Paying Guardian membership soars to 200,000

The number of paying Guardian members has grown from 15,000 to 200,000 in the past year – with the newsbrand aiming for 1 million by April 2019.

Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief, used the Guardian‘s spike in traffic following the EU vote to ask readers to financially support its online content if they like what they get for free.

The Guardian‘s publisher, Guardian News and Media, is currently looking to cut costs by 20% by 2019 after posting a £69 million profit loss last year.

One of the Guardian‘s current strategies to offset losses is to invite loyal readers to become ‘members’ with packages ranging from £5 per month as a ‘supporter’ to £60 per month as a ‘patron’.

The Guardian has said on numerous occasions that it is opposed to the concept of a paywall; however, the membership scheme has been set in place to help ensure that the Guardian‘s journalism “remains open”.

Last year, Viner said: “I’m not theologically opposed to putting up a paywall – but I believe it would be better if we at least explore an alternative route first and keep Guardian journalism accessible to as many people as possible.

This “alternative route” is clearly proving to be a successful strategy, but sustaining such a high growth rate will be challenging.