Learning Visit: How Tsüri Built a Stable Business Model
As part of our Upskilling programme, we hosted our first Learning Visit in September 2026. Around 25 media professionals from across Germany, Austria and Switzerland travelled to Zurich, where local media organization Tsüri opened its doors for a day, offering insights into its business model and sharing lessons from several years of building the organization.
Today, Tsüri generates around CHF 1.6 million in annual revenue. Behind this figure is a mix of revenue streams: memberships, advertising, events and its online shop, supplemented by project-based crowdfunding campaigns. Diversifying its income has helped Tsüri become increasingly independent and financially stable.
1. Memberships: Revenue Directly from the Community
Memberships are a key source of revenue for Tsüri. Around 10% of the email addresses it collects are converted into paying members. Tsüri attracts new members primarily through direct appeals in its own newsletters and regular campaigns, which run around four times a year.
Paying members at Tsüri do not receive traditional benefits in return. Discounts and other perks have been discontinued: people contribute because they want to support Tsüri. All content remains freely accessible.
2. Advertising: Turning Reach into Revenue
Tsüri offers around 50 advertising slots per week, selling both individual placements and packages across multiple channels. Advertisers can also book packages spanning several local media outlets, allowing them to reach audiences in Switzerland’s larger cities. Some advertising revenue is secured as early as autumn through annual packages for the following year.
The most successful format is the “Tip of the Day”, a native advertising placement in the newsletter featuring a headline, image and short text. Rather than using traditional banners, the ads are clearly labelled and placed within the editorial environment.
3. Events: Connecting Revenue and Community
Direct revenue from events comes primarily from sponsorships, while ticket sales tend to play a smaller role. Just as important, events help build closer relationships, activate the community and attract new newsletter subscribers.
Tsüri’s events range from the Tsüri Awards and Pitch Nights to events centred on journalistic investigations. At the Pitch Nights, for example, sponsors can fund individual slots. Other events are made possible through partnerships in which Tsüri receives a venue at a reduced rate or free of charge in exchange for visibility.
Not every event needs to be maximally profitable. Some formats focus more on building and retaining the community, sometimes in close connection with the outlet’s journalism. An investigation conducted with the investigative collective WAV, “Who Owns Zurich?”, was initially funded through crowdfunding. An additional campaign goal then made it possible to organize city walks and a panel discussion. This allowed a relevant journalistic topic to generate reach, strengthen community ties and create additional revenue in several ways.
4. Shop: Revenue Beyond Journalism
Tsüri’s online shop generates around CHF 100,000 in annual revenue and has become a significant part of its business model. For new merchandise, Tsüri often takes pre-orders and only then puts the products into production.
Around 80% of sales come through the newsletter. The shop mainly offers products that foster a strong sense of identification and are closely connected to the city of Zurich. Since July 2026, these products have also been available at four Coop stores in Zurich.
The Community Is the Foundation
Tsüri builds its community primarily through its daily “Züri Briefing”. The newsletter is a product in its own right, building regular relationships with readers and offering them tangible value.
A strong, engaged community allows the different revenue streams to reinforce one another. The newsletter serves as a channel for advertising and shop sales, attracts new members and mobilizes supporters for crowdfunding campaigns. Events bring people closer to the outlet, create personal connections and attract new newsletter subscribers.
At the same time, combining different revenue streams creates greater stability: not all income depends on the same factors. If one source weakens, the entire business model does not automatically come under pressure.
Tsüri’s business model does not have to serve as a blueprint for every media organization. But media organizations can diversify their funding step by step and become less dependent on individual revenue streams. The right mix depends heavily on the media brand and its target audience.
Photo: Tina Shayesteh / Tsüri.ch
Last updated: October 28, 2026
