The 200 Club: Giving Back to the Community

The Freeman's Journal in Cooperstown has launched "The 200 Club" as partof its bicentenniel celebration. The goal of the initiative is to get 200 people to donate $200 each to the Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival by the time the campaign wraps up on Labor Day. Jim Kevlin, Editor and Publisher, said that the newspaper has chosen to commemorate its anniversary in this way because of the community support that has helped the paper survive over the years. Because the community supported them, The Freeman's Journal wants to support the community. The Chamber Music Festival plans to put the money in an endowment so that it can continue to offer low-cost tickets that enable everyone to attend their concerts. Kevlin hopes that the Festival will benefit from both the money, and the increased base of support that the 200 donors will create. He pointed out that if people donate, they have a more vested interest in the program's success. The 200 Club was just announced, but a dozen donors have already stepped forward, with the mayor of Cooperstown leading with the first donation. If this year is successful, next year The Freeman's Journal will create The 201 Club and choose another local organization to benefit.

The NYNED groups have been discussing nonprofit and media relations lately, and this initiative is a great example of the two working together. As we continue to discuss working with the media, let's keep creative ideas like The 200 Club in mind!