By Shereen Siewert, Editor and Publisher

Wausau Pilot and Review

Education. Immigration. Justice. Environment. These are just a few of the issues you care about most. And one of the best ways to support meaningful action on these issues is by supporting the nonprofit newsrooms that cover them.

Part fundraising program, part capacity building effort, part public awareness campaign, NewsMatch works to support nearly 200 nonprofit newsrooms, including ours, while making it as easy as possible for anyone—donor, newsroom, foundation—to participate. Today marks the start of our annual NewsMatch campaign, where every dollar donated to our nonprofit news effort, up to $1,000 per donor and up to $20,000 total, is matched 100% through the generous support of national foundations that believe in our work and are committed to supporting it.

For a small newsroom like ours, it’s a game-changer. Those funds not only sustain our current reporting efforts, but will allow us the capacity to add journalists and expand our coverage—at a time when legacy news organizations are slashing staff at an alarming rate.

During Newsmatch, from now through Dec. 31, one-time donations are matched dollar for dollar. New, monthly donations are matched 12x during this campaign.

How will we use the funds in 2020?

  • Another reporter. We’re a finalist for a Report for America grant, which funds 50% of a full-time reporter to cover under-served areas and work on a major investigative project we have planned. The grant relies on our ability to fund the other 50% of the reporter’s salary, along with health care benefits.
  • A new podcast for nonprofit organizations. Plans are underway to launch a weekly podcast, offering local nonprofit organizations, educational groups, and performing arts organizations to share their mission, their news, and their opportunities for community engagement.
  • More award-wining stories. Earlier this month, Wausau Pilot and Review won a national award from LION Publishers for the investigative report of the year for this story. Labor-intensive stories like this one take many hours and resources to complete. Your donations ensure we have the funds to continue hard news coverage that holds government officials accountable.

    Since 2016, NewsMatch has left an indelible imprint on the field of nonprofit news, helping jumpstart small, emerging newsrooms like ours, supporting newsrooms that serve or are led by underrepresented communities, and strengthening both long-standing and fledgling investigative reporting organizations. NewsMatch pools gifts from local and national funders to match small-dollar donations to nonprofit newsrooms across the country. The Fund then matches every dollar that newsrooms raise from individual donors during the year-end NewsMatch campaign, up to a predetermined cap.

    And every dollar counts.

    Funds raised from this campaign go toward supporting journalism which strengthens our democracy. Every day, journalists in nonprofit newsrooms dig deeper into the raw news of the day to deliver in-depth and investigative reporting that engages communities, advances solutions, and demands accountability. This journalism informs. This journalism matters. And this is journalism worth supporting.

    Click the button below to support quality independent journalism for our community