ELi Has Only 4 Days Left

With much of the nation gripped in conversations about the role of news media in American life, here in East Lansing, ELi is coming down to the wire on its sustainability goal. As we do, we are seeing a definite uptick in sustaining donors. The image above shows our current status in the drive.

ELi (eastlansinginfo.org) is a nonprofit corporation whose Board of Directors has determined that we need to obtain financial sustainability by next Tuesday, January 31, 2017, or cease our local nonpartisan news service. This is because in order to make a commitment to the local people we pay to edit, report, and manage technology and payroll requirements for us, we need to have a predictable income source.

At the present moment, based on what ELi has banked from lump-sum donations through today, monthly payouts from existing sustaining donors, and pledges by sustaining donors and corporate sponsors, we need about $400 per month more in pledges, which is $4,800 for the 2017 calendar year. This will bring us to our sustainability income level of $48,000 per year.

To date, ELi has had about 400 individual donors, many of whom have recently provided lump-sum payments that have been counted towards our sustainability goal. We currently have 194 sustaining monthly donors.

If we reach the sustainability goal, the ELi team is poised to do significant work in and for the community this year. This will include reporting on the school board, the search for a new school superintendent, and the school bond proposal, possible income tax and property tax increase proposals, the Park District development, ELPD-community relations, and the November City Council race, when two seats will be up for grabs.

If ELi reaches the goal, the organization and community will also see the benefit of pledges from local corporate sponsors and from a plan to provide a summer professional mentoring program for East Lansing High School students interested in journalism.

We will keep you updated as our January 31 deadline approaches.

There are three easy ways for people to help with our sustainability drive:

1. Send a check for the year total of the yearly pledge, payable to East Lansing Info, PO Box 115, East Lansing, MI 48826. If you’re going to do this, email us at fundraise@eastlansinginfo.org to let us know so we can calcuate it in to our campaign.
2. Use a major credit card to make a lump-sum donation via PayPal.
3. Use a major credit card to make an automated monthly donation via PayPal: http://www.eastlansinginfo.org/content/become-monthly-financial-supporter-paypal

Donations to East Lansing Info are tax-deductible in the year in which they are made.

You may also be interested in:

• About East Lansing Info
• ELi's Finances Explained
• LightSpeed Becomes Newest Corporate Sponsor to ELi
• Why Does ELi Need Money? (Video)
• "Why I Support ELi," by our chief schools reporter, Karessa Wheeler

This article was originally posted on January 22 and was updated subsequently.