Thank you! YachatsNews surpasses its $50,000 local fundraising goal — but you can still help

Thank you. You are all so very generous.

YachatsNews surpassed its June local fundraising goal of $50,000 this week (yes, it was extended through the July 4 holiday) with the receipt of two large donations and two $2,500 matching contributions after reaching our $25,000 and $45,000 milestones.

After depositing some checks Thursday, our total for the campaign is just under $52,000. This includes a $5,000 pledge from an original 2022 donor to come in the fall.

Dozens and dozens of readers contributed to the campaign this year with checks or donations through PayPal or GoFundMe ranging from $10 to $5,000. There were also more signups for the smaller, regular donations through PayPal which helps with monthly expenses.

“Once again the generosity of the south Lincoln community shows through,” said YachatsNews founder and editor Quinton Smith. “It also shows in a very concrete way that there is support for straightforward local news. We appreciate all of your help to bring the news to you.”

The idea of a fundraising campaign started last year as YachatsNews transitioned from a four-year-old personal community service project to a 501c3 nonprofit. The transition was necessary to be able to hire a full-time reporter (Garret Jaros joined YachatsNews in May) to do much of the work that Smith and freelance reporters were doing.

The one-month campaign is one of three ways the nonprofit needed to generate the $81,000 in operating funds to cover expenses to provide local news coverage for the next 12 months. The other funds come from foundation grants, advertising revenue and from the regular, smaller monthly contributions from 40 supporters.

Now that the local fundraising drive is over, the focus of financial support will move to state, regional and national foundations who are beginning to realize the importance of local news operations to help the mostly rural areas — “news deserts” they are called – which do not have journalists providing regular news coverage.

Here is a quick sampling of some comments we received during the campaign:

• “We are so fortunate to have YachatsNews keeping us informed at so many levels,” a Yachats couple wrote in a note accompanying their check.
• “I am a fourth generation Yachats descendant and love to read your news. I’m often more in the know than my brother and neighbors who live up river, thanks to you,” wrote a contributor from Eugene.
• “Thanks for the local news,” a Waldport couple said in a note.
• “Thank you for the important news you provide. Whether I am in Yachats or Arizona, I always look forward to your publication,” said a part-time Yachats resident.
• “Thank you for the exemplary work you’re doing, particularly in an era when much of the culture is contented with gloss-over reporting and a quick sound bite,” wrote a former broadcast journalist and news director from Waldport.

You can still donate any time

There is always an ongoing need for financial help, so if you have not yet contributed you can do so at any time. Because we are a 501c3 nonprofit, any contributions are tax deductible. If you want to support YachatsNews’ local reporting, you can do so in one of three ways:

• Write a check to YachatsNews and drop it in the mail to: Yachats News, P.O. Box 284, Yachats, Ore. 97498. For tax purposes, you will get a letter acknowledging your donation;
• Use the PayPal feature on the fundraising “thermometer” graphic with this article or via the “Donate” button of this website;
• Use the GoFundMe donation portal on the fundraising “thermometer” with this article.

Again, the reporters, freelance writers, ad sales representative, its nonprofit board and the editor at YachatsNews thank you for your generosity and help to sustain local news.

As our motto says: “Independent, nonprofit news. Free to all, funded by readers.”

— Quinton Smith/editor