The Charlotte News: today and tomorrow

If an organization has been in business for 66 years, is it sustainable?

At The Charlotte News, that question has framed much of our work over the past six months and the short answer is … not yet.

In June, we joined the Local Independent Online News (LION) Sustainability Audit process. This program caught our eye because it offered grants for “pathways to sustainability.”

Two weeks ago, LION awarded us a grant to develop new print and digital advertising packages and to design a major donor program.

It’s wonderful news but not the whole story. Welcome as it is, the grant won’t, in the short term, keep the presses rolling, our small staff employed or our bills paid. For that, we turn to you, our readers.

For 66 years, this community has sustained The Charlotte News with gifts of time, talent and dollars. Now we’re coming to you again to ask for your contribution to our Annual Fund campaign. More than 60 percent of our annual budget comes from generous contributions from readers like you.

Help support your nonprofit community newspaper this year with a gift in any amount. Every donation matters. And thanks to a generous donor, first-time gifts will be matched dollar-for-dollar. This means that a $30 gift doubles to become $60 and a $100 gift becomes $200.

Go to The Charlotte News website to make your gift. For those of you who are not digitally inclined, send your check to P.O. Box 251, Charlotte VT 05445.

Thanks so much for your support.

(John Quinney is a member of The Charlotte News Board of Directors and chair of the fundraising committee.)