Hong Kong Free Press is proud to be the city’s most transparent news outlet and, as a non-profit company, HKFP is externally audited every year. Our Transparency Report is published each year as part of our Annual Report.
Our income for the period between 1/1/2017 and 31/12/2017 was as follows:
| Income | 2016 | 2017 |
| All donations | HK$1,063,125 | HK$1,769,760 |
| Ad/content sales | HK$92,276 | HK$328,759 |
| Events | HK$8,352 | HK$0 |
| Bank interest | HK$12 | HK$1 |
| Total: | HK$1,163,765 | HK$2,098,520 |
Our 2017 revenue streams:
- All donations: includes one-off and monthly Patron contributions by cheque, cash, transfer, PayPal and debit/credit card, as well as profit from merch sales.
- Ad/content sales: includes income from Google/YouTube display ads [HK$3-9k/month]; directly purchased rate card ads; and content sales [from media outlets, institutions and Dow Jones Factiva re-syndication].
HKFP Patrons: HKFP is shifting towards a membership model. A monthly income from Patrons helps support our team and operations sustainably. As of the end of 2018:
- 72 credit/debit card donors donate HK$14,858 per month, before fees (average HK$206/month).
- 52 PayPal donors donate HK$11,690 per month, before fees (average HK$225/month).
- We receive at least HK$6,000 per month from donors who contribute regularly via cheque/transfer.
- In total, we have a membership income of at least HK$32,562/month from at least 124 Patrons – up from 99 contributing HK$19,767/month in 2017. Donors are overwhelmingly from Hong Kong, though we also have backers in the US, UK, Australia and China.
- Patrons are given priority and/or free entry to HKFP events, merchandise and a hard copy of our Annual Report. We aim to reach 500 patrons between 2019-2020.
Our expenditure for our latest audited year – 1/1/2017 to 31/12/2017 – was as follows:
| Expenditure | 2016 | 2017 |
| Staff payroll | HK$1,035,523 | HK$1,340,230 |
| Mandatory Provident Fund (pensions) | HK$50,942 | HK$66,180 |
| Website, newswire text/photo, software | HK$33,083 | HK$58,693 |
| Office, sundry & recruitment/training | HK$25,801 | HK$57,565 |
| Meals/drinks for volunteers & staff | HK$25,531 | HK$17,106 |
| Legal, professional, registration, audit fees | HK$10,845 | HK$45,231 |
| Travel & Insurance | HK$8,267 | HK$8,169 |
| Stationery/merch, printing | HK$17,124 | HK$686 |
| Bank charges | HK$2,218 | HK$1,170 |
| Freelancer payments & gear | HK$0 | HK$34,090 |
| Tax | HK$0 | HK$13,343 |
| Advertising | HK$0 | HK$10,261 |
| Total: | HK$1,209,334 | HK$1,652,724 |
- HKFP is run as efficiently and prudently as possible, in order to maximise the impact of our donors’ generosity. We make savings by partnering with other media outlets, using free software wherever possible and making full use of teamwork and automation to save on labour costs.
- During 2017, we employed 4-6 full-time staff members, including a summer intern.
Our balance as of the end of the 2017:
| 2015 total surplus: | HK$91,654 |
| 2016 total deficit: | -HK$45,569 |
| 2017 total surplus: | HK$445,796 |
As a non-profit, with no shareholders or investors, HKFP’s surplus was recycled back into the company in 2018.
81% of all spending goes directly towards supporting our hard-working 24/7 news team.
New revenue streams for 2018 include Book Depository shopping link referrals and coin donation via Coin Dragon machines. We also accept Bitcoin and Flattr microdonations.
