Share of Magazine’s Proceeds Going to African Relief

The Christmas edition of Orange Coast magazine, like many of its counterparts throughout the nation, is a special one: bigger than ever and crammed with a record amount of advertising.

But this year, the 436-page holiday edition of Orange County’s largest local monthly, is celebrating Christmas in an unusual way. About 25% of its proceeds from newsstand sales, a projected $7,500, will be donated to USA for Africa, the Los Angeles-based group that has raised $36 million for famine relief domestically and in Africa.

“We felt the need to do something at Christmas for a charity,” explained Ruth Ko, the magazine’s executive publisher. “And we got caught up in the ‘We Are the World’ cause.”

Ko said the decision to make a charitable donation from proceeds of its holiday edition was made by Orange Coast’s new owner, Robert T. Hughes, whose Laguna Hills publishing company also prints advertising supplements for shopping malls throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Ko said the magazine staff investigated local charities but decided instead on USA for Africa for a variety of reasons, including a wish not to offend any local charitable groups by selecting just one from their ranks.

Celebrity Tie-In

Other reasons, Ko said, included the magazine’s December theme of “Christmas Around the World” and USA for Africa’s connection to Hollywood celebrities, several of whom regularly pose for Orange Coast’s monthly cover.

“We’re kind of a celebrity magazine and so is that cause,” Ko said. “There’s definitely a connection.”

The charitable donation is not the only contribution Hughes has made at the magazine. Since purchasing Orange Coast in July, the circulation, at Hughes’ urging, has risen about 20% to 18,000 in subscription sales and 10,000 to 12,000 more in newsstand sales. Circulation rates are $24 annually and $2.95 per issue at the newsstand.

Ko said the nearly 600 advertisers, who bought the 260 pages of ads in Orange Coast’s December edition, were largely unaware of the magazine’s intentions, because about 70% of them signed yearly display contracts in January.

She said the magazine, the biggest ever assembled by the 28 writers and ad salespeople, represented the equivalent of two “normal” months of work. However, Ko said the magazine was by no means the largest in Southern California. Last year, Los Angeles magazine’s holiday issue was nearly 550 pages.