Important Update from ELi

East Lansing Info (ELi) has been fully functional for about three months now, and so it's a good time to take stock. We hope you will agree that our non-profit community news organization is fulfilling its mission of bringing you East Lansing-focused, multicultural, opinion-free, nonpartisan news from embedded, committed citizen-reporters. Did you know that in just three months, we have published 176 articles by 33 citizen-reporters? That’s far beyond what we thought would be possible in only three months! And it’s happening because people have recognized that ELi provides something you won’t get anywhere else: non-commercial, factual news specific to East Lansing.

Our reporting has covered so many important aspects of our city—from what’s going on inside our schools, to “town and gown” connections, to city government and public works, to new and venerable East Lansing businesses, to the seasonal creatures in our yards and stars in our city’s sky, to the marvelous news of East Lansing nooks and crannies brought to us weekly in Ann Nichols’ column, “Ann about Town.” Our one-stop calendar brings you reminders of city festivals, information about important meetings, and guidance to the local arts and music scene. And all of it is held to our high standards of nonpartisanship, non-editorializing, accuracy, and clarity.

No wonder we have heard so much positive feedback! People from every corner of East Lansing are now writing in to suggest story ideas, request calendar entries, contribute work and funds, and ask us to look into issues of local concern. Those of us working for ELi have been delighted to meet so many new people and to learn so much about our own city that we didn’t know—and wouldn’t know if it weren’t for the community resource we affectionately call “ELi.” We are building community pride, connecting people across the generations, sharing news of ideas and projects, and helping to make sure everyone knows what’s up in town.

In the next few weeks, we'd like you to keep an eye out for a few new things. One is the fine-tuning that will be occurring under our new Managing Editor, Ann Nichols, who has served until now as our Community Editor. Ann is keeping a special eye on making sure we are hitting what’s important, and doing so with judicious balance of perspectives. Under Ann’s leadership, you’ll also soon see some polls going out to find out what works and doesn’t work for you at ELi. (I hope you’ll participate!)

We’re also going to be hiring more folks into new positions. We’ll be looking for a sports writer to cover East Lansing (non-MSU) sports, everything from the kindergarten soccer leagues to the middle-aged hockey teams. We’ll also be aiming to hire two reporters for senior life. (Maybe they’ll tell us about senior sports we didn’t know about!) We’ll also be hiring a Business Section editor to help us keep up with local businesses.

Finally, to supplement our founding donors who have so generously made our launch possible, we’re going to be working to sign up one hundred of you as monthly “patrons” at the $5 or $10 per month level. You may not notice the cost of three cups of coffee going to ELi each month, but all that “coffee” will help us maintain the necessary cash flow to pay for both our technological infrastructure and the local folks whom we pay to contribute editing and writing. Not all of us are paid—for example, all my work for ELi is voluntary—but we have learned we need to pay some of our regular contributors to make it possible for them to keep contributing editing and writing.

So get a jump now and join me in becoming a monthly donor! Just click on the yellow "DONATE" button at the top-right of our page, and at the PayPal window, at the top line, check the box that says “make this recurring (monthly).” Remember, you can also make a lump-sum donation NOW that will be tax deductible for 2014. To do so with a credit card, click the yellow donate button at the top. To do so by check, just write a check payable to “ELi” and send it to “East Lansing Info, PO Box 115, East Lansing, MI 48826-0115.” You’ll receive in return a receipt for the 2014 tax deduction and our thanks for making it possible to keep sharing our dedication to this community!