Want some sweet HerCanberra rewards?

Posted on 8 August, 2018

Become an official supporter!

If you’ve grabbed the latest free latest issue of HerCanberra’s Magazine, you may have seen that we’ve recently launched a Patreon page which allows our readers to support the quarterly publication. (If you haven’t, you’d better hurry—the ones currently on stands are the last ones left!)

Magazine is and always will be free, but we are launching an exclusive rewards program via Patreon that allows you to support the Magazine in exchange for some perks—which we hope to expand into an extensive loyalty program over coming years.

HerCanberra founder Amanda Whitley explains how it all works here.

So what is this whole Patreon thing?

Good question. Patreon is an online membership platform that allows creators to offer their followers rewards in exchange for a monthly payment—as little or as much as they like. If you listen to a lot of podcasts, you’re probably already familiar with it.

Basically, supporters can choose how much they would like to commit, and this gives them access to different levels of rewards. Their bank account will be automatically debited the amount that they’ve chosen, but they can cancel at any time.

Why should I become a patron?

Well, we reckon it’s a win-win. For us, it helps us continue to produce the quality of Magazine you know and love, and supporters get behind-the-scenes access to HerCanberra—as well as a whole lot of other interesting rewards.

What are the rewards?

So far, we have four rewards tiers available, from $2 to $20 per month. The rewards include sneak peeks of Magazine and behind-the-scenes photos of its creation, the opportunity to be the first to know about giveaways and events, home delivery of each issue of Magazine and even exclusive tickets to a HerCanberra event. But we also want readers’ feedback, so if there’s something you would love to see from us don’t hesitate to let us know.

What will my money be used for?

While advertising covers some of the costs involved, creating a publication like Magazine ain’t cheap! Every edition takes three months to put together, and involves the whole HerCanberra team and talented local creatives.

The money from the HerCanberra Patreon will go towards paying the team involved in producing Magazine. It will also allow us to retain the publication’s beautiful quality, and even expand our print run and distribution points so even more people can get their hands on it.

So, are you going to stop producing Magazine if you can’t get enough supporters?

You know, it’s been really interesting hearing the reaction to the Patreon ad on the current Magazine. We’ve had some generous early adopters who’ve been keen to let us know that they’re really happy to financially support something that brings them joy. And then we’ve had a few people asking if this means that HerCanberra is under financial strain.

I’ve always been a fan of keeping it real, so here it is. I don’t see Patreon as any different to media organisations who request donations to support their operations (i.e. The Guardian) or put up a paywall (SMH et al.). But anyone who sees Magazine will know that it is not a cheap publication, and it doesn’t have a cover price, so we need to be creative in finding ways to cover its production cost.

Each issue is around $2 per copy just to print (and with 10,000 copies, you do the math), and that’s not counting the cost of employing writers, our graphic designer, photographers and creatives or distribution and other expenses. The reality is that each edition of Magazine actually costs—rather than makes—us money.

But the bottom line is, no. We will continue to produce Magazine regardless of how many supporters we get—but we would be very grateful if people value the publication enough to put their hand in their pocket.

Why make it free in the first place then?

Look, some of it has to do with some complicated logistical reasons around distribution, limitation around quantities, etc. that I won’t go into ‘cos it’s not particularly exciting…but the main reason is that the motivation behind HerCanberra was not to make money, but to build a community.

Our website has always been—and will remain—free. Our events are always accessibly priced with very little ‘fat’. The company pretty much operates as a not-for-profit, and I’m very comfortable with that, because I didn’t start HerCanberra with dreams of being on the AFR Rich List. So offering Magazine as a free publication is very much in line with that philosophy.

I also think it’s really important that Canberra has something like Magazine—because there really is no other publication out there that showcases our city in such a beautiful, rich and positive way, and I’m happy to invest in that. But I see Patreon as giving people who love Magazine—and HerCanberra more broadly—the opportunity to give something back to an organisation that has given them so much (for free) over the past seven-and-a-half years.

And from a selfish perspective, we never want to stop producing Magazine because it is our baby. It really is a labour of love. It gives us an opportunity to be creative, to work with some amazing locals, and to produce something that we know people collect and display proudly on their coffee tables. And that’s really special.

Sounds great, where do I sign up?

Head to patreon.com/hercanberra and find out what it’s all about. Then, if you choose to become a patron, you can see our first exclusive posts and start reaping those rewards!