
During my job interview for The Valley Independent Sentinel, I remember telling my (eventual) boss Paul Bass I had one reservation — I did not want to raise money.
Sales was far outside my skill set, experience, and temperament, I said.
Welp, that was 10 years ago.
Now I am humbly asking you to donate to The Valley Indy during The Great Give May 1 and May 2.
Here is the direct URL if the link does not work:
https://www.thegreatgive.org/organizations/valley-independent-sentinel-online-journalism-project
I’m not comfortable asking for money. I feel like I have to justify my existence.
Then again, The Great Give is the one time a year I pester readers for donations. And, heck, The Valley Indy has been a FREE publication for a decade (as of this June).
So please bookmark this link and donate starting 8 a.m. May 1.
This year, like last year, I hope to raise $10,000 in 36 hours during The Great Give.
But it’s not all about me.
I’m inviting other Naugatuck Valley nonprofit leaders to my office in Ansonia to interview them, live on Facebook, about what your donations during The Great Give mean to them.

Taken at the end of the 2016 Great Give.
Watch the live videos on Valley Indy Facebook from 8 a.m. May 1 until 8 p.m. May 2.
The Great Give is a VERY important fundraiser.
The money donated to The Valley Indy goes to the Valley Indy operating budget. The website is part of the Online Journalism Project, a small but trailblazing news organization in New Haven that also publishes The New Haven Independent.
I was hired 10 years ago this month by
PaulJBass</a> to launch The Valley Indy with <a href="https://twitter.com/mozactly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">
mozactly. I didn’t think it would last more than two years (the duration of originalknightfdn</a> grant). <a href="https://t.co/1yh07bF75m">pic.twitter.com/1yh07bF75m</a></p>— The Valley Indy (
ValleyIndy) April 18, 2019
The Valley Indy is funded mostly through grants from foundations.
Bass, the executive director of the Online Journalism Project, is a key player, snagging grant money for both The New Haven Indy and The Valley Indy.
I’ve successfully applied for many grants from The Valley Community Foundation and The Katharine Matthies Foundation to keep the lights on. I’m eternally grateful to those foundations.
Your donations during The Great Give are also critically important. Those donations represent about 7 percent of The Valley Indy’s budget.

Photo by Autumn Driscoll
The Driscolls of Derby in New York City.
The traditional revenue sources to support local news organizations no longer exist, as evidenced by the graveyard of former Valley newspapers (The Valley Gazette and The Valley Times, for example).
Raising money for a hyperlocal news site is not easy. Need proof? We’re down from three reporters in 2012 to just me.
But I hope The Valley Indy’s track record convinces you to make a donation during The Great Give.
Here are some highlights:
- More than 30 reporting awards in 10 years from the Connecticut chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. I stopped entering the contest because I can’t afford it.
- Two in-depth podcasts (both recorded and edited by me), including ‘Navel Gazing,’ the Valley’s only local talk show. Each episode takes at least two hours of labor. It’s averaging 2,000 downloads a week.
- A community service award from The Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce.
- A thriving (and usually civil) Facebook page with 15,000 followers.
- Investigations that have uncovered questionable government practices.
- Influencing local government to use social media to communicate with residents
- Advocating for open government.
- Live streaming a 4-hour Derby P&Z meeting (that alone is worth a $100 donation!) watched by almost 2,000 people.
Let’s keep The Valley Indy alive. Donate during The Great Give.