the Old Louisville Journal printing cost for each issue: $327.50 (900 copies) x 12 = $3930 a year.
postage is approximately $85 each month (non-profit bulk rate, 716 mailed in Dec. 08, postage going up again in May '09), x 12 months = $1,020 a year.
add the cost of mailing labels, and printing them, and the labor to manually apply labels. (a box of 7,500 labels = $73.39), and then they are manually sorted for the bulk mailing.
so maybe WE can figure out how to create a "readable/printable email/online edition" so that the money saved could be used perhaps to 'buy new trees for Central Park' instead?
there are many options available to use new online technologies. forums, blogs, email blasts, with ways to 'subscribe and unsubscribe' easily. ultimately, i think the goal would be to have fresher news, delivered with less expense, and give the reader an opportunity to respond and be involved. i personally like this town's newsletter (Decatur, Georgia) as an example of what we could have - if we could agree that this is the direction we want to go...
http://thedecaturminute.wordpress.com/ are people going to read it online? that's up to you to decide...
