Got Our Postcard?

Wondering what the funny stamps are all about? We’ll explain in a moment!

We are here for one reason: to bring you meaningful East Lansing news.

East Lansing Info (ELi) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public service that provides independent, factual news for the people of East Lansing, Michigan. We were founded in 2014 and are financially supported by local individuals and businesses as well as through NewsMatch, a national grant program sponsored by the Knight Foundation, the Democracy Fund, and other philanthropic groups seeking to save local journalism.

We employ people in the area to bring East Lansing news that matters to our readers, free to all.

Consistently, about 85 percent of donated dollars go to pay local people who work for the community in news production. Some of us also work voluntarily for ELi.

Our organization currently runs on about $100,000 per year. (See our 2018 annual report.) You can help us with a tax-deductible contribution.

We do important work for this community.

The team at ELi keeps you informed of what’s going on in terms of City government, local businesses, arts and entertainment opportunities, development projects, the public schools, road and sewer work, City finances, and much more.

We also do serious investigative reporting on development deals, use of tax money and public land, environmental contamination and coverups, and the sale of public land on eBay.

Readers also send us their questions and we work hard to get them answered.

How can you make sure you get the news we report?

The only place you can read all of what we report is at our website, eastlansinginfo.org. We recommend you bookmark our page and check back for news on a regular basis.

You can also stay up to date by signing up to get our daily mailer and/or weekly mailer delivered to your email inbox. These mailers provide headlines and summaries with links to our reporting.

If you’re on Twitter, you can follow us @eastlansinginfo.

If you’re on Facebook, you can keep in touch with us @EastLansingInfo. But keep in mind that Facebook will only selectively show you our reporting based on what the people at Facebook think you would want to see! So it’s best to also go to our website and sign up for our free daily mailer and/or weekly mailer, not just rely on Facebook to decide for you.

One more thing: know that you can send us anonymous tips and questions through our special web portal.

So what’s with the wacky stamps?

ELi works hard to keep our expenses low to make the most of donated dollars. Our postcard campaign is an example of our frugal approach.

The stamps were purchased through a wholesaler of old stamps, at a discount. That’s why your card may have an odd combination of old stamps! We paid only about 71 cents on the dollar for the stamps. The cardstock was also bought at a discount (weirdly, what we bought is called “used paper”), and volunteers got the job of stamping and labeling done.

Why do over dozens of people work every week for ELi, and thousands read and support us? Because without us, the people of East Lansing would have to rely on a scattershot system of news (and “news” that is really public relations material).

We are here to keep real, factual, nonpartisan, independent news coming. Please, help us today with a tax-deductible financial contribution.