Behind The Guardian’s record-breaking US End of Year campaign

The Guardian is pretty unique in the US media landscape. Unlike most major players, it’s not owned by a billionaire or conglomerate, it’s owned by The Scott Trust, a mission-driven structure that ensures editorial independence and, crucially, allows the site to remain paywall-free.

Instead of a traditional subscription model, The Guardian relies on voluntary support. This makes their US “End of Year” (EOY) campaign, running from early November, through Giving Tuesday and on to midnight on December 31st, the most critical window in their financial calendar.

> With no paywall, The Guardian relies on voluntary support, making End of Year its most important financial window in the US. The 2025 campaign raised $3.1 million by 31 December, an estimated $8.6 million in lifetime value

> The work happens in the other ten months. New messaging must beat benchmarks during low-stakes periods before it earns a place, and the gains are small: the order of bullet points, the colour of a Support button

> For anonymous search traffic they test non-blocking walls asking for a newsletter signup rather than a donation. That grew the mailing list 66% in three months, creating warm leads for December

> A/B testing is too slow for Giving Tuesday or New Year's Eve. They run multi-armed bandit tests across 8 to 10 variations, with traffic shifting automatically to whatever is winning

> Recurring support went from 51% of the mix in 2023 to 65% in 2025. The reward for committing is a cleaner site, with fundraising modules suppressed for recurring supporters

Why is EOY so huge in the US?

• The cultural “season of giving”: It leverages a peak period of philanthropic behavior in American culture, as nonprofits and mission-driven organizations all fundraise towards an annual New Year’s Eve deadline.
• The revenue bedrock:  For mission-driven organizations like The Guardian, these final weeks often generate a large portion of their annual voluntary support revenue, providing the financial bedrock for the year of reporting ahead.