The RSPB is a charity for the conservation of birds and nature, existing to protect and restore habitats and landscapes, saving species and connecting people to nature.

With 550,000 households receiving a print magazine four times a year, they have the 5th highest circulating magazine in the UK. Membership subscriptions and donations brought in 43% of the charity’s income in 2023.

But the production of a print magazine comes at a cost - both financial and environmental.

Our task was to find a financially sustainable digital solution, enabling the RSPB to make significant savings to be invested into vital conservation work. Carbon savings could also be made by reducing the amount of transport, paper and ink required.

The challenge was to avoid switching off a loyal membership and create a digital offering that gives both members, and the environment, more.

RSPB members are deeply interested in identifying and observing different bird species and a big part of being able to do that is hearing bird song, and seeing them in flight.

They also care about conservation and protecting natural habitats - so reducing costs for the charity they support while bringing them more dynamic video, sound and other interactive bird and nature content in an accessible format, is a perfect solution.

In the first year, we moved ~25,000 (~4% of print run) over to the digital offering and a monthly email now links to articles adapted from the print magazine, enriched with interactive features.

Since the magazine is only released four times a year, this new email touch point has given the client an additional eight opportunities per year to contact their members. The digital format is also appealing to a younger time-poor audience who want to consume media on the go, whilst giving time to causes they care about – an essential growth area for RSPB.