The Sun now shines on its own. This month, the Sonoma Valley Sun became a fully independent nonprofit, a newspaper that belongs to the community it serves. For the past two years, we’ve operated under the generous umbrella of a nonprofit fiscal sponsor. Now, with the steadfast support of our local partners, we’re excited to venture out on our own.
We want to begin by expressing our gratitude. We run on a tight budget, supported by advertising and the charitable contributions of readers like you. Two years ago we printed sixteen pages; today we regularly print twice that. Our expenses have grown, but so has something better: this community’s appetite for real local news. The hundreds of hours we’ve all spent creating this paper have been repaid, many times over, by the love of this town. Thank you for the donations you’ve made, and the notes you’ve mailed that say, “keep going.”
Across the country, communities are losing their local newspapers, and with them, a shared record of civic life. Sonoma deserves better, and independence gives us the way forward: a paper funded by the people it serves.
Becoming an independent nonprofit is major organizational step for our local community paper, one that will give us the flexibility to respond nimbly to opportunities and better fulfil our mission to serve the community, be the heartbeat that connects us all, bring you the stories of the town you love, and provide high-quality journalism, opinion and news to our growing body of readers.
The generosity of our readers and local partners carried us to this milestone. Your support will carry us into the next era, one we’re building together. Please join us in sustaining the local news Sonoma deserves.
Donations to the Sun are tax-deductible and can be made online at sonomasun.com or by check to Sonoma Valley Sun, PO Box 238, Sonoma CA 95476.
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