Give today – and your gift will be doubled

John Quinney Publisher and President

Dear Reader:

We learned a new acronym this year—DRB.

The Charlotte News, Charlotte, VermontStarting in the spring, The Charlotte News published a series of stories as the town discussed the pros and cons of establishing a Development Review Board. On October 25, the Selectboard voted in favor. This is a big deal for Charlotte, and we put the story on the front page of today’s paper.

Now our focus shifts to the next steps in the process, and the impact of a DRB on our town:

  • Who will the Selectboard appoint to serve on the DRB?
  • How will the work of the Planning Commission change once the DRB is up and running?
  • Will our town plan become more relevant to those charged with its implementation?
  • Will the town’s budget review process be guided by the Town Plan?
  • Will we see more development projects? Less development? Or no obvious changes?

Answers to these and other questions will shape the future of our town. Count on The News to bring you the stories—work made possible, in part, by your year-end gifts.

In that regard, I’m thrilled to announce that for the second year running, The Charlotte News has qualified for a $10,000 NewsMatch* grant. This will double your donation in November and December.

Here’s how it works:

Starting now—and through December 31—NewsMatch will double your one-time gift, or match your new monthly donations 12 times, all up to $1,000. This means that we can earn up to $20,000.

There are two ways to donate:

  • Make your check out to The Charlotte News and mail it to P.O. Box 251, Charlotte, VT 05445; or
  • Use your credit or debit card to make a gift on our secure website.

New This Year! We’ve added a third option this year: You can donate securities that have appreciated in value. Giving appreciated securities, such as stocks, has a double benefit:

  • The full market value is tax-deductible as a charitable contribution, and
  • you avoid paying capital gains taxes.

You may either instruct your broker to hold the securities in an account for The Charlotte News, or you can authorize your representative to transfer the certificates to our account at Baystate Financial. For more information, please send me an email or call me at 802-318-7189.

As I think ahead, I’m reminded of the old Beatles song, “When I’m 64.” That’s because 2022 will mark the 64th year we’ve published The Charlotte News.

We could not have been in business this long without the financial support of our readers. Thanks for considering a year-end gift.

With gratitude,

John Quinney
Publisher and President

* NewsMatch is an industry-wide movement to sustain journalism with matching gifts on the local and national level. Since 2016 NewsMatch has raised over $150 million to keep nonprofit journalism like ours going strong.