An update on our year-end fundraising campaign

We’re now past the halfway point in our year-end fundraising campaign and we’re less than $7,500 from reaching our goal – an amount that feels both entirely achievable and somehow also far off.

Fortunately, we have a handful of events coming up that should help us begin to close that gap, beginning with the absolutely stacked lineup we’re rolling out for our inaugural Poets for Matter fundraiser at Two Dollar Radio Headquarters, which kicks off at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10. (Admission is free but donations are greatly appreciated.)

Following that, we have a pair of fundraising concerts set to take place at Cafe Bourbon Street and Rumba Cafe, respectively. First up will be Van Dale, Big Fat Head, and Corey Landis & the Finer Things at Bobo on Saturday, Dec. 20 (doors open at 8 p.m. and there’s a suggested donation of $10 at the door). Then you can hit Rumba on Tuesday, Dec. 30, where you’ll be able to see Son of Dribble, Joey Aich, and Ipps (playing its first show in four years!). Doors for that one open at 7 p.m. with the same $10 suggested donation in place.

The way the arts community has galvanized to support Matter News this year is not lost on me, and I can’t say thank you enough to all of the people who have made contributions of any kind. More than 40 visual artists chipped in to help us raise more than $10,000 at this year’s silent art auction. And in the coming weeks, a number of the city’s best poets are set to donate their time to read at Two Dollar, while a killer assortment of bands, musicians, and venues have joined together for a series of shows meant to push us closer to our goal. (This includes the annual Guided by Voices Appreciation Night helmed by local legend Kyle Sowash, which takes place this year at Spacebar on Friday, Dec. 19 and is once again donating all proceeds to Matter News.)

And it’s not just the city’s creators stepping up.

When I worked at Columbus Alive, the machinations of operating within a large corporate structure kept me at more of a remove from how certain parts of the sausage got made. Now, I see more intimately how the attention and financial support that you all offer is the only thing that enables us to continue publishing. I’ve logged into our Stripe account every day during this fundraising campaign and seen the growing scroll of folks who have made donations in any amount to support our work – from those new donors chipping in with $20 to the long-time sustaining members whose monthly generosity has helped us to grow steadily over the years I’ve been at the helm. And while I’ve always prided myself in putting my absolute best into everything I do, I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge the added sense of responsibility I feel in that awareness. 

Coming into this campaign, I was fully knowledgeable of the challenge we faced. It’s a dismal economic landscape and nonprofits across the spectrum have struggled under the weight of federal funding cuts and a drop in donations. And yet, even in these conditions we’ve managed to raise nearly $68,000 just five weeks into our campaign. If we’re able to push that amount to $75,000 over the next three weeks, we’ll be able to preserve current operations and grow our freelance output. Anything beyond that will allow us to assign more work to more writers, continuing the mission the site’s founders initiated five years ago and which I’ve done my best to advance in my time as editor. 

With that in mind, if you like Matter News and have the financial means to support it, I would appreciate it if you could take a moment now to become a paying monthly member. By doing so, you can help this place continue to grow into 2026 and beyond. (For another way to show your support, check out our limited edition merch here via the Awesome Company.)

There’s not a better time to show your support than during NewsMatch. Through the end of December, all one-time donations are matched dollar for dollar by the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), along with our generous Community Match Partners: The Johnstone Fund for New Music, Rebecca J. Perry and Ben Towle, the Wiley Family Foundation, and Melissa and Bob Ray Starker. If you sign up as a recurring monthly member, your donation will be matched 12 times. (A reminder that Matter News is registered 501(c)(3) and all donations are 100 percent tax deductible.)

As I said in my message kicking off this campaign, there are undoubtedly challenging times ahead, but I’m still as excited about what the future could hold for Matter News as I was when I first stepped into this role.

Again, thank you for reading. And much more to come.

Andy Downing

Director/Editor, Matter News