News Revenue Hub

What News Revenue Hub does

News Revenue Hub is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2016 and headquartered in San Diego, California that provides technology and consulting services to help news organizations build sustainable reader-revenue programs without paywalls. The organization serves a customer base of more than 70 nonprofit and for-profit newsrooms ranging from hyper-local outlets (Asheville Watchdog, El Paso Matters, Berkeleyside) to national organizations (Texas Tribune, The 19th, Grist, Chalkbeat, The Marshall Project). According to the company's own materials, Hub-affiliated newsrooms have collectively raised over $174 million in reader revenue, with an average 69% revenue lift in a customer's first year.

The organization's flagship product is the News Revenue Engine (RevEngine), a cloud-based contribution management platform purpose-built for newsroom fundraising. RevEngine integrates Stripe for payment processing (including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal), Salesforce for CRM at the top tier, and email-marketing platforms (Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign), Newspack for CMS, and Slack for internal notifications. The platform is offered in three tiers: a free starter tier with no platform fees, a Core tier at $200 per month with email integrations and customization, and a RevEngine + Salesforce CRM tier at $900 per month with advanced CRM administration, benchmarking, and campaign support. News Revenue Hub also operates a consulting practice covering audience development, loyalty building, sustainable revenue strategy, and Salesforce database administration, staffed by alumni of ProPublica, Texas Tribune, Slate, Hearst, The Washington Post, and Google. In 2022 the Hub launched a National Ad Network, and in May 2026 entered a strategic partnership with Indiegraf under which RevEngine transferred into Indiegraf's portfolio while the consulting business continues to operate independently.

Revenue is generated through three streams: SaaS platform subscriptions (freemium with paid tiers), recurring consulting engagements sold via direct sales on annual commitments, and philanthropic grants and donations from foundations including the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Google News Initiative, Democracy Fund, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, and others. As of 2025 the organization operates with 22 full-time staff. The go-to-market combines a self-serve product-led motion via the free RevEngine tier with a sales-led motion for consulting and enterprise integrations, supplemented by community-led activity through partnerships with INN, LION Publishers, Report for America, and Indiegraf.

Name

News Revenue Hub

Legal name

News Revenue Hub, Inc.

Website

https://fundjournalism.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

News Revenue Hub is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2016 that provides newsrooms with a contribution-management SaaS platform (RevEngine) and consulting services to build sustainable reader-revenue programs without paywalls.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Newsroom Fundraising Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Media Fundraising & Membership (Pledge Drives, Major Gifts) (MPABADAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Investigative & Nonprofit News Organizations (MPAJADAF), PR, Reputation Management & Earned Media Platforms (BPAMALAO), Advancement Services & Donor Operations (CRM, Gift Processing, Stewardship) (EDALAOAD)

Keywords

• Newsroom fundraising software
• Contribution management platform
• Reader revenue consulting
• Membership program services
• Journalism sustainability nonprofit

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. SaaS Platform Subscriptions: Three-tier subscription model: Free tier (no platform fees, only Stripe transaction fees), Core tier at $200/month with email integrations, and RevEngine + Salesforce tier at $900/month with advanced features
2. Consulting Services: Custom consulting engagements for audience development, membership strategy, Salesforce administration, with annual initial commitment and month-to-month renewal
3. Philanthropic Grants and Donations: 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation grants (Knight Foundation, Google News Initiative, Democracy Fund, etc.) and individual donations supporting operations

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

News Revenue Hub provides the RevEngine contribution management platform — a SaaS product enabling newsrooms to collect donations, manage recurring contributions, and process mobile payments — paired with expert consulting services for audience development, membership strategy, and Salesforce database administration. The organization operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving 70+ newsrooms that have collectively raised over $174 million in reader revenue without paywalls, funded by platform subscriptions, consulting fees, and foundation grants.

Product overview

News Revenue Hub offers a dual product strategy combining SaaS software and consulting services. The core product is RevEngine, a contribution management platform with three pricing tiers (FREE, Core at $200/month, and RevEngine + Salesforce CRM at $900/month), which handles donation collection, payment processing, and donor management. This is complemented by tailored consulting services covering audience development, loyalty building, and sustainable revenue strategies. In mid-2022, they also launched a National Ad Network product. As of May 2026, RevEngine was acquired by Indiegraf, though News Revenue Hub continues operating its consulting business independently.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• News Revenue Engine (RevEngine): A contribution management platform designed specifically for newsrooms to raise funds from readers, featuring frictionless checkout, mobile payments, and donor management.
• Catalyst Fund

Products and services

• News Revenue Engine (RevEngine) A contribution management platform designed specifically for newsrooms to raise funds from readers, featuring frictionless checkout, mobile payments, donor management, and integrations with Stripe, Salesforce, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Newspack, Eventbrite, Google Analytics, and Slack. Available in three tiers (Free, Core $200/month, RevEngine + Salesforce $900/month) and built around best practices tested with 70+ newsrooms.
• Consulting Services Expert guidance and custom strategy consulting for newsrooms, including audience development, membership strategy, loyalty building, sustainable revenue generation, and Salesforce database management. Engagements are sold with an initial annual commitment and month-to-month renewal.
• News Revenue Ad Network Advertising network connecting nonprofit newsrooms with national brands for mission-aligned advertising. Connects 42 nonprofit newsrooms with national advertisers through sponsored newsletters, reaching 1.6 million+ readers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 69% average revenue growth in first year working with Hub
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• IndiegrafcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 May 2026Indiegraf acquired News Revenue Hub's donation management tool RevEngine as part of their consolidation strategy for newsroom tech. News Revenue Hub became a minority shareholder of Indiegraf while continuing to operate separately as a consulting provider. This follows Indiegraf's earlier acquisitions of Hearken and Stylebot.
• Institute for Nonprofit News (INN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHub co-manages NewsMatch program with INN, helping nonprofit newsrooms raise over $200 million since 2016. INN maintains membership standards required for newsrooms to benefit from NewsMatch funds.
• Report for AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership providing Hub's donation management platform and fundraising materials to Report for America partner newsrooms. Helped nearly 100 newsrooms raise more than $1.4 million in grassroots donations since 2018.
• LION PublishersmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-hosted Independent News Sustainability Summit with Hub and RevLab at Texas Tribune in October 2022. LION has 400+ members who are local or single-subject independent news publishers.
• RevLab at The Texas TribunemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-hosted Independent News Sustainability Summit with Hub and LION Publishers. RevLab is a training and innovation center that has trained more than 200 newsrooms.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processing platform integrated into News Revenue Engine for processing donations. Stripe does not charge monthly or annual fees for basic accounts; transaction fees apply. Nonprofit discounted fees available.
• SalesforcecoreTechnology or IntegrationCRM integration available in RevEngine + Salesforce tier. Hub team provides Salesforce administration, functionality vetting, security updates, and bug fixes as part of consulting services.
• MailchimpmajorTechnology or IntegrationEmail marketing integration in Core and RevEngine + Salesforce tiers. Enables real-time email marketing segmentation and automations without manual imports.
• NewspackmajorTechnology or IntegrationOpen-source WordPress CMS platform integrated with RevEngine for newsroom publishing needs.
• ActiveCampaignmajorTechnology or IntegrationEmail marketing integration announced in 2025, seamlessly connecting with RevEngine for flexible customer communication automation.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Memberful: A membership and subscription platform for independent creators and publishers, owned by Stripe. Memberful competes head-on with RevEngine for paid-membership infrastructure at small and independent publications, including newsrooms, podcasts, and Substacks-style newsletters.
• Newspack: WordPress-based publishing platform built by Automattic in partnership with the Knight Foundation and others specifically for news publishers. Like RevEngine, Newspack serves digital newsrooms with publishing infrastructure (CMS, hosting, email) and is a tightly integrated technology partner of News Revenue Hub — making it a direct peer in newsroom-stack software.
• Indiegraf: Canadian-based platform and network for independent news publishers, founded by Madelyn Gilfillian. Indiegraf acquired RevEngine from News Revenue Hub in May 2026 and now owns the donation management software NRH once operated, making Indiegraf the closest direct comparable in serving the same nonprofit and independent newsroom customer base.

Emerging players

• Givebutter: A modern fundraising and donor management platform for nonprofits, offering donation pages, event ticketing, and CRM-adjacent functionality. Givebutter competes for the same nonprofit digital fundraising wallet that RevEngine targets, and its free-tier model and modern UX directly overlap with NRH's value proposition.
• NationBuilder: A civic engagement and member-management platform used by nonprofits, advocacy organizations, and small media outlets. NationBuilder's donor CRM, email, and website tooling overlap with the RevEngine + Salesforce tier for small newsrooms seeking integrated reader-revenue infrastructure.

Others

• Institute for Nonprofit News (INN): The leading U.S. industry organization for nonprofit newsrooms, with hundreds of member outlets. INN co-manages the NewsMatch program with NRH and serves the same end customer — nonprofit news organizations — providing standards, training, and network support that complement NRH's technology and consulting offerings.
• LION Publishers: A trade association of 400+ local and single-subject independent news publishers in the U.S. and Canada. LION is a strategic partner and co-host of the Independent News Sustainability Summit with NRH, serving the same nonprofit and independent newsroom customer base from an industry-association angle.
• Stripe: The payment processing infrastructure on which RevEngine is built. Stripe is a core technology partner and one of NRH's most important integrations; while not a direct competitor, Stripe Atlas and Stripe's nonprofit discounts materially shape the cost structure and alternatives available to NRH's newsroom customers.
• Lenfest Institute for Journalism: A major philanthropy that funds and supports local journalism, including hiring former NRH co-founder Tristan Loper. Lenfest is both a funder of and an ecosystem participant in the same nonprofit-news market NRH serves, occasionally operating programs that overlap with NRH's consulting scope.

Broad incumbents

• Patreon: The largest general-purpose membership and recurring-payment platform for creators and publishers. Several newsrooms use Patreon for reader revenue, making it a broader incumbent alternative to RevEngine for the recurring-donation use case — though it lacks the newsroom-specific workflows and integrations that NRH built.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fundjournalism
• Facebookfacebook.com/fundjournalism
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/newsrevenuehub

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about News Revenue Hub