Thank you to those who have already contributed to Bucket List Community Café’s Christmas in July fundraiser. We’re an online community journalism site for Denver and believe we build community by telling our stories. If you have not yet contributed there is still time. Our fundraiser goes through 7/24. Simply click on the link or hover your phone over the scan code. We are community inspired and supported and are becoming sustainable because of you.
Remember when you were little, and you made a list of things you wanted from Santa? Mom and dad said you needed to be good all year. And during the holidays the pressure really stepped up with Elf on the Shelf watching your every move. Well, Bucket List Community Café has been good. Let’s recap our accomplishments over the past year.
A YEAR OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- We had a successful fundraising campaign in December 2021 and received a matching grant from the Colorado Media Project. This has allowed us to pay for more original content, pay our graduate team for their work helping to manage our editorial and engagement, pay freelance journalists in the community, buy our custom refrigerator magnets to give away at events, and save money for our wish list.
- We have been accepted into a sustainability audit by LION Publishers that will help us see our strengths and weaknesses and what areas of our entrepreneurial business need attention. When it is complete, they will help us financially to achieve the goals we set.
- We will help mentor the CU News Corps class for Fall 2022 with their capstone projects and will feature their multimedia investigative reporting on our website and social media platforms. This commitment to aspiring journalists is a big part of our values and we have been honored to mentor six students a semester in journalism, engagement, and entrepreneurship on our Bucket List Community Café team.
- We are launching our first podcast and are laying the groundwork for more audio and video.
- We have fanned out in the community and handed out over 1000 custom refrigerator magnets. While doing so we have told folks about how we build community by telling our stories. People say “I love that” and “that’s so cool.” We know we are striking a chord.
- We have concentrated on being more inclusive with our content, and not only have we been telling stories about diverse neighborhoods of Denver, but we are also excited to have LGBTQ+ and BIPOC journalists writing stories for Bucket List Community Café.
- We have settled on a business model of sponsored content and now have two small business sponsors in addition to our partnership with CU News Corps. This is helping keep Bucket List Community Café completely accessible. There are no paywalls, no advertisements, no subscriptions, no memberships. No barriers to entry. Everyone is welcome.
OUR CHRISTMAS IN JULY WISH LIST
- Bucket List Community Café has been growing exponentially and we are starting to outgrow our WordPress environment. We need something a bit more robust. We are including podcasts to our lineup and would also like to expand our use of video. Getting a more flexible website will allow us to add these features, additional categories, improve our analytics and make Bucket List Community Café more informative and engaging for you.
- We want to expand our mentorship program to include students from Metropolitan State University which is Denver based and has a diverse student body. We believe it is important for our team to look like the community we serve.
- We would like to bring on some part time freelancers to help with our editorial management, engagement management, web management and development. As Bucket List Community Café grows, we would like to build our team so we can expand our bandwidth and make this a better experience for the people of Denver.
- We would like to be able to get out to more events and meet you. Our refrigerator magnet initiative has been a big hit. We would like to have more resources so we can be intentional in the community and attend and even initiate more events.
Thank you for contributing to our Christmas (Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, we want to be inclusive) in July campaign and don’t forget everyone who donates will get one of our custom Bucket List Community Café refrigerator magnets. Bucket List Community Café has a unique niche at the intersection of journalism and community. We are building this together. We are so grateful to you for supporting Bucket List Community Café and community journalism.
