Community Sponsorship Model

Sam proposes a minimal-effort community monetization strategy for his 3,000-member Facebook group (former Trends community) that maintains quality while generating enough revenue to support a community manager.

Key Points:

• Current Community Stats:

  • 3,000 members
  • Dozens of posts per day
  • Members are small business owners ($100k-$1M revenue range)
  • High engagement and natural traction

• Monetization Strategy:

  • Implement 1-2 sponsors per month
  • Generate enough revenue to pay a salary for a community manager
  • Keep community free for members
  • Maintain quality and engagement

• Management Approach:

  • Delegate operations to younger talent who want to work with the community
  • Minimal personal involvement (10 minutes per month)
  • Focus on keeping the community "awesome" rather than maximizing revenue
  • Let the manager keep all revenue generated from sponsorships

• Key Philosophy:

  • Don't actively try to monetize or grow
  • Prioritize community quality over revenue
  • Use sponsorships only to sustain the community manager's role
  • Keep the original community spirit alive while providing opportunity for someone to run it