FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT Rose Cavanagh | 401.331.7209 | rosecavanagh.nefac@gmail.com
This #GivingTuesday, consider the words of Amanda Milkovitz of the Providence Journal: “In my 20 years as a newspaper reporter, I found the New England First Amendment Institute to be the most informative and inspiring journalism conference I have ever attended.”
#GivingTuesday is a national celebration of charitable activities and non-profit organizations begun last year and occurring again tomorrow. The movement has resulted in millions of dollars in donations to non-profit organizations. This year, we would like you to support our New England First Amendment Institute.
We provide each year a three-day conference for 25 New England journalist fellows. These fellows (here is just partial, impressive list) participate in classroom sessions and lectures on how to better their investigative reporting by using freedom of information laws. The institute not only educates these journalists, but the newsrooms in which those journalists share what was learned. Take a look at what was accomplished last year alone. Your support will help us grow our institute and broaden its reach throughout New England.
While NEFAC offers other valuable resources and programming – our annual awards luncheon, honoring this year James Risen of The New York Times, for example – we are using the crowdfunding site Indiegogo specifically to help our popular institute.
Until December 27, we will be accepting contributions through Indiegogo to help grow our New England First Amendment Institute. Our goal is to raise $10,000. This money will help us better educate journalists throughout the region and improve the institute’s programming. With just about a month remaining in our campaign, we are nearly one-fifth of the way there.
Relying on crowdfunding is a creative way to not only connect with those who value – and who are willing to financially support – the work we do, but it’s also a way to give back to our supporters. While even the smallest donations are appreciated, those who give at least $35 will receive a “perk”, ranging from a NEFAC headband to a cocktail and dinner reception for the donor, eight of his or her friends and Sevellon Brown Award winning investigative reporter (and NEFAC board member!) Michael Donoghue of the Burlington Free Press. But as those who value investigative journalism know, the perks are simply a way for us to say “thank you.” The real payoff for helping our campaign is the continued success of New England journalists and the opportunity to make their newsrooms stronger.
But don’t just take it from us.
“New England First Amendment Coalition fellowships helped our news coverage by giving a boost to investigative reporting skills at a time when we might not otherwise have had the resources to train able but inexperienced reporters,” said Lisa McGinley, assistant managing editor for The Day of New London, Conn. “Two direct results were a report revealing the bogus business practices of one of Gov. Dannel Malloy’s ‘First Five’ companies and an in-depth analysis of the state’s ‘yellow card’ system for tracking racial profiling by police.”
That’s the type of difference you’ll be making with a contribution to our campaign. Thank you in advance for supporting NEFAC and helping journalists across New England. Please contribute today.
NEFAC was formed in 2006 to advance and protect the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment, including the principle of the public’s right to know. We’re a broad-based organization of people who believe in the power of an informed democratic society. Our members include lawyers, journalists, historians, librarians, academics and private citizens. We work in partnership with the Initiative for Investigative Reporting at the Northeastern University School of Journalism.