In the waning hours and even minutes of the Ark Valley Voice NewsMatch grant, the readers and supporters of Ark Valley Voice (AVV) came through in record numbers; making donations that by a few cents topped the $9,000 mark.
With your help, we exceeded our $5,000 year-end NewsMatch fundraising goal — and last year’s NewsMatch donations — by 80 percent. In fact, in the last hours of the grant challenge, you donated another $4,000 to put us over our goal. We are overwhelmed — your generosity is matched only by our gratitude.
A record number of 158 people donated — our highest number ever in the three years that AVV has been selected to receive a Colorado Media Project-Gates Family Foundation newsroom match grant.
The donations came in via PayPal and credit card and personal checks. The donations were in all denominations — ranging from $5.00 to $500.
The average donation was $56.96.
Many of the checks came with hand-written letters of support …” Keep up the great journalism” … “Thanks for a great job” … “We support you, sorry we can’t give more” … “You guys rock” … which means the world to us.
This support counters the sometimes dark messages we get from those who don’t appear to appreciate the difference between fact-based journalism and the disinformation that is swirling in an ever-growing cloud around the truth of our society, our climate, our health system, and democracy itself.
Here’s what your donations mean to Ark Valley Voice:
- Your donations are nearly two months of AVV staff journalist wages at our present operational level; reporters covering local news, events, and issues of importance.
- The donations make possible a $5,000 matching grant from The Colorado Media Project and the Gates Family Foundation – making every $5.00 donated worth a good deal more;
- Your donations allow us to remain a free-to-all, fact-based independent news source, offering you award-winning journalism and the unvarnished truth about the events and issues shaping our lives.
This county, our state, and the U.S. face critical issues in 2022 – and your support will help us cover our most pressing issues. They include our crisis in workforce housing, the county’s challenges in managing exploding growth, the escalating climate and water crisis, growing extremism and the political divide, as well as the attacks on our election processes.
Independent, fact-based journalism that is free to all has never been more crucial. This is #NewsCOneeds. If you believe that truth should have a voice, and if you haven’t already, it’s not too late to make a contribution.
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