A ANOTHER YEAR HAS GONE BY, AND IT'S TIME AGAIN to check in with the bean counters. While we've made a lot of progress developing Communities into an exciting publication, black ink on the bottom line has still eluded us.
First the good news. Subscribers are up strongly, from about 900 a year ago we now have 1300, with excellent prospects for continued growth. Advertising revenues are up about 60 percent. We have also made some important gains in new distributor accounts, though this doesn't show up right away in income. (For the most part, we just tread water with distributor sales--taking into account the discounts allowed and expense of producing and shipping copies that don't sell, the income from distributors just equals the costs. In fact, there is an inverse relationship between the size of the distributor and net income per copy. With the largest ones--where we get the most exposure--we actually lose money.) The advantage of pursuing distributor sales is that it increases circulation and leads to more subscribers, where there is real profit.
Probably the most graphic improvement in the past year has been Paul DeLapa's dedicated work on our covers, significantly enhancing newsstand attractiveness. We have also boosted the number and quality of photos used inside each issue. Less obvious is some of the system improvements we've put into effect. These include a regular subscription renewal program, improved entering and tracking of subscriber purchases in our database, upgrading the shipping of subscriber copies from third class to second-class mail (starting with this issue), and making selection of issue themes and guest editors at least a year in advance. We are so pleased with the progress and prospects, that we've given our Editor, Diana Christian, a raise. While still not vacation-in-Hawaii wages, it's getting more livable.
The other side of the picture is increased expenses. Unfortunately, these have risen just as quickly as the gains in income, and there has been no change in our net operating loss this past year. Factors here include a 15 percent jump in paper costs (which is the single biggest variable in our biggest expense category), extra labor for graphic design and database entry, and a considerable increase in postage for shipping and promotion. While we never have much control over postage, we are optimistic about containing the increases in labor and paper costs for 1996.
With the exception of the raise we've given Diana, we expect expenses to stabilize in 1996. While we had hoped to report a net profit in 1995, the Fellowship has continued the same quality-first commitment we started with in taking over as publishers in 1992. From this perspective, the magazine has succeeded by growing in circulation and stature without any erosion of financial strength. We like the response we've been getting from readers, and remain optimistic about the magazine becoming independent of Fellowship subsidies within the next couple years. Check this space a year from now and to see how we do in attracting additional subscribers and advertisers in 1996.
While there are many variables in predicting next year's bottom line, and the ultimate financial viability of this forum for exploring community living, one thing is certain: there's no danger of running out of things to write about, or of people with a passion and talent for saying them.
Communities magazine is published by the nonprofit Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC). Laird Sandhill is the FIC's Publication Manager.
Movement groups may reprint with permission. Please direct inquiries to Communities, PO Box 169, Masonville, CO 80541-0169, (970) 593-5615.