The nonprofit, nonpartisan, community-run Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN) has been providing valuable local election coverage throughout 2024 – including the printed Voter Guide – and is seeking your financial support during its year-end fundraising campaign.
If you’ve ever considered supporting EPLN with a tax-deductible donation, November and December are the time. Your donation will unlock $23,000 in national matching funds – from foundations, philanthropists, trade organizations, and businesses –commonly referred to as “NewsMatch” funds. These national funds are intended to motivate giving from EPLN readers.
EPLN aspires to raise $75,000 in its year-end campaign, enough to add staffing in 2025 to help make the nonprofit news effort sustainable. The organization currently has the equivalent of 2.5 full-time employees and a lot of volunteer support, but it needs additional reporting, business, and other expertise to grow.
“We’re competing to become a host newsroom starting in July 2025 for a full-time reporter from Report for America (RFA),” said Steve Schewe, publisher of EPLN. “RFA will fund 50% of that reporter’s first year of salary, and they want to know whether we can raise the other half. Substantial progress toward our $75,000 goal in the first week of our NewsMatch campaign could make the difference in whether we’re chosen.”
EPLN was formed in 2020 during the pandemic, shortly after Eden Prairie’s 46-year-old community print newspaper, the Eden Prairie News, was closed by its owners. Within a few months, a founders’ group laid the foundation of a community-run nonprofit and launched a news website, eplocalnews.org.
In its four years of operation, EPLN has published nearly 3,500 stories and accumulated more than 3,600 email newsletter subscribers. It has earned state and national recognition for its reporting and passed its expertise along to neighboring communities that also lost their longtime newspapers.
Mindful of the role EPLN has played in providing nonpartisan election coverage this year, the organization has chosen the theme for its fundraising campaign: “Democracy Needs News. News Needs You.”
If you recently donated to EPLN to support community journalism in Eden Prairie, thank you! If you haven’t given – ever, or in a while – you can give now on the EPLN donation page or mail a donation check to: Eden Prairie Local News, P.O. Box 44242, Eden Prairie, MN 55344. (EPLN will also be participating in Minnesota’s Give to the Max Day effort on Nov. 21.)
Remember, your donation in November or December goes further with the matching funds available to EPLN!
For more information about the campaign, contact CEO/Publisher Steve Schewe at steve.schewe@eplocalnews.org.
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