The Guardian Australia has managed to make over half its revenue from reader contributions, despite not operating a paywall.

According to the company’s ASIC filings for the 12 months to March 31, as first reported by Capital Brief, 55% of the $42 million generated in that period came through reader donations and subscriptions. Revenue jumped by 9%, from $38.6 million in the prior 12 months, with the publication turning a $1.7 million profit.

The Guardian’s funding model is unusual: it doesn’t paywall its content, however stories are tagged with regular reminders of this generosity, with prompts to consider an all-access digital subscription (which removes advertising); a running count of how many Guardian articles a reader has accessed (for free) in the past year; and a list of reasons why “one of the Guardian’s greatest assets is its reader-funded model.”

Reader funding means The Guardian is “not beholden to the political whims of a billionaire owner”. It means the editors “don’t have to chase clicks and traffic.” Most importantly, it means the website isn’t paywalled.

According to the publication’s own messaging, just 2.4% of regular readers are contributing. It pushes readers to commit to a monthly contribution — but stresses “we value whatever you can spare” — and also relies upon a number of philanthropic grants – and, of course, advertising.

Despite the small percentage of the audience opening their wallets, reader subscriptions brought in $15.3 million during the 12 months to March 31, a $3.4 million lift from the prior year. One-off donations dropped by........

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