NIE Basics for Successful Programs

Newspaper In Education (NIE) follows no one path to success. At each of the 950 newspapers with an NIE program throughout the United States, the task is to balance a business objective – circulation — with a long-term goal – grooming civic-minded, lifelong newspaper readers.

Literacy, civics, journalism, general education or a combination of these is the foundation of NIE programs. The common thread is the newspaper. The constant challenge is finding the funds to put it into schools.

At most papers, a three-legged stool props up NIE funding: corporate donations; individual donations; and vacation donations. Undoubtedly, corporate donations require legwork and good luck. Keeping up ties with local businesses and repeat requests for money can make it unpleasant for the requestor and the potential sponsor. However, maintaining a presence at the Chamber of Commerce can help initiate contacts and make additional resources available such as monthly chamber publications and events.

Tying marketing partnerships to NIE can help build funding, too. For example, The Washington Post and AMC Theaters designed a fund-raiser that used in-paper coupons run with AMC ads to be redeemed for snack-packs at a theater grand opening in Alexandria, VA. For each coupon collected, AMC donated a portion of its profit to NIE.

Individual donations can be harder to come by. Some papers use a check-off box on bills and bill stuffers to request donations from subscribers. But there is always the theory that if someone has to write a check and put it in the mail, they might choose not to do so.

Vacation donation can provide steady donations to NIE in part because subscribers steadily stop papers and more importantly, it’s effortless, requiring only a "yes" or "no" answer when calling the paper to stop delivery. There is no check to write and the amount rarely is more than $3 - $10 at a time.

Many papers receive funding through means such as design-an-ad, signature pages, block ads, corporate spelling bees, even yard sales. These can be fun, but time-consuming.

Success comes in many ways to NIE programs through circulation, partnerships, educational resources and money. But the most successful programs strike a balance among them all.

Kaplow is the educational sale and service manager for The Washington Post where she manages the NIE program.