CLMP offers a number of grant opportunities for independent publishers. Below you will find examples of projects that have previously been funded through our NYSCA NYTAP Regrants Program and Professional Development Consulting Program.
The below projects are intended solely to provide examples of the kinds of projects that may be appropriate for each opportunity. Applications are evaluated by an independent panel of literary citizens, with a new panel chosen each year. For more guidance on applying for grants and to learn more about each grant’s criteria, please visit the respective grant pages.
NYSCA NYTAP Regrants Program
CLMP offers New York State–based literary magazines and presses the opportunity to apply for grants of $2,500, $5,000, and $7,500 to support projects that build organizational capacity and ensure greater sustainability. All projects must focus on capacity building, not the routine costs of publishing. Examples of projects include software upgrades, design projects, accessibility initiatives, special marketing efforts, and development/fundraising efforts. Consultant fees to assist in executing the project may be included in the project budget.
Fundraising
- Hiring a part-time development manager to research funders and major donors with the goal of establishing a long-term fundraising strategy.
- Implementing a new donor management software system in order to streamline donation processing and increase donor retention.
Marketing
- Establishing a subscription model for the press, along with a marketing strategy to promote it, in order to create a consistent revenue stream and engage past donors.
- Creating and distributing promotional catalogs to libraries, universities, and community groups in order to establish the brand’s presence and generate new sales channels.
- Designing marketing and promotional materials for email distribution in order to bolster sales following the switch to a new distributor.
Operations
- Implementing new accounting and financial systems to build an efficient and scalable foundation for continued growth.
- Updating metadata and sales data to support the transition to a new distributor, with the goal of increasing sales.
- Investing in a physical space for storing inventory and hosting events, with the dual goals of having independent control over distribution of titles and fostering an in-person community.
Web Development and Digital Projects
- Digitizing physical archives to expand the visibility of backlist publications and develop a new revenue stream.
- Transitioning the magazine from a print to digital format in order to increase the frequency of publication and reach more readers.
- Redesigning website to feature exclusive digital content from the magazine in order to increase reader engagement and attract new audiences.
- Augmenting website with multilingual features in order to serve the press’s multilingual community, in order to increase readership, submissions, and sales.
Professional Development Consulting Program
CLMP offers publishers the opportunity to apply for support to pay for 10 to 20 hours of working with a professional consultant on a proposed project to help build organizational capacity. This program helps grantees identify and implement strategies for improvement in areas such as marketing, publicity, distribution, website development, fundraising, strategic and succession planning, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and overall operations.
Fundraising
- Training the director and development committee on best practices in the areas of grants, budgets, and fundraising appeals in order to support the creation of a sustainable fundraising plan.
- Researching a list of new potential donors and crafting a donor outreach plan to augment upcoming fundraising campaigns.
- Supporting the transition to 501c(3) nonprofit status and developing an actionable fundraising plan for the magazine.
- Training staff in using grant research databases to increase the press’s ability to undertake development work.
Marketing
- Developing a business plan and marketing campaign to increase new magazine subscriptions and retain existing subscribers.
- Crafting marketing plans for specific titles and marketing strategies for the press as a whole in order to increase sales and brand visibility.
- Developing a new social media marketing strategy for backlist titles to reach new audiences and markets.
- Creating a marketing strategy to direct readers to the press’s new e-commerce platform in order to develop a new revenue stream from direct sales.
Operations and Strategic Planning
- Building an in-house royalty tracking system for the press’s titles to streamline operations and free up staff time.
- Supporting the transition to a cooperative business model, providing legal support and staff training.
- Executive coaching for new directors during a comprehensive leadership transition.
Web Development and Digital Projects
- Collecting and analyzing website traffic data and creating an action plan for website revisions to increase engagement.
- Updating website infrastructure to incorporate a new membership model that will diversify the publication’s income.
- Conducting a review of the magazine’s website to understand accessibility barriers and create a plan for short- and long-term fixes.
