In 2017, websites and online publications everywhere are pivoting to a wide variety of revenue systems other than advertising. Subscriptions are top dog. Here’s how I framed it in a recent article:
“Media consultants are urging businesses to use subscription models or hybrid models, but never just advertising: ‘Free is a four-letter word’ consultant Bernard Gershon told the Columbia Journalism Review last year. […] In short, the shift to digital has cratered ad money, and subscriptions are the answer.”
But as always, a hybrid model can include plenty of different revenue angles, from merchandising to events-hosting. Crowdfunding is a big one, whether it’s pure donations or a fee for services rendered. Here’s a look at one little-known way to crowdfund straight off of the WordPress platform: Through these three crowdfunding plugins.
IgnitionDeck
This is the largest, one-stop feature among crowdfunding plugins: It works with any WordPress theme and integrates with third-party finance partners including PayPal, Stripe, and MailChimp. You can also track your contributions through the service’s real-time statistics.
It’s the professional option, which means it’ll cost you a one-time fee of $149 or $449 for enterprise organizations, but there’s a free version that allows you to try it out for size.
WordPress Fundraising
Here’s what the WP Engine blog has to say about this one:
“Collect donations or crowdfund a project with WordPress Fundraising. Allow users to pledge a single contribution or elect for recurring donations to continue supporting your product or cause. Customize goals, amounts, and fundraiser lengths with built-in options and styles.”
It comes along with a suite of other services that will cost you $49 per month following a month-long free trial.
Charitable
This is the charity-based options for fundraising plugins: It’s designed to allow your followers to support a worthy cause, and is easy enough to use that you’ll be able to set up a campaign in just a few minutes. It’s regularly updated, is developer-friendly, and has been downloaded over 7,000 times. If you use either PayPal or offline donations, it’s a free service, but other third-party partners like Stripe are premium add-ons.
WordPress blogs account for 27 percent of the internet. In the online community’s frenzy for revenue, over a quarter of the world’s blogs could be just a plugin away from their new funding source.