The newspaper’s a nonprofit?

The Buffalo Times is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. What does it mean when a newspaper is a nonprofit?

It means that you, the reader, and the community are more than simply our audience. You are our partners in this endeavor to report the local news. We do not answer to shareholders, owners, or individuals. We answer to the community and will operate through the perspective of a community service lens. In a very real sense, the community owns The Buffalo Times.

Nonprofit organizations exist primarily to serve the public good and reinvest all revenue back into their mission, while for-profit organizations aim to generate profit for owners and shareholders.

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization must meet the following criteria as defined by the Internal Revenue Service: 

1. The entity must be organized and operated to solely pursue an exempt purpose. Such purposes include, according to the statute, “charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals.”
2. To stay true to the nonprofit’s purpose (see point 1), the entity must not be organized and operated to benefit private interests — and none of its net earnings can result in benefit to any private shareholder or individual involved in the organization’s activities.
3. A 501(c)(3) organization must not endorse candidates or electioneers. According to the IRS, this means that the organization “may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.” This does not, however, preclude an organization from publishing editorial and opinion pieces.

The Buffalo Times is governed by a five-member board of directors, all of whom are members of our community and share our vision for community-based news reporting.

So how are you, the members of our community, in partnership with us to report the news? Here are two ways. 

First, you can help us be aware of what’s going on in our community. Although we try to stay well connected, we are a very small staff and cannot be everywhere. So if you know of something on which we ought to report, let us know. You can send news tips to editor@buffalo-times.com. 

Second, you can partner with us financially. It is an unfortunate fact that the printed newspaper is a dying breed. (It must seem ironic to read those words in a printed newspaper.) However, with the community’s financial support, The Buffalo Times will continue to serve the Deltana region. Without that support, frankly, we won’t make it. So please consider one of the ways you can support us financially. 

Though we are not able to offer subscriptions to our printed edition, we can and do offer subscriptions to our online edition. It is more than simply an electronic copy of what you will see in print each week. Our website at buffalo-times.com gives us the space to publish more photos, it gives opportunity to get the latest and breaking news into your hands right away, and with our website we can integrate podcasting and video reporting in a way simply not possible in print. When you subscribe on our website, you will be offered two options: pay $10 per month to subscribe or be a Supporting Subscriber at the level of $20 per month. That extra $10 supports our efforts to bring you the news every week.

Another way community members can help our nonprofit thrive is to simply give a tax-deductible financial gift to the organization. We will use financial gifts to bring you the weekly print edition, maintain our presence in the community, and support our news reporting capacity.

Our mission to provide a breath of fresh air grounded in truth, transparency, and responsible reporting will guide our endeavors. We deeply care about our community and believe that local news is important and that our community deserves to have a voice.

Won’t you join us?

‍