com/press/press-releases/press-release-details/2017/13-Million-Students-Benefit-From-Generosity-of-More-Than-15000-Individual-Contributors-to-The-Timess-Sponsor-a-Subscription-Program-Including-One-Anonymous-Contribution-of-1-Million/default.aspx) . “Thanks to their tremendous generosity, schools that would not normally have had the means to pay for resources like the *Times* are now able to empower their students with the news and information they need to help them understand the world around them.” The program highlights the importance of good timing—something other news-related organizations, like [PolitiFact](http://associationsnow.com/2017/02/zero-100k-politifacts-membership-program-gets-started-fast/) , the Committee to Protect Journalists, and ProPublica [have benefited (opens in a new tab)](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/business/media/nonprofit-journalism-groups-are-gearing-up-with-flood-of-donations.html) from in recent months. *Nieman Lab*’s Ricardo Bilton suggests that the takeaway from this success story is the *Times*’ willingness to ask more from the newspaper’s biggest fans. “[T]he *Times* has sometimes struggled to maximize revenue from *Times* lovers of means who would be happy to chip in more for a beloved part of their daily routine,” [Bilton wrote last week (opens in a new tab)](http://www.niemanlab.org/2017/03/over-15000-contributions-including-an-anonymous-1m-have-helped-the-new-york-times-sponsor-1-3-million-student-subs/) . “By turning the pitch into a philanthropic one, it appears to have found a low-marginal-cost way to generate millions of dollars from that crowd.” [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#arts education](https://associationsnow.com/tag/arts-education/) [#Business](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business/) [#donation](https://associationsnow.com/tag/donation/) [#donors](https://associationsnow.com/tag/donors/) [#Fundraising](https://associationsnow.com/tag/fundraising/) [#Media](https://associationsnow.com/tag/media/) [#Membership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/membership/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [Video2025 Summit Award Recipient: Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Los AngelesOctober 3, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/10/03/2025-summit-award-recipient-building-owners-and-managers-association-of-greater-los-angeles/) - [VideoWhy We Donate to ASAE Research FoundationNovember 30, 2023](https://associationsnow.com/2023/11/30/why-we-donate-to-asae-research-foundation/) - [VideoWhy Give to the ASAE Research FoundationDecember 2, 2019](https://associationsnow.com/2019/12/02/why-give-to-the-asae-research-foundation/) - [VideoJeff De Cagna ASAE Research Foundation Giving Tuesday ChallengeNovember 26, 2019](https://associationsnow.com/2019/11/26/jeff-de-cagna-asae-research-foundation-giving-tuesday-challenge/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2017%2F03%2F13%2Fhow-the-new-york-times-turned-unsolicited-donations-into-a-successful-program%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !