Prizes! Gift subscriptions! Journalism! All part of our winter fund drive so we can keep fighting, with your help, in the year to come
Welcome back, readers. It’s been a hell of a year, and through all the upsets, setbacks, tragedies and victories the Blade has sought to bring this city journalism, perspectives and insights worthy of our city. Among its other lessons, 2016 has offered reminders that fearless, independent media is more important than ever. The Blade intends to keep up the fight for a long, long time to come.
That’s where y’all come in. From day one, the Blade has had no advertisers. We’re not backed by corporate cash. Instead, the people of Asheville support us with donations and subscriptions.
So these holidays, we’re asking you to help support us so we can fund our investigations, our in-depth coverage of local politics, our keen analysis, our crew of awesome freelancers and more.
We have some ways to show our appreciation as well. If you participate in our winter fund drive, you can win one of the following prizes:
1) A $50 gift certificate to Bouchon or Creperie Bouchon. We have two of these, so two lucky readers will get this prize. These are perfect for a night out with excellent fare or as a holiday gift for a friend or loved one.
2) A $50 bar tab at the Crow and Quill, home of a diverse array of lovely things to drink and wonderful cocktails.
If you’re wondering how you might win one of these (and support the Blade’s work) we have a few options. Once again, just during this fund drive, we’re offering you the opportunity to purchase a gift subscription for someone for just $10.
While we deliver much of our work to the public for free, our subscribers get additional content, regular updates, free admission to events and other rewards.
Usually a subscription costs at least $3 a month or an equivalent donation amount. But right now you have the opportunity to gift a subscription, for a whole year, for just $10.
Just donate here, and leave a note specifying who you’d like the gift subscription to go to. For each $10 you donate, we’ll give a year-long subscription to someone of your choice. Also, for each $10 you donate we’ll also enter you to win one of the prizes above.
We’ll send the lucky recipient of a gift subscription a welcome letter and they’ll get all the rewards and perks our subscribers receive. This is a great gift for news-conscious friends or family or an active community member in need.
You can also sign up here as a monthly subscriber and we’ll enter you to win one of these prizes. If you’re already a subscriber and you raise your subscription — by any amount — you’ll also get a chance to win. If you double it (from $3 to $6, for example), we’ll give you two chances to win.
You can also shoot us an email if you’d like to make a donation another way.
We’ll hold the drawing at 7 p.m., Dec. 22.
We hope you all enjoy your holidays. This winter the bonds of our community are more important than ever. All of you have our sincere thanks for what your support makes possible every single day.
Forward,
David Forbes
Editor