The Source of the Spring is marking its third anniversary with the launch of a membership program designed to help ensure its finances are stable and the site can continue to operate in the future.
The Source went live on Oct. 26, 2016 at a party for friends and supporters on the rooftop of Kaldi’s Social House.
Since then, the site has published more than 1,100 posts focused on local news and information, and sends its twice-weekly free email newsletters to nearly 1,900 subscribers. In addition, its social media sites have gained:
- More than 2,200 Twitter (@sourcethespring) followers
- About 4,450 Facebook “likes” and 4,800 “follows,” and
- Nearly 3,800 Instagram
In the three years since the launch, the most viewed post on the site was a story about the grand opening of Herba-Fi medical marijuana dispensary, which ran on May 18, 2018 and attracted 7,790 page views (barely beating out a story about the closing of Oriental East in 2017).
Readers who’d like to support the Source can choose from several monthly or annual subscription programs starting at $5 per month. Benefits for contributors vary with the level of contributions and include stickers, lapel pins, and free Source t-shirts to show their support, as well as invitations to happy hours with the staff.
In addition, there is an option to make one-time contributions of up to $1,000.
The Source has been financed up to this point through bootstrap funding and local advertisers.
“We’re deeply appreciative of the support we’ve receive from local businesses, and we hope that will continue,” said co-founder Mike Diegel. “This membership program and the backing from our readers will help us to continue to thrive and increase our efforts to keep our community informed.”