The JOLT's 2023 Annual Campaign - boosted by NewsMatch

$44,862.49

Raised

Donations

$53,482

Goal


The JOLT – The Journal of Olympia, Lacey & Tumwater -- is your community-owned nonprofit news service.



Every weekday, we reach more than 5,300 local residents on their phones or computers with new local news and feature stories.  (That’s 54% more readers than at the end of 2022.) 

Every week The JOLT gives you – free of charge – approximately 30 original local news and feature stories, plus the Police Blotter and as many as 125 full-length event listings in our Community Calendar. Not only these, but you’ll see Reader Opinion pieces

Our staff has grown to include six news reporters, two associate editors, seven columnists, three photographers and three local correspondents, in addition to our publisher and board of directors. About a third of these people are volunteers; the rest depend on the paychecks that your contributions make possible. (Advertising contributes only about 15% of our revenue.) 

The JOLT began publishing in May 2020 to bring more local news coverage back to Thurston County. We do this every day through these kinds of stories:



  • Hold local leaders accountable – watchdog reporting about local agencies that together spend $1.5 billion each year
  • News your can act on – early notices about opportunities to get involved before local decisions are made or how your taxes will be spent.
  • Neglected and untold stories – that no one else is telling, about great things people do here and hardships that can be helped.  




You can find more than 4,000 local news and feature stories we’ve published, all of which are both searchable and available at no charge on our website: www.theJOLTnews.com


(And if you’re not already receiving The Daily JOLT, our weekday newsletter that shows you the day’s local headlines, you’re invited to subscribe – for FREE!  Just go to the form at www.theJOLT.news)

This is reporting you won’t find anywhere else (certainly not in the national news!) because it covers the issues that most impact your day-to-day life — local government activity, school board meetings, building development, etc. 

In addition to covering the hard news, we also feature local columnists who write about gardening, local birds, local nonprofit organizations, life here as a senior citizen, health and more. Plus, an increasing number of reader letters, local high school sports pictorials, full-length obituaries (which we publish at no charge) and more. 

And our Community Calendar offers all kinds of local and online events, more than 200 per month, lately. 



Why is local news important?


Local news, different from national media, supports local democracy. It helps keep public officials accountable. It stimulates more talented people to run for public office. Across the country, opinion polls say that it’s better trusted than national news.  We provide information that helps to create a shared public understanding of local issues. 





Why can’t we pay for all of this from advertising revenues?




While ad revenues are important to The JOLT, we don't expect to earn more than 20% of our revenues by advertising for local businesses, organizations and events.   


The news ecosystem across America is broken. As much as 80 percent of ad revenues that used to flow to newspapers have moved online – primarily to social media, search and classified ad sites. Some 2,700 print newspapers across the country have shut down since 2005. Some 1,800 served communities that no longer have a daily or weekly news service. The old business model for local news is never coming back.

In response to these trends, some 700 local independent online news organizations have formed around the United States. Of these, approximately 200 are nonprofit news media, including The JOLT News Organization. 

As a nonprofit, we depend on the support of local community members like you to keep this critical work going. 

For a small, still-new independent news organization like us, your contribution would be a big deal. It will help us deliver the kind of in-depth journalism you’ve come to expect, every day. It’s the kind of reporting that can make a real difference in our community. And we hope you agree that it’s worthy of your support.



On March 15, 2023 the IRS determined The JOLT News Organization to be a public charity under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3), with an effective date of September 28,2021. Our EIN is 87-2868827. Thank you for your support.

Our donors

DH

David Huss

donated

$1,041.44

Nancy Duncan, The Cinema, 1978, See You At The Movies!

AC

Alice Curtis

In support of local independent journalism

MR

Martin and Genevieve Rollins

donated

$32.07

I only learned about you in the past couple of years. I hope you can reach your goal. 🥍 We appreciate all you do!

RM

Robert A Mendel

DS

Daniel Stusser

donated

$16.96/M

LF

Lynn FitzHugh

donated

$50

M

Meg

K

Karen

donated

$78.40

AV

ANN MARIE VANDEMAN

donated

$125.25

CC

Charles Cross

donated

$26.34

Your news journal is worth far more than my contribution. Sometimes the grammar and sentence construction bring chuckles to my throat, but the sentence content always seems to make sense. When you are able, an area worthy of increased attention is that of the "Local Hero". When it seems that all around we are surrounded by "bad news", you may be sure that the "good news" of people helping people abounds throughout Thurston County. Thank you for your efforts to shed light on our "good" and "bad" deeds.

DP

David Plemons

donated

$50

J

Janet H

donated

$52.37

CR

CAROL RILEY

I love getting The Daily Jolt as an email with quick news in our cities - easy to skim, easy to open an article to read now or save for later or send to someone. Thanks Danny!!

MC

mary campbell

donated

$26.34/M

DJ

Debra Janison

donated

$125.25

E

Eliane

donated

$1,000

The JOLT is a real asset to the community; one does not know what one might be missing, if not reading it regularly.

UE

Ursula Euler

Thanks for publihsing Letters to the Editor from participants in important local matters, such as a new mega airport in Thurston County and increased commercial service at Olympia Regional Airport.

JH

Jon W. Halvorson

donated

$32.07

GH

Glenn Harper

donated

$52.37

SK

Steve Klein

donated

$125.25

Thank you for all you do to inform fellow citizens, a vital community lifeline.

C

Curtis

Objective local news is a vital service to our community. Thanks JOLT for delivering!

S

Stewart

KA

Kimberly Abbey

donated

$125.25

TC

Tom Clingman

donated

$100

Thank you for keeping people informed about the work of our local governments.

EH

Edith (Edie) Harding

donated

$50

Thank you for finally give us a JOLT of real local news!

QP

Quentin Phillips

donated

$10

Thank you

NO

naomi obie

CW

Carla Wulfsberg

donated

$125.25

LJ

Lisbeth Johnson

donated

$120

C

Clark

donated

$10.72/M