Givebutter ‘story’ examples - Local Media Association + Local Media Foundation

Please note: These examples are rewritten from actual Givebutter campaigns (publication names and locations removed), They are provided here to give an idea of tone and ways to accurately describe your Local News Fund campaign when addressing your community. We strongly suggest that you write your own “story” guided by these examples. LMF will review all campaign content to ensure it complies with program rules and our obligations as a 501(c)(3).

Example 1: Environmental coverage

For more than [#] years, the {Example Publication} has been committed to providing the coverage that’s most important to our readers and the health of our communities and state. Based on our conversations with readers, and what we hear from folks across the state, environmental reporting is a critical issue that we need to cover more deeply than ever.

We are setting out to launch the Environmental Reporting Lab, a long-term project that will focus on climate change, energy policy, renewable innovation, our pristine wildlife, and a whole lot more. Coverage of these issues and our dedication to government and corporate accountability are crucial to the future of our state and our region. The health of our environment impacts the physical health of our most vulnerable residents, the health of our economy, and the spiritual health of those who see this issue as fundamental to the world we leave to future generations. Our world is changing, and our ability to give shape to these often abstract short-term and long-term shifts will help us better understand our state, our world, and our options. To do this right, we need your help.

If you believe that local journalism must play a greater role on the issue, please donate to the {Example Campaign} via Local Media Foundation. Contributions to this fund will help pay for the news resources needed to dig deep on issues affecting our local environment.

{Example Campaign} — 2022 Local News Fund is a program administered by Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36-4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust affiliated with Local Media Association. Funds donated to this program support local journalism projects to inform and educate the public on critical local issues. Through this program, LMF provides funds to this news organization and many others to support these important efforts. Contributions to this program are tax-deductible to the full extent of U.S. law; please consult a tax advisor for details.

Example 2: Coverage of inequities

At {Example Publication}, we want to build a more inclusive future: one in which graduation rates and income levels are not linked to where we grow up or the color of our skin. We know you want better outcomes for our community, too.

Readers like you understand how local journalism can benefit a community. We’re grateful you trust us to do this work — and we could not do it without you.

We’re asking you to make a tax-deductible donation to expand our local reporting on social, economic, and educational equity. Your donation to {Example Campaign} — 2022 Local News Fund, via Local Media Foundation, will directly support this journalism effort.

{Example Publication} will allocate proceeds from this program to provide news coverage and/or investigative reporting, above and beyond routine coverage and operations, intended to inform, explain, and educate the community regarding these issues.

Your donation will help us tell these important local stories. Thanks for your support.

Example 3: Coverage of LGBTQ+ issues

{Example Publication} serves the local LGBTQ+ community and creates a welcoming space to connect and share its unique and diverse stories.

We know readers like you understand the importance of this work. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic weighs on the already-strained business models of news organizations like ours. We want to grow our coverage of the LGBTQ+ community, and these days, we need your help more than ever to get there.

Your tax-deductible donation to {Example Campaign} — 2022 Local News Fund, via Local Media Foundation, helps us develop our resources and grow opportunities to provide quality LGBTQ+ journalism for our community.

Please consider making a donation, and thank you for your support of {Example Publication}.

Example 4: Investigative Reporting

We believe it is our intense focus on hyperlocal news that has allowed us to grow during what has been a very unsteady time for media. Our journalism has been recognized as some of the best in the state and we are well-positioned to further expand our reporting across the region.

We are creating a new Investigative Team that will look deeply at key local issues to seek the truth, create accountability and help uncover solutions.

The time and effort it takes to do this type of reporting is not cheap and we need your help and support. Many of you already subscribe, and for that, we are grateful. But we now are also asking subscribers and non-subscribers to consider making tax-deductible donations to increase our coverage of key issues.

Funds raised will allow us to hire a team of two reporters and an editor so they can focus their efforts on deep reporting that will have a positive impact on the community.

Outstanding local journalism can be an excellent prescription for problems that ail society as we can shine a light on problems and help to offer solutions. {Example Publication} will bring the same level of commitment, enthusiasm and focus to our investigative reporting as we have to providing the best local news in our communities.

Thank you for your support of {media_company}!

{Example Campaign} — 2022 Local News Fund is a program administered by Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36-4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust affiliated with Local Media Association. Funds donated to this program support local journalism projects to inform and educate the public on critical local issues. Through this program, LMF provides funds to this news organization and many others to support these important efforts. Contributions to this program are tax-deductible to the full extent of U.S. law; please consult a tax advisor for details.

Example 5: COVID coverage

For generations, we have been committed to telling stories that are important to our readers. We are grateful you trust us to do this reporting. We could not do it without you.

Much remains uncertain these days, yet it’s clear readers like you understand the importance of local news. We’re asking you to make a tax-deductible gift to grow our coverage of COVID-19 as it relates to our economy, education systems, and other health care in our region. Your donation to {Example Campaign} — 2022 Local News Fund, via Local Media Foundation, will directly support this journalism.

{Example Publication} will allocate proceeds from this program to provide news coverage and/or investigative reporting, above and beyond routine effort, that is intended to inform, explain, and educate the community regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Your donation will help us tell these important local stories. Thanks for your support.