At the WAN-IFRA World News Media Congress in Krakow, three independent media — OKO.press (Poland), La Marea (Spain), and the newsletter What Happened Last Week (Germany) — shared their strategies and doubts around one-off donations and membership models as sustainable and ethical revenue sources.
1. OKO.press: Donations at the core
Investigative, ad-free, and paywall-free. OKO.press has operated for 9 years with a donations model, 65–70% of these being one-off, individual donations coming from around 0.4% of their 2 million monthly unique users. A seemingly low conversion rate but one that’s still higher than average for most subscription-driven media.
Like most discussions around donations, the conversation turn to one-off vs recurring donations. For OKO.press, recurring donations are of course preferred for stability, but one-off donations are crucial in the conversion journey, providing a valuable entry-level first step into the funnel. In April 2025, 6% of donations were one-off, compared to 34% recurring.
Their strategy is a blend of solid marketing, a robust technical setup (using the European donation tool TakTak), and clear editorial messaging. They avoid emotional manipulation and focus instead on explaining their mission.
Their most strategic campaign is built around Poland’s “1.5% tax allocation” system, which allows taxpayers to donate 1.5% of their taxes to an organisation of their choice. This mechanism brings in over 20% of OKO.press’s total revenue.
The average donation is 35–40 PLN (approx. €8.50), but the team feels they may be hitting a ceiling on their “convertible” audience and is debating whether to introduce a paywall.
2. La Marea: Cooperation first
Founded 12 years ago as a cooperative following the collapse of the newspaper Público, La Marea remains one of the few Spanish outlets to rely on crowdfunding. Every two years, they launch a crowdfunding campaign — always stressful (the latest edition hit its goal just 2 hours before the deadline), but a key moment of mobilisation.
One-off donations remain limited — just €3,000 per year — due to cultural perceptions in Spain that associate them with charity.
Key figures:
- 86.5% of donors are recurring; 13.5% are one-time
- 83.6% of donors are not subscribers
- 94.2% of donations occur during crowdfunding campaigns (every two years)
La Marea focuses on transparency (open accounting, no sponsored content) and building a trusted relationship with its community. A recent campaign titled “We’re looking for humans” triggered strong positive feedback and even a €500 one-off donation, one that was celebrated within the newsroom.
In parallel, La Marea is developing affordable digital subscription offers (6-month and annual) to strengthen long-term engagement.
3. What Happened Last Week: From solo to community
Kurdish-German journalist Sham Jaff launched her newsletter What Happened Last Week 11 years ago to cover regions underrepresented in mainstream Western media. As of spring 2025, the newsletter had 29,000 subscribers.
She initially relied on one-off donations but found them unreliable:
“I had a 70% open rate but never knew what triggered donations — was it the topic, the time of month, or just reader sympathy?”
She eventually launched a membership model called Very Important Potatoes at €79/year or €9/month, giving her more predictable revenue and planning capability.
She also offers group and gift subscriptions. Her strategy is grounded in collaborative journalism: frequent surveys, feedback requests, and source suggestions — all helping to build a real sense of ownership among readers.
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One-off donations: What role do they really play?
All three agree: one-off donations aren’t sufficient on their own, but they’re far from meaningless. They can be a valuable entry point into a relationship — but are difficult to analyse as clear signs of engagement.
The key? Don’t beg. Be transparent about the mission and impact. As Dominika Michalak of OKO.press puts it:
“There’s a fundamental difference between asking and begging.”
Shared challenges: durability, tech, transparency
Each organisation has its own model, but they all share a few foundational features to overcome these challenges:
- Robust technology: UX, A/B testing, smooth donation processes
- Honest messaging: No emotional blackmail, clear mission-driven asks
- Cross-media cooperation: Shared tools, peer support, collective visibility
- Reader literacy: Ongoing education about the economics of journalism
