A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

We did it together: Thanks for making NKyTribune’s NewsMatch campaign a rousing success


By Judy Clabes
NKyTribune editor

All we can say is: YOU DID IT!

You came through for the NKyTribune big time, blowing us past the goal that NewsMatch funders had set for us. And that means we earned several bonuses — for exceeding the goal, increasing the number of individual donors, and showing an impressive growth in new donors.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The NewsMatch campaign is important to us, for a couple of reasons.

One, we are part of the independent, nonprofit newspaper community nationally and we want to be good team players. We are grateful to be included in the company of those who believe good newspapering is deeply local and deeply committed to the communities those newspapers serve. We are grateful to the national coalition of funders providing the matches for individual donations.

YOUR DONATION WILL BE MATCHED

Second, we are truly thankful for the individual contributors who are helping us broaden our base of support. Our aim is to have individual support as a revenue stream equal — or favorably comparable — to our other revenue streams: corporate/business, foundations/charitable funds, and our events. A four-legged, balanced stool. It just sends a strong signal that we really do belong to the community.

Thank you for all that too.

Despite the terrific challenges we all faced in 2021, we made it through. For the NKyTribune, it was a good year — revenues grew about 20% over 2020 and our readership numbers year-over-year increased well over 10%. We were “remote” way too much but thanks to engaged partners all around this community and the state, we were able to keep up — and sometimes keep ahead.

We are hoping, as you are, that we can write far fewer headlines in 2022 with COVID in them because that would mean that, finally, we put COVID in the rearview mirror. We’d all be much happier for that. Meantime, we’ll mask up and step up.

I should tell you that we differ a little with our NewsMatch partners on the timing of the annual campaign. They designate the last two months of the year as the campaign period — and we don’t really like to compete with so many worthy service nonprofits in that space. We want our terrific nonprofit community to be able to raise as much funding as possible to feed the hungry, serve the elderly, provide healthcare for the sick and shelter for the homeless, coats for the cold, and safety for kids. . .

So we don’t even start our campaign until the last two weeks of the year, to get our match in by the deadline. That means a truncated campaign — but we made it nonetheless (along with the bonuses) thanks to you. Success on our terms — and on yours.

We still want to focus on driving up the numbers of individual donors — there is strength in those numbers. We consider it a partnership we have with you. We also know that — because of our shortened campaign — we missed some of you.

So we are asking for you to consider making a donation now, if you haven’t already — and we have LOCAL matching dollars to double those donations through the end of January.

If we missed you the first time, this is a second chance — for you and for us.

Please support your independent, local public service newspaper now. We are all part of the community of NKY. Let’s thrive together.


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