By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews
With the help of thousands of readers like you, YachatsNews continued its growth and reach in 2024.
As YachatsNews enters its seventh year, it is appropriate to once again report how the 501c3 nonprofit did in 2024 and its plans for this year. So here goes.
Our stated goal for 2024 was “To do more and better.” While I think we did pretty well in that regard, you are the ultimate judge.
First, a bit of background for people who joined us more recently and a reminder for those who have been on this journey with us since 2019.
History
I launched YachatsNews in January 2019 as a personal community service project to provide local news to south Lincoln County. As our coverage spread, YachatsNews transitioned to a 501c3 nonprofit in 2022 in order to raise money to hire a full-time reporter and continue its operations.
YachatsNews currently has one full-time reporter, Garret Jaros. We are adding a second reporter who begins work Monday. We also rely on freelance writers, including Cheryl Romano of Yachats, Dana Tims of Portland and Kathleen O’Connor of Waldport. Occasionally we hire other freelancers to do specific stories for us. As editor, I edit the stories and place them on the site, write stories as well, and try to keep up with what seems like too much administrative work.
YachatsNews has a five-member board that meets remotely 2-3 times a year; I am its chair. Other board members are Sue Woodruff of Waldport, Tiffany Sullivan of West Linn, who is our ad director, Catherine Trevision of Portland, and Tom Lauritzen of Yachats.
The partnerships
Collaboration – not necessarily competition — is important among small media operations these days. We have a content sharing agreement with Oregon Coast TODAY to provide weekly entertainment stories and partnerships with Oregon Capital Chronicle, KLCC News, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Oregon ArtsWatch, Philomath News, the Oregon Journalism Project and others. All of this is intended to bring you a more well-rounded glimpse at our region and the state.
The measurements
We posted an average of 100 stories a month to our news site in 2024. Since 2019 we have posted almost 6,400.
Readership is measured in “page views.” In 2023, YachatsNews averaged 135,000 page views a month for a total of 1.65 million. In 2024 the site averaged more than 165,000 page views a month for a total just over 2 million. That’s a 21 percent increase.
Some stories that “go viral” can lead to large increases in pageviews. Several recent stories, for example, have pushed our current 30-day running pageview total to more than 260,000.
More than 2,500 readers have signed up to receive an email of story summaries each Wednesday and Friday mornings. If you want to sign up, go here. (But remember, we are a 24/7 news website with new or updated stories 5-6 days a week!)
People occasionally ask if we will ever begin charging for subscriptions or put our content behind a “pay wall.” There is no intention to do that. As a nonprofit we believe it is important to have our content free to readers.
The money
YachatsNews has three main sources of income – donations from readers, grants from foundations, and advertising.
There are just over 100 readers who donate $3 to $100 a month via PayPal or an automated check writing service from their bank or investment accounts. Those total about $1,500 a month.
In 2024 we conducted local reader fundraising campaigns in June and October, aided by a generous donor who matched up to $20,000 in donations. In all, YachatsNews received nearly $84,000 in donations from readers in 2024.
We received a total of $30,000 in grants from the Oregon Community Foundation and the Roundhouse Foundation in 2024. Net advertising income was about $16,000 and there was $2,600 in interest from two bank CDs.
So, our total net income was $132,000 in 2024 – 64 percent from readers, 24 percent from grants and 12 percent from advertising.
Like any small business, our expenses range from monthly fees for access to court records, subscriptions, travel expenses, web hosting, more insurance policies than I ever imagined, pay to freelance writers and photographers, to the larger ticket items such as the salary and benefits for our staff reporter. Our total expenses in 2024 were nearly $109,000.
All this means YachatsNews is in good financial shape to support its current operations with some savings as a reserve. Our formal IRS Form 990 financial statement will be posted on various charitable organization websites by mid-May.
Plans, mission statement, help
The big emphasis for our fundraising and grant applications in 2024 was to put aside enough money to hire a second reporter to join our staff this year. Donors and foundations helped accomplish that – and Shayla Escudero, who has been a reporter the past 2½ years at the Albany Democrat-Herald — will begin work Monday, March 10 and be based in Newport. (More on that and a big announcement next week.)
As I have stated before, stories we do are not universally loved. But we try to provide a professionally-reported snapshot of the community each week, provide statewide news of potential interest, be as accurate as humanly possible, provide context when it is needed, and quickly correct mistakes when they are pointed out.
I will end with a reminder of our mission statement: “To provide locally reported, fair, unbiased straightforward news of Lincoln County, its communities, governments, people, community organizations, businesses, and the natural environment with an emphasis on good government, transparency, community involvement, civic participation and engagement. We are an independent, non-profit news service. Free to all, funded by readers.”
Of course, for nonprofits like us, fundraising never really stops. So, if you want to support us financially, you can do that any time. Here are some ways:
- Write a check and drop it into the mail to YachatsNews, P.O Box 284, Yachats, Ore., 97498;
- Use the “Donate” button on the website to become a monthly donor or make a one-time contribution through PayPal;
- Advertise your business or organization on the site. Not only will you gain the additional exposure that 200,000 page views a month can bring, but you will be helping sustain this operation. Here is a link to rates and how to get that process started.
Thank you for reading and for your support.
— Quinton Smith/editor & board chair
