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Compare sponsorship payments received with production and selling costs for a defined newsletter campaign.
Define the campaign boundary
Count delivered paid placements and comparable collected fees. Exclude a future booking unless you deliberately model it as a scenario. Distinguish publisher money left after variable costs from the advertiser’s return, which needs different evidence.
How the calculation works
payments received = paid placements × collected fee. Cost = payments received × selling fee fraction + production hours × hourly cost + other campaign costs. money left after variable costs = payments received − costs. Cost-based ROI = money left after variable costs ÷ positive estimated cost × 100.
A worked example
Four placements at 750 produce 3,000. A 10% selling fee is 300; 20 production hours at 40 add 800 and other costs add 200. Total cost is 1,300, money left after variable costs 1,700 and cost-based ROI 130.77%.
Price coordination as well as writing
Selling, approvals, revisions and reporting can take substantial time. Include those hours once, together with any commission. If a campaign displaces another paid placement, review that opportunity cost separately.
What the result leaves out
This does not match sponsors, track subscriber behavior or establish advertiser conversion ROI. It values publisher campaign costs only. Include a percentage of ongoing production costs if they belong in the decision.
Open the calculator with your own figures →
The defaults are constructed examples, not market benchmarks. Choose one currency for every monetary input; the currency selector formats values and does not convert exchange rates. Keep a copy of the records and assumptions behind your result so you can repeat the comparison after the next reporting period.
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