Next year, MinnPost will unveil a new member benefit program to better recognize and reward our loyal supporters. As the first step in that process, this week we’re inviting you to tell us what kinds of benefits you would most like to see.

Please complete this 15-minute survey, which will ask you to rate the appeal of ideas ranging from events with MinnPost journalists to potential enhancements to MinnPost.com. As a token of our appreciation for your input, those who complete the survey by midnight tomorrow will have the opportunity to win a $100 Target gift card.

The survey aims to determine what benefits would most appeal to our most loyal and engaged community members – our registered users and individual donors, who provide more than half of all MinnPost revenue.

Apart from showing our current supporters how much we appreciate them, we believe a well-designed benefit program will inspire more people to become donors and, consequently, allow us to produce more high-quality journalism.

The results of this survey will be used to help us decide which of the many potential benefits we are currently considering – and there are dozens of them – to develop first. We will launch our new membership program this spring, and expect to continue adding more benefits over time.

Beyond that, your input may also influence the broader nonprofit news community, since our efforts in this area are being closely watched by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which has given us a grant to support membership development, and our peer news organizations.

If you have any questions about this survey, our membership program strategy, or our ongoing efforts to develop and refine a sustainable business model for high-quality regional journalism, I encourage you to contact me at awallmeyer@minnpost.com.