Rainmakers

We build for newsrooms with clear missions and constrained budgets.

We work with non-profit news outlets.

We build websites, donation systems, and audience tools for non-profit newsrooms and independent journalism.


Every feature has to justify itself. Every decision has to be defensible. That pressure produces better work, and it is the kind of work we do best.


No fluff.
No one-size-fits-all templates.
Just thoughtful, mission-aligned digital infrastructure built for newsrooms that cannot afford to waste a euro.
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We build newsroom websites your team can run.

Custom sites for non-profit newsrooms: editorial CMS, multi-author publishing, fast reader experience, accessibility. Built around how your newsroom actually works, not adapted from a template.

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We make membership and donations work.

Donation flows, recurring giving, member portals, and NewsMatch-ready infrastructure. When a reader is ready to support your work, nothing should get in the way.

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We grow the audience your work deserves.

Newsletter infrastructure, SEO for journalism, news schema, and retention metrics. Stories that do not reach readers do not change anything. We help yours travel.

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We help you figure out what to fix first.

Newsroom consulting is a working conversation, not a sales pitch. You leave knowing what to do next, whether or not you do it with us. Before you invest in a rebuild, talk to us.

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We go beyond!

Websites, donation stacks, audience growth, editorial strategy. One team, one vision, zero chaos. If your newsroom is wrestling with something that does not fit a single box, that is exactly the kind of work we do.

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What working with newsrooms actually looks like

Real newsroom projects. Real lessons.

We share what happens behind the work: the donation flow that nearly broke on December 30, the CMS migration that ran during election week, the redesign that doubled newsletter signups.
Honest accounts of newsroom projects, not portfolio pieces. Because the best insights come from the stories between the lines of code.

Read newsroom stories

Frequently Asked Questions

We believe in transparency and clear communication. Here are answers to some of the most common questions we receive about our services, process, and approach to web development and digital solutions.

What makes good branding for a newsroom?

Good newsroom branding is not the logo. It is the consistent way your reporting, your visuals, and your voice show up across the homepage, the newsletter, the donation page, and your social posts. When a reader recognizes you in two seconds, your branding is doing its job. When they wonder if they landed on the right site, it is not.

How can a newsroom website reflect its editorial voice?

Start with the work. The kind of journalism you publish, who you publish it for, and what your reporting feels like when read aloud. Every visual decision (typography, color, photo treatment, microcopy) should echo that. A site that reads like the newsroom is one a reader can trust before they finish the first story.

Why is user experience (UX) critical for newsroom websites?

Because readers do not visit a newsroom to fight the interface. They visit to read, understand, and share. Good UX gets out of the way: stories load fast, navigation is obvious, donations take three taps instead of nine. Bad UX puts friction in front of the journalism, and friction is the leading cause of bounce.

How do you define editorial voice across a newsroom's digital presence?

Editorial voice is how the newsroom sounds when no one is editing for tone. It lives in headlines, newsletter intros, button text, and error pages. We find your voice by listening to your existing work, then writing guidelines so it shows up consistently whether the writer is the editor-in-chief or a freelance contributor.

What are the core elements of a strong newsroom identity?

A clear wordmark that holds up at favicon size. A type system that handles both long-form reading and short-form social. A color palette that does not fight your photography. A voice guide your reporters will actually use. And a clear position: who you cover, who you do not, and why.

Why is consistency important across a newsroom's site, newsletter, and social presence?

Because inconsistency breaks trust faster than anything else. If the homepage feels rigorous and the newsletter feels like a different publication, readers wonder which voice is real. Consistency is not about being boring, it is about being legible to the people who decide whether to support the work.
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Meet the Team Behind the Code

The People Who Make Digital Rain

Behind every line of code is a small team that has spent years working with non-profit newsrooms and independent journalism. We are developers, designers, and editorial strategists who believe in building relationships first, then websites. Get to know the people who will be on the other end of the email when your donation page breaks on December 30.

Meet the team