Dear Friend,

Bangor Daily News journalists work every day to bring you reporting that helps you know what’s really happening in Maine communities and government.

We’re also working right now to raise $100,000 to help pay for the costs of reporting by December 31, and I’ve got to be honest — we’ve still got a ways to go. 

We are so grateful for the contributions of the 437 people who have generously donated in support of BDN journalism during this campaign so far. Together, we’ve already raised $56,000! That’s enough to cover one reporter’s salary and some of the hard costs of reporting, like document requests, legal fees, and travel to report stories. 

Those “hard costs of reporting” expenses are critically important to our journalists’ ability to get at the truth of the issues they are reporting on: Document requests can cost hundreds of dollars for a single story. Driving hundreds of miles (we cover a large region!) to interview a source for a story can cost more than $200 in mileage alone. Costly legal review of sensitive stories is important for protecting both sources and our journalists.

We set this ambitious $100,000 goal to lock in our ability to cover these costs properly for the year ahead. We need your help to get there.

Will you help us close the gap with a tax-deductible contribution?

All contributions from BDN readers go into a fund for Bangor Daily News journalism managed by EMDC that helps to cover the costs of reporting, such as journalist salaries, document request fees and travel costs to report stories.

Thanks to EMDC’s fiscal sponsorship, we can also accept contributions from DAFs, charitable accounts, as well as required minimum distributions. Instructions are on our FAQ, or you can just respond to this email and I’ll walk you through it today.

We are so grateful to our community for supporting local accountability journalism for Maine. We can’t do this without you.

Thank you,

Jo Easton
Director of Development, Bangor Daily News