Support our ‘On the Move’ campaign

This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.

[Updated] As 2012 winds down, please consider a year-end gift to the Notebook. We’ve launched an “On the Move” campaign, seeking to raise $25,000 to enable us to become an independent nonprofit and move out of the “incubator” organization that has housed us since we began.

For many years, the Notebook has been hosted and housed by Resources for Human Development (RHD) as part of their New Beginnings nonprofit incubator. Our recent growth has been fueled by the generosity and commitment of Philadelphia’s philanthropic community — including our readers.

At 18, the Notebook is ready to move on and move out. Here is our plan:

  • We are creating a new, independent nonprofit to take Public School Notebook into the future, with a community-based governing board and tax-deductible status.
  • We are moving out of the RHD facility in East Falls into our own offices next summer, where the dedicated Notebook staff will have a space of our own design, allowing us to be as productive as possible in the reporting, writing, editing, and all the tasks involved in getting you the best information when you need it.
  • We’ve developed a framework for ensuring that the Notebook is sustainable over the long haul and by spring will have a new business plan – a road map for becoming more financially secure and less dependent on a few large grants.

In the long run, the move will be cost effective for us. By leaving RHD, we can lower our overhead and operate more efficiently. But of course setting up our own offices for the first time involves a substantial upfront investment – not just the furniture, equipment and moving costs, but the work of creating new systems for managing our finances, securing a health plan, and more.

We don’t want to cut corners or cut back on our reporting. That’s why we’re asking you to join our “On the Move” campaign and help us raise the $25,000 we need upfront to make our move a smooth and efficient one.

With the pace of change in Philly’s schools accelerating, there’s no question about the city’s continuing need for the Notebook to provide the facts and the story behind the facts – and to hold political and educational leaders accountable.

All contributions to the “On the Move” campaign will be recognized in a poster we plan to include in our newspaper next spring – unless you wish to be anonymous. Your gift at year’s end will get us where we need to go … literally.

You can take out your checkbook and send a check to The Notebook, 3721 Midvale Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19129. Or go to www.thenotebook.org/donate and make your gift electronically (click “other – general donation” if you wish to give for our “On the Move” campaign). A gift of $100 will also include a membership for 2013.

Thanks to the 78 donors who have contributed more than $7,000 to the campaign as of Dec. 30.