Prospering magazines run by not-for-profits laughing all the way to the bank

Interesting story in the New York Times about how, when some other categories are hurtin', a couple of unusual magazines are doing very nicely, thank you -- AARP and Consumer Reports. Media columnist Richard Siklos writes:

These are not, let it be said, the glitzy magazines that most people normally chat about at cocktail parties or dissect in blogs. Rather, these are solid but quaint titles that offer the inside scoop on why Sally Field is “tiny, talented and terrific at 60” (AARP), or take a white-knuckle road test of “cheaper brands” of breakfast cereals “that match the big names” (Consumer Reports).

Yet there is something to be gleaned from their stealthy success. I say stealthy, by the way, not because these companies are under the radar — they are actually aggressively competitive — but they exist under the aegis of not-for-profit organizations: respectively, AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) and Consumers Union. Both are powerful lobbying groups in Washington.

In the case of AARP, the people on the business side of the magazine are actually part of a for-profit unit within the organization, while the editors of the magazine work in the main no-profit zone. Go figure.

(You'll recall the item a while ago here about ShopSmart, a Consumer Reports spinoff and one a little longer ago about AARP).