Nov 8
2020
iPost launches two fundraising drives
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Investigative Post has launched its annual fundraising drive and this year there are two reasons to donate to Buffalo’s nonprofit investigative reporting center.
For starters, donations of up to $1,000 will be matched. Donors get to double their money.
In addition, donations will not only underwrite our current operation but be put towards funding a plan to add reporters and expand our award-winning coverage. It’s part of our Journalism Worth A Million campaign that extends through the end of 2021.
“Investigative Post is the only news organization in Western New York that is adding staff, expanding news coverage and growing its audience,” said Editor Jim Heaney. “We’re doing so through a lot of hard work and the financial support of people in the community who recognize the value of fact-based journalism.”
This has been a banner year for Investigative Post despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
We produced a record number of stories on topics that included police misconduct; the maltreatment of immigrants held at the ICE detention center in Batavia; the City of Buffalo’s mounting fiscal problems; the pandemic’s impact on health care workers treating patients; and malfeasance by officials at the Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp.
We’ve also upgraded our operation to enable us to independently produce podcasts and radio and television stories.
We’ve experienced a three-fold increase in our website traffic, as well as growth in the number of readers who follow us on social media and subscribe to our weekly email newsletter.
This growing audience is in addition to those who watch, read or listen to our stories through our distribution partners, who include WGRZ, WBFO, WBEN, The Capitol Pressroom and Buffalo Spree. That audience, along with our website, can reach up to 175,000 people.
Our Journalism Worth A Million campaign seeks to build on our success of 2020. Our goal is to raise $1 million for the balance of this year and next to sustain our current operation and enable us to hire more reporters, expand our coverage, and bolster our business operations in order to secure our financial future.
Our plans for the coming year include the hiring of at least two more reporters and expanding the scope of our core beats, including the environment, criminal justice, the regional economy, and local government and politics. We also plan to continue ramping up our capacity to produce podcasts and more video and radio content.
Donations of up to $1,000 made by Dec. 31 will be matched by supporting companies and foundations, including The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Try-It Distributing, the Mulroy Foundation and NewsMatch, funded by a collection of national organizations led by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Donations to our annual drive count towards the $1 million we’re seeking to raise through the end of 2021.
Supporters can donate online with a credit card, or with a check mailed to Investigative Post at 487 Main St., Suite 300, Buffalo, N.Y. 14203.
