ICIJ Insiders: We asked, and you answered.
In June, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of our grassroots donor program by asking our ICIJ Insiders to share their thoughts about the membership program.
We heard from 125 Insiders from 28 countries around the world – from Australia to Angola, Portugal to Taiwan.
Here are five key takeaways from the survey
- Our Insiders love hearing from ICIJ’s global, trusted network of reporters, particularly about the impact of their journalism.
- We’re on the same page when it comes to communications. Most Insiders are happy with the number of emails they receive from us, and have a good understanding of how their donation supports ICIJ’s work. (Although if you need a refresher on what becoming an ICIJ Insider means, read about it here).
- Most ICIJ Insiders are subscribed to our weekly newsletter. This is the best way to keep up to date with our work. (Not subscribed? Whether you’re an ICIJ Insider or not, you can also get all our news delivered to your inbox, weekly, right here.)
- Our Change the Conversation Insiders, who donated $35 or $3 every month level, were the most responsive to the survey, representing nearly 70% of survey respondents.
- ICIJ Insiders give primarily because they believe in ICIJ’s mission of producing global investigations that expose the truth and hold the powerful to account. The program benefits are a nice bonus, but not the primary reason they joined. Of those benefits, though, “Being part of a nonprofit journalism community” is our Insiders’ highest-ranked.
Based on this feedback, we decided to make some small improvements to the ICIJ Insiders program.
The most significant, everyone who donates to ICIJ will now become an Insider, regardless of how much they give. When we first launched the program, we set a minimum threshold to become an Insider — but we quickly realized that it meant we were excluding some of the most passionate and enthusiastic supporters of investigative journalism.
At ICIJ, we believe in leveling the playing field and giving everyone — our journalists, our network, our readers, our community — the access and the opportunity they deserve. We want to apply this same philosophy to our growing donor base as well.
Long story short: If you support ICIJ financially, you’re part of the ICIJ Insider community, which now totals more than 1,400!
We’ve also updated ICIJ Insiders benefits, and while you might be familiar with most on this list (we didn’t change it up too much), here’s one big change: these core benefits are now available to Insiders at all levels.
- Weekly newsletter (read them all here!)
- Quarterly Newsletter (a round-up of ICIJ’s latest stories, read the last one here)
- Ask Us Anything (an opportunity to submit a question to staff)
- Monthly Preview Newsletter (early access to ICIJ content – check out last month’s)
- Exclusive Online Staff Chat (virtual Q&A sessions with ICIJ reporters)
It’s clear that ICIJ Insiders support us because they recognize the value of our work and believe in the power of journalism to effect change — which is exactly the kind of mission-driven nonprofit journalism community we want to grow and foster.
If that sounds like you, can we count on you to join this community today?
Support crucial independent journalism like this year’s Mauritius Leaks, Bribery Division and Solitary Voices investigations — and ensure we keep holding the powerful to account with future projects. Join at any of the following levels, and truly any amount helps ICIJ fulfill its mission:
Change the conversation ($1-179/year or $1-14/month)
Change the rules ($180-599/year or $15-49/month)
Change the world ($600+/year or $50+/month)
On behalf of everyone at ICIJ, we’re so grateful for all of our ICIJ Insiders and readers.
Here’s to many more years of a thriving ICIJ community that stands up for fearless, independent journalism!