Countdown to Sustainability

Above: our income versus expenses, as explained in our recent financial update.

East Lansing Info (ELi) is a nonprofit public service organization dedicated to providing critically important news and information to the people of East Lansing. We recently explained why we need only about $48,000/year for ELi to function. Right now, we are now trying to get the point of economic sustainability by recruiting enough monthly sponsors to guarantee ELi a donation income of $3,000/month. If we supplement that amount with bulk donations we receive online and by check, we can achieve sustainability.

The Board of Directors of ELi has decided to take until January 31, 2017, to try to attain this level of monthly patronage at our Patreon page. If we can achieve this by January 31, ELi will:

• continue operations;
• develop a Community Advisory Board to help guide, shape, advise, and sustain ELi;
• keep our free e-mailers going;
• partner with local educators at the high school and college levels to develop more opportunities for student reporters.

If we do not attain that level by January 31, we will:

• acknowledge that this is not a service that obtains enough local support to continue;
• turn off the Patreon pledge system for ELi, so that donors are not further charged;
• cease operations.

As we work on the sustainability drive through January 31, you’ll see that we are producing far fewer news reports than we usually do. That’s because we can only do so much . . . and that’s why we want to achieve sustainability—so we don’t have to keep choosing between fundraising efforts and what we really want to be doing, which is bringing you the news and information that makes your daily life better informed, richer, and hopefully more meaningful, too.

Our hearty thanks go out to those of you who have already donated and/or pledged. If you want to join the ELi monthly patronage team, just click here.

On the fence about whether to be a patron of ELi? Consider that ELi is the only non-governmental news source dedicated specifically to the concerns of people who live and/or work in East Lansing. We are the only source that consistently covers our local government, including City Council and School Board, and the only source that works to provide consistently accurate, nonpartisan, time-sensitive news and big-picture information about this small city.

ELi exists specifically because the internet has caused the decimation of the traditional news economy. Today, most people don’t want to pay for news—and so they don’t get what they don’t pay for. That means that many small municipalities are now living in “news deserts”—and this definitely affects quality of life, community dialogues, how local governments function, and whether voters go to the polls informed.

If you want to learn more about ELi's income and expenses, click here for our latest financial update.

If you want to join the ELi monthly patronage team, just click here.