NEW: Introducing our Patreon fundraising page for the Richmond Review.

patreon.com/user?u=85957394

Fundraiser, 2022/23

For nearly 35 years, the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon newspapers have been solely supported by advertising revenue. When COVID-19 hit a couple of years ago, we lost advertisers. After so many years of relying on ad revenue to create and distribute our community’s newspapers, the time has come to supplement the diminished ad revenue with donations from our readers. We could use our community’s help.

COVID not only caused many of our advertisers to stop their support, it also has made it difficult for small businesses to spend precious funds on advertising. We are hoping our loyal readers will be able to contribute a little to keep our neighborhood newspapers and website healthy. Plus, as small businesses continue to struggle, we are committed to not raising ad rates for our existing customers. 

A few notes:

• Our mission is to inform our community and to help small businesses. Your contribution will connect you to that mission – you can directly help your neighbors.

• California has lost a quarter of its newspapers and half its newsroom staff in the last 15 years. San Francisco has lost more than half of its neighborhood newspapers over the last decade or so. Your contribution will help the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon to publish for many years to come.

• Printing and delivery costs are going up. Equipment and supply costs are going up. Our writers, photographers and editors haven’t had a pay raise in years. Ad revenue is simply not enough to allow us to thrive. Your contribution will help ensure our continued service to our community.

• Our website, RichmondSunsetNews.com, averages more than 20,000 views each month. While we lose money on the site, we know that it is a valuable free resource for our community. It gives voice to our readers and shares information not published in our paper. Your contribution will keep the website free – no pay wall, no pop-up ads, no subscription fees.

• Longtime readers of the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon may have noticed that the papers have been 16 pages lately, versus the 12-page papers we have produced in the past. The extra pages allow us to tell more stories, publish bigger photos, add new features (cartoons, crossword puzzles, the Announcements section, using current photos alongside the historical photos – “Then and Now”) and more. Ad revenue alone can’t support 16-page papers. Your contribution will help us keep publishing the robust 16-page, and sometimes 20-page, papers.

We frequently receive compliments on our papers and are often told how much readers love reading the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon. We have even received unsolicited contributions; we haven’t forgotten your kindness and generosity Gale, Poonam, Maria Gloria, Beverly, et. al. Thank you! Also, thank you to Carmen Lee who has donated her time and talents to create the two “Best of the Richmond” surveys. We are very grateful for your community spirit!

We are hoping our community’s love for our papers and website will result in financial support during our Nourish Your Neighborhood Newspapers campaign.

To contribute, please send a check to Richmond Review or Sunset Beacon, P.O. Box 16035, SF, CA 94116. We would like to list your name in an upcoming issue to thank you for your generosity. If you would like your donation to be anonymous, just let us know.

We also have a PayPal account: Editor@RichmondSunsetNews.com. We are planning to launch a Patreon page, an online fundraising platform. If you or someone you know has experience in this area, help would be a terrific contribution to the cause.

Thank you very much to our readers, advertisers and supporters. Creating the monthly paper is a labor of love, inspired by you.

Questions? Contact Michael Durand, editor and publisher of the Richmond Review, Sunset Beacon and RichmondSunsetNews,com at Editor@RichmondSunsetNews.com or 415-706-6428.