Thanks to all of you who have donated to the Camden News for 40 years— we appreciate your support. You know that newspapers around the country are failing due to decreased advertising revenue.
It’s very likely that someday the Camden News will be an on-line only newspaper. But the Camden Community has a disproportionate amount of seniors and low-income residents who still don’t have a computer or Internet access. As one long-time Camden resident says, “I enjoy the paper…I hope you never stop publishing. I and many of my friends do not have a computer, so where would we get our local news?”
The Camden Community News has been serving the community for 40 years, and we want to continue printing and mailing the paper for free to residents until the need no longer exists. But if we don’t get donations from you and ad revenue from businesses we won’t be able to publish and mail a hard copy newspaper.
We have a very lean budget for a small nonprofit organization. It costs more than $5100 a month to publish the Camden News — that includes printing, labeling, postage, business delivery, typesetting, layout, bookkeeping, editing, taxes, insurance and all the other basic costs of running a small business. Our ad revenues have fallen dramatically and our monthly expenses currently exceed our ad revenues by about $600 each month. We come to you twice a year to help supplement ad revenue losses, but we typically only get enough in donations for the total year to pay for one issue of the Camden News. So help us break that goal.
The Camden News is a nonprofit, volunteer-run, volunteer-written newspaper mailed free to all Camden homes. Our mission has been the same since 1976: To build bridges, connect neighborhoods, encourage citizen participation, promote local events, people and businesses, and provide a forum for folks who care about the quality of life here in Camden. So please send in a generous tax-deductible contribution to Camden News PO Box 11492, Minneapolis, MN 55411. You can save the footwork and stamp and donate online at camdenews.org; just click on the Paypal button at the top of the home page (you don’t need a Paypal account).
And please send us your comments and suggestions.
Thanks for your support,
The Camden Community News Board of Directors