Give now and your donation is doubled, making your newspaper even better

Your local, nonprofit newspaper is asking for your financial support today.

We need your participation to continue to expand the business of publishing the paper you rely on. After all, it’s the eve of the 65th anniversary of The Charlotte News, the state’s longest-running community newspaper. And we have big plans for the future.

If you read Front Porch Forum or attended a few selectboard meetings, you might think Charlotte is facing any number of problems that just don’t have a solution. Speeding in our villages! Lack of affordable housing! Ineffective town government! Low voter turnout! Dwindling volunteerism! And on and on.

But … Charlotte is not the only place where these issues have been faced … and addressed. An enterprising newspaper would do some research and find out how other small towns have tackled and solved these intractable problems. Now, this paper wouldn’t presume to present the answer to any of Charlotte’s issues. That’s just not our job. But we can do some digging to see what works in other towns.

For a specific example of this kind of reporting, see “Speeding: What have other towns done?” a story by Brett Yates in this edition of the paper. We hope that this story will inform both conversations among neighbors and also decision making at selectboard meetings … and lead to action.

But here’s the thing: This type of reporting takes time and money, both of which are in short supply at any small, nonprofit community newspaper. But we think Charlotte deserves some answers. Don’t you?

We are asking you to donate not only to finance the regular business of reporting on the news of Charlotte, but also to expand that reporting to be even more enterprising and useful.

Plus, for the third year running, The Charlotte News has been selected to receive a prestigious NewsMatch grant of $15,000. But there’s a catch. In order to get the grant, we must first raise $15,000 ourselves. And we can — with your help.

Starting today, NewsMatch will double your donation of up to $1,000.

Doing your part is easier than ever with the advent of sustaining readers, who make small, monthly contributions on their credit or debit cards (on average, about $20 a month) and provide a steady stream of revenue to the paper (and our website). It’s a good deal for everybody.

Please help us to keep improving your homegrown, hometown newspaper. It costs about $6,000 to produce each issue of this “free” newspaper. What’s it worth to you?

Give Now or mail your check today to The Charlotte News, P.O. Box 251, Charlotte, VT 05445.

Your gift will make a difference. Thank you!