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As we wind down in 2023, we just wanted to say thank you. 

If you’ve ever shared a Civil Beat story, called us with a tip, attended one of our events, commented on a story or made a gift, you’ve helped make our work possible. 

It really wasn’t that long ago that we dropped our paywall and transitioned to a nonprofit in 2016. At the time, we were buoyed by a base of 1,100 founding members who believed that local, investigative news was worth paying for.

The Covid pandemic, Kealoha corruption case, Maui wildfires — seven short, but exciting years later, our supporter base has grown seven-fold thanks to thousands of individuals, businesses and foundations who rely on our reporting every day. 

Let me tell you a little more about them. 

• 1% of our readers are donors. Today, we have 7,071 donors supporting our local, independent journalism. And since we’re all about transparency, you can find all of our supporters on our website – along with our guidelines about how donors have no influence over our news decisions. 
• 58% of our donors are recurring members, meaning they give monthly or annually to sustain our mission. Monthly or yearly recurring gifts are one of the strongest ways to support Civil Beat, as it allows our newsroom to budget and plan for future projects with confidence. 
• 80% of our donors renew year after year. More than three quarters of supporters follow up after making an initial donation. We are incredibly proud of our retention rate, which shows that Civil Beat continues to prove its value to our loyal supporters. 
• $12 is the average monthly donation and $110 the average one-time donation to our nonprofit newsroom. Every gift counts.  
• 79% of donors reside in Hawaii, while 21% support Civil Beat from the mainland and overseas. To those supporting us from afar, we’re so thankful you’ve chosen Civil Beat to be your connection home.  
• $1M milestone. We’re on track to raise $1M in individual support, which is huge for a small newsroom like ours! 

If you’re reading this, we likely share a similar hope — for a better tomorrow and a stronger Hawaii, which starts with informed readers.

So I invite your questions and comments about our mission, work and how fundraising plays a part of it all. And if you’re ready, I hope you’ll consider donating, which helps Civil Beat make a difference one story at a time.

Your gift of any size truly helps, and check back next week for our top 10 highlights of 2023 and an update on our plans for 2024. 

Happy holidays and thank you from all of us in the newsroom.