Frequently Asked Questions

 

Q: What is a “street newspaper”?
A: Typically, a street newspaper is a publication that focuses on homelessness and poverty and is distributed solely on the streets by homeless and formerly homeless people (vendors) who keep the profit from the papers they sell.

Q: How often is The Contributor published?
A: The Contributor is published twice monthly and usually available on the second and last Wednesday of each month.

Q: What is your circulation?
A: The Contributor has an average monthly circulation of 120,000 copies and is the highest-circulating street newspaper of its kind in North America.

Q: Is The Contributor in other cities? Are there other newspapers like The Contributor?
A: The Contributor is an independent nonprofit organization based in Nashville, Tennessee and is sold in middle Tennessee. There are many other street newspapers in North America and the world. Please visit the North American Street Newspaper Association and the International Network of Street Newspapers for more information.

Q: How does your paper program work?
A: We start new vendors out with a badge and starting equity of 15 free papers. They sell the papers on public sidewalks for $1 each plus unsolicited tips. This is their money to keep. After that point, if they want to keep selling, they purchase papers from us for 25¢ each and resell on the street for $1, keeping the profit. There are other ways to earn free papers along the way for sales goals, good standing with us, exceptional sales techniques, submission and publication in The Contributor, referring other quality vendors and attending vendor meetings.

Q: What are your advertising rates?
A: The Contributor has a minimum monthly circulation of 100,000 copies. Our vendors put your ad in the hand of your potential customers. Please download our rate sheet here. Email Ben at advertising@thecontributor.org for more information.

Q: Will someone from The Contributor come speak to my organization?
A: Yes! We try to accommodate all requests for speakers. Please fill out the speaker request form at http://tinyurl.com/thecontributorspeakerrequest and contact us at info@thecontributor.org.

Q: How can I, or someone I know, be published in The Contributor?
A: Anyone can submit content to The Contributor! To receive our editorial guidelines and article parameters, please click here and then contact our editor, Andrew, at andrew@thecontributor.org.

Q: What is the mailing address of your office?
A: P.O. Box 332023, Nashville, Tennessee 37203.

Q: Where is the physical address of your office?
A: Our office is located inside the Downtown Presbyterian Church at 5th & Church – 154 5th Ave. N. in Nashville. Please see our mailing address for mail. No mail to The Contributor should come to the church.

 

The Basics about vendors of The Contributor:

Q: What is a “vendor”?
A: For the purposes here, a “vendor” is a currently or formerly homeless person who sells The Contributor newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee.

Q: Who are vendors for The Contributor?
A: Vendors of The Contributor are currently or formerly homeless individuals in Nashville and the surrounding area.

Q: How many vendors do you have?
A: We have about 400 active vendors per month.

Q: What happens to the money I give the newspaper vendor?
A: The money you purchase your issue of The Contributor with, plus any tips, remains with the vendor. They keep 100% of the profit of the sale.

Q: What do the vendors do with their income? Does The Contributor, Inc. oversee their spending?
A: The ways that vendors spend their income are as diverse as the many ways any hard working adult person spends their salary. We do not manage their financial resources for them. Our vendors have more than a 35% rate of securing housing utilizing their income from sales of The Contributor.

Q: I see too many vendors. I can’t possibly purchase a paper from every one.
A: No problem! Just like you probably don’t buy a cup of coffee every time you see Starbucks, as tempting as it is, no one expects you to purchase a newspaper every time you see a newspaper vendor.

Q: Can you help me locate my regular vendor? I haven’t seen them in a while and am concerned.
A: We deeply appreciate the strong bonds that form between our vendors and their customers! Please understand, though, that we cannot give out any details or personal information about any of our vendors.

Q: Why don’t your vendors get a “real job”?
A: Although our vendors are independent contractors, vending for The Contributor is a real job. Vendors must go through an interview process and a two hour training class before getting their first badge and papers. Selling the paper, like any sales job, is hard work, and, in this case, performed entirely in outdoor elements.

Our vendors are micro-business owners. Though The Contributor helps them with their initial capital, vendors must maintain this business daily. Vendors purchase their papers from us for $.25 each and sell the paper to the public for $1.00 and bumper stickers for $.50 to sell for $2.00. It is up the vendors to keep a steady stock of their supplies and keep their business going.

An astounding 35% of current vendors have found housing since signing up with The Contributor. We do not “let go” vendors that find housing. As long as a vendor is in good standing with us and continues to purchase papers regularly, they can stay on as long as they wish. Some vendors do find other work, move, or decide to “retire” from selling The Contributor. This is up to them, as well. And as long as they have remained in good standing with us, vendors who have left the program may retrain and become vendors with us again in the future.

Q: Can you have your vendors sell additional products along with The Contributor newspaper?
A: No. We lean on our First Amendment rights to sell printed material on public property. Offering any other product in tandem is much more complicated. We are not interested in expanding to include other products or publications.

Q: How can I become a vendor?
A: Anyone who has experienced homeless at any point in their lives may qualify to become a vendor of The Contributor. New vendor training is on the first Tuesday of every month. Before signing up for the training class, you must come in and interview with Tom Wills, Director of Vending. Interviews will take place on Fridays and you must sign up for an appointment, in person, in our office during office hours, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 10am-3pm. Our office is located inside the Downtown Presbyterian Church at 5th & Church – 154 5th Ave. N. If you have a vehicle, you will need to find and pay for parking. There is a Premier lot right across from the church and a parking garage next door. The library garage is down Church at 7th and would be the cheapest. Walk to The Contributor office at the 5th Avenue entrance. There is a mural of a boy on the door and you may see a line of vendors. That is our office - please do not use the church office to the left. For more information, call 615-829-6829.

 

Vendor Conduct:

Q: I am very angry at one of your vendors! They were behaving in an unbecoming manner! No, I don’t know their name. They were medium height, medium weight and had medium-length hair.
A: We currently have more than 400 active vendors. We very much appreciate calls concerning our vendors whether it’s a complaint or compliment, however with so many vendors, we need certain specific information in order to address issues with the right parties.

All vendors of The Contributor must wear an official vendor badge. There are two main styles of official vendor badges. Both are large yellow badges with “The Contributor” across the top. The temporary badge will also have the vendor’s first name and last initial, the vendor’s official number, and the date the badge expires. The other badge type is the permanent badge. While there are several badge types including team badges, individual badges, and official territory badges, all permanent badges have the same basic information. These badges are large and yellow with “The Contributor” across the top. They have the expiration date and the words “Street Paper” & “$1.00″ across the bottom as well as our vendor hotline phone number. In the middle is white credit card sized ID with “The Contributor” across the top of it, the type of badge it is, the vendor’s first name and last initial, the vendor’s official number, a picture of the vendor, and the expiration date of the badge.

The more information we have on a vendor when you call, the better. At minimum we need the vendor’s name if they were wearing a badge, the intersection closest to the vendor at the time, and the date and time of the incident. A thorough description of the vendor is helpful as well, especially if they are not wearing a badge.

Please direct all concerns regarding Vendor Code of Conduct issues to our Director of Vending, Tom Wills either by phone at 615-829-6829 or via email at tom@thecontributor.org. If you witness a vendor engaging in illegal activity, please call the non-emergency police hotline at 615-862-8600. If you witness an actual emergency involving a vendor, please do not hesitate to dial 911.

Q: I think I saw someone selling The Contributor who was not a legitimate vendor.
A: Look for the badge. All of our current vendors must wear a large yellow photo ID badge around their neck on a lanyard. All other logoed clothing is optional and earned by reaching sales goals.

Q: What does the badge look like?
A: All vendors of The Contributor must wear an official vendor badge. There are two main styles of official vendor badges. Both are large yellow badges with “The Contributor” across the top.

The temporary badge will also have the vendor’s first name and last initial, the vendor’s official number, and the date the badge expires.

The other badge type is the permanent badge. While there are several badge types including team badges, individual badges, and official territory badges, all permanent badges have the same basic information. These badges are large and yellow with “The Contributor” across the top. They have the expiration date and the words “Street Paper” & “$1.00″ across the bottom as well as our vendor hotline phone number. In the middle is white credit card sized ID with “The Contributor” across the top of it, the type of badge it is, the vendor’s first name and last initial, the vendor’s official number, a picture of the vendor, and the expiration date of the badge.

Q: Why is my vendor not wearing The Contributor shirt (or bag/hat/apron)?
A: All logoed clothing is optional and earned by reaching sales goals. The only required item is a yellow photo ID badge on a lanyard.

Q: How does a vendor earn official clothing/gear?
A: After reaching certain sales goals, vendors earn free clothing items to help them better perform their job. For example, after a vendor purchases 40 papers from us (at 25¢ each), we gift them a logoed messenger bag. After they purchase 40 more papers, they receive a shirt. Other items available include official hats, ponchos and green hawker aprons.

Q: How in the world can a homeless person have a cell phone?
A: One of the most urgent necessities for a person working their way off the street is a cell phone. A cell phone allows a homeless person to be able to be reached by loved ones, employers, case workers and housing providers. A cell phone can be purchased, with no contract, from Walgreens or Dollar General for as little as $30 – including 300 minutes. There are also some cost-free options for low-income people to receive a cell phone. Read more about this subject in a story published in The Contributor in the fall of 2012: http://thecontributor.org/hope-within-reach/

Q: Why would I purchase a paper from a vendor who has cigarettes?
A: Most people have indoor jobs, our vendors work outdoors where smoking is typically legal. That said, we highly discourage our vendors from smoking while selling, but at this time it is not against our vendor code of conduct. The ways that vendors spend their income are as diverse as the many ways any hard working adult person spends their salary. We do not manage their financial resources for them. Our vendors have more than a 35% rate of securing housing using income from sales of The Contributor.

Q: Why do many of the newspaper vendors not look homeless?
A: Great question! Please read our article answering this question here.

Q: I certainly support your mission and your vendors but I have to say, if The Contributor is meant to be a stepping stone out of homelessness, why do I continue to see some of your vendors after they seem to no longer be homeless?
A: It is true that among other things, The Contributor can be and is used a stepping stone to a life off the streets. Since The Contributor began, we have seen a consistent pattern of over one third of our vendors obtaining housing after vending with us. So why do you still see a vendor after they seem to be doing better?  There are almost as many answers to that question as there are vendors!

Selling The Contributor is meant to be empowering.  Our vendors own their own micro-businesses and are completely in charge of their success.  Though we try to help them hit the ground running by offering training and 15 free papers to start, how well a vendor does is entirely up to them.  Just like any sales job, selling The Contributor is tough work and isn’t for every personality.  Though our vendors have built up the brand to the point where it almost sells itself, that has not always been the case.  Even with most of Nashville knowing who we are now, bearing the elements alone can be a beast.  There is a sense of pride that comes with a hard day’s work and that sense of pride is one all of our vendors are familiar with.

Make no mistake, selling The Contributor is a real job.  Beyond the actual hours of standing on sidewalks and interacting with the public day in and day out, our vendors also have to constantly invest in their businesses to keep them running.  They must purchase the paper from us for 25¢ to sell to Nashvillians for $1.00.  They must budget this expenditure as well as the time out of their day (or week if they’re able to stock up) to come by the offices of The Contributor and wait in line to buy more papers.

Some of our vendors take to this business like a duck to water.  They seem to have a natural knack for this.  Some of our vendors found themselves at The Contributor because for various reason they could not find employment anywhere else.  Some of our vendors have never felt this connection with another job or such a sense of community before.

Once a vendor has obtained housing, they then have to maintain it.  Though many do move on to other jobs those who do well with The Contributor sometimes stay on and continue vending.  They’ve built relationships with their customers.  They’ve succeeded at their business and want to continue building it. They’ve made it out of homelessness and wish to stay out of it.
Vendor Territories:

Q: How do you choose where to station your vendors?
A: We do not assign territories for our vendors. We trust our vendors to know where they have the closest community, feel the most comfortable and believe they can make the highest sales. Newspaper vendors have the constitutional right of freedom of the press to sell printed material on public sidewalks. These corners are available on a first-come first-served basis. Vendors who consistently sell 300 or more papers per month can apply to make a certain corner their “permanent territory” and receive a map badge. All this means, is that if another vendor is working that corner and the “mapped” vendor arrives to work, the other vendor must leave.

Q: I do not want a vendor near my place of business or other location. Can I request that no vendor sell papers on a public sidewalk near me?
A: No. Newspaper vendors have the constitutional right of freedom of the press to sell printed material on public sidewalks. However, please learn our vendor code of conduct and contact us, with a name and complete description of the person in question, if you see a vendor not abiding by our rules. We diligently try to keep our vendor force consistent and positive.

Q: Can I request that only a specific vendor sell near my place of business?
A: We love to hear positive reports on our vendors! Please contact tom@thecontributor.org or 615-829-6829 to discuss the possibility of having your favorite vendor sell near you.

Q: I am a business owner. Can I have a vendor sell on private property at my place of business?
A: Thank you so much for your interest! Please contact us at 615-829-6829 and we will set you up with a great vendor for your location on your schedule. 

 

Volunteering with The Contributor:

Q: How can I volunteer with The Contributor?
A: Please contact Amy Rowland, our Volunteer Coordinator, at amy@thecontributor.org for more information.

Q: What are the requirements to volunteer?
A: Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older to volunteer for The Contributor. Volunteers are asked to commit to a regular 3-hour shift during office hours once a week for a three month commitment. Volunteers cannot be vendors and vendors cannot be volunteers.

Q: What if I can’t make a 3-hour shift during office hours? I still want to help! What can I do?
A: Though this is the only way to volunteer in our vendor office, there are several other volunteer opportunities available. Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Amy Rowland at amy@thecontributor.org for details about other ways to help.

Q: Can my group volunteer with you for a day?
A: Unfortunately, our office is about the size of a small bedroom and is already packed with the daily staff and volunteers needed for paper sales in addition to vendors who come through. At this time we cannot accomodate groups in our sales office. If you have a group who is interested, please email amy@thecontributor.org about Paper Release options.

Q: Can vending be used for my Community Service requirements?
A: Vending does not count as volunteer work and cannot be used as court mandated community service. If you have been court-mandated to have employment, please check with the courts as to whether they will accept self-employment. Vendors are not considered employees of The Contributor.

Q: Can volunteering be used for my Community Service requirements?
A: If you have court mandated community service, please bring in your paper work to be signed by a member of staff upon completion of volunteer shift. If you have additional questions regarding this, please email amy@thecontributor.org.

Q: Can volunteers vend or can vendors volunteer?
A: No. Our policy is that vendors cannot volunteer in the office and volunteers cannot vend. Opportunities can arise where our vendors can help in a “volunteer” capacity outside of our office. Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Amy Rowland at amy@thecontributor.org if you are vendor interested in helping out.

 

Supporting The Contributor:

Q: How do I send The Contributor a donation?
A: You may mail a donation to P.O. Box 332023, Nashville, Tennessee 37203, or donate online here. Thank you so much!

Q: I have a large bag of clothes (shoes/supplies/etc.) that I’d love to give your vendors. Can I bring them by your office?
A: Unfortunately, our office is about the size of a small bedroom and is already packed with the daily staff and volunteers needed for paper sales plus the vendors who come through. There is little room for excess supplies. Our office hours are also limited and our vendor staff generally sell papers nonstop from open to close leaving little extra time to pass out donations. There are several wonderful organizations in Nashville that are better equipped and would be thrilled to take your donations.

Q: Why would I donate to The Contributor directly?
A: The Contributor is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and depends on individual donations to continue printing the paper and providing a source of income for our 400 currently and formerly homeless vendors. Vendors keep the income that they receive from paper sales – that money does not come back to us. Please donate here today.

Q: Doesn’t the money I give my vendor go to The Contributor?
A: No. All money received by the vendor stays with them. They purchase papers up front from us for 25¢ each and resell them on public sidewalks for $1 each plus unsolicited tips – keeping the entire profit of the sale.

Q: Can I throw a fundraising benefit for The Contributor?
A: Thank you so much for your interest. Please fill out our online Fundraising and Partnership Form here and email verification to info@thecontributor.org.

 

Questions vendors may ask:

Q: When is the next new vendor training?
A: New vendor training is on the first Tuesday of every month. Each vendor training class is limited to 40 prospective vendors. Before signing up for the training class, you must come in and interview with Tom Wills, Director of Vending. Interviews will take place on Fridays and you must sign up for an appointment, in person, in our office during office hours, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 10am-3pm. Our office is located inside the Downtown Presbyterian Church at 5th & Church – 154 5th Ave. N. If you have a vehicle, you will need to find and pay for parking. There is a Premier lot right across from the church and a parking garage next door. The library garage is down Church at 7th and would be the cheapest. Walk to The Contributor office at the 5th Avenue entrance. There is a mural of a boy on the door and you may see a line of vendors. That is our office - please do not use the church office to the left. For more information, call 615-829-6829.

Q: Can vending for The Contributor be used as income for subsidized housing?
A: Yes. Please contact us in the office during office hours or at 615-829-6829 to get a statement of sales sent to your housing representative.

Q: When can I, as a vendor, purchase papers from the office?
A: Papers can only be purchased in office during regular office hours. At this time, our only office is located inside the Downtown Presbyterian Church at 5th & Church – 154 5th Ave. N. in Nashville. Papers cannot be purchased anywhere else or from anyone else. Our office hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10 am – 3 pm. Sunday paper sales are from 1 to 2 pm only.

Q: Can I, as a vendor, purchase papers at other times than the posted office hours if I really need to?
A: Papers can only be purchased in office during regular office hours. At this time, our only office is located inside the Downtown Presbyterian Church at 5th & Church – 154 5th Ave. N. in Nashville. Papers cannot be purchased anywhere else or from anyone else. Our office hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10 am – 3 pm. Sunday paper sales from 1 to 2 pm only.

Q: What’s the deal with Wednesday hours?
A: The Downtown Presbyterian Church, where our office is located, hosts a free lunch every Wednesday at noon. They have asked us to wait until the lunch is over and the fellowship hall is cleaned before opening for business. We have chosen this day for vendor meetings as it coincides with already unusual hours.

Q: Why are you only open one hour on Sundays?
A: We try to accommodate the schedule of DPC whenever possible. As The Downtown Presbyterian Church is a church, they have service on Sunday morning. The church remains open for a brief time after services. Since we are closed on Saturday, as a service to our vendors, it was decided to open our offices for that brief window between the service and when the church closes to allow vendors to purchase papers over the weekend. Thus, we are open from 1:00-2:00pm on Sundays.

Q: Why are you closed on Saturday?
A: The Downtown Presbyterian Church, where our office is located, is closed on Saturdays. We try to accommodate their schedule whenever possible.

 

Taking it further:

Q: How can I help my vendor beyond purchasing papers from them?
A: Learn their name. Build a friendship. Invite other community members to learn their specific needs and see where skills and gifts can meet those needs. Contact us if you have specific questions about this.

Q: How can I help other homeless people in Nashville?
A: There are many good organizations in Nashville to become involved with. Find one that piques your interest and volunteer!

Q: What is the North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA) Conference?
A: The annual NASNA conference brings together delegates from the dozens of street newspapers across the United States and Canada to share their strengths, compare stories and build stronger organizations, through workshops, fellowship, speakers and an awards ceremony.

Q: When and where was the 2011 NASNA Conference?
A: The Contributor was proud to host the 2011 NASNA Conference, October 13-16, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Q: I still have a question after reading the FAQS. How can I get it answered?
A: Please feel free to contact us with any additional questions!