2022 was a year of accomplishments for Bucket List Community Café. We are on our way to sustainability thanks to your generous giving and to our unique niche at the intersection of journalism and community. Thank you for helping us accomplish so much and proving that local journalism can be community inspired and most importantly, community supported.
We published over 130 original stories including six podcasts and videos.
We increased our newsletter from monthly to weekly (and during fundraising season to twice a week.)
We mentored over a dozen emerging journalists and journalism entrepreneurs from CU Boulder and MSU Denver. They are a diverse group that reflect the city of Denver. We also worked with CU News Corps to help guide students in their capstone projects. Here is one on Denver’s DIY Music Scene that we just published on Bucket List Community Café.
We attended the Independent News Sustainability Summit and received fiscal sponsorship from the Local Media Foundation so we can accept contributions from non-profit foundations.
We brought on our first community sponsors and a business development manager to help us continue offering free journalism without ads, paid subscriptions, paywalls and memberships.
2023: A Year of Big Goals
2023 will be an even bigger year thanks to your support. Because of our work we are receiving national attention from organizations that support community journalism. We are in the running for grants and recognition and are working hard to collaborate with these groups.
2023 is a mayoral election year for Denver and we plan to do more coverage on subjects such as housing, gentrification, small businesses, climate change, local crime, food insecurity, inequities and other issues that affect our neighborhoods.
Our brand ambassadors will be out in the community to tell folks about our mission. We are planning events called Bucket List Community Café’s where neighbors can come together to get to know one another, talk about what’s going on in their communities and help inform our coverage by sharing their stories. Say hello and receive one of our free refrigerator magnets.
We plan to create an advisory group so Bucket List Community Café can be more in touch with the concerns in neighborhoods where we don’t live.
We are seeking grant funding to create scholarships for BIPOC journalists so that our team can reflect the population we serve.
We plan to feature more professional freelancers to produce stories and move our college graduates into paid reporter and management positions with competitive rates for stories and tasks such as business development, analytics, and engagement.
It’s a big list of goals but Bucket List Community Café has always been aspirational and positive. We are creating this together. Our deadline for the #newsCOneeds fundraising campaign is Saturday 12/31 at midnight. Your gift will be matched penny for penny by the Colorado Media Project. Watch the fireworks, pop the champagne, and help start the year off by clicking here to support Bucket List Community Café and community journalism. Happy new year to all of you and blessings for a safe, healthy, prosperous 2023.
