Huron County Cultural Services  |  Digitized Newspapers Fundraising Effort

Following the successful award of a major grant to digitize local newspapers spanning 1848 to 2019, the project reached a critical stage where additional funding was required to complete the work. To secure the remaining “home stretch” funding, I helped develop and implement a community fundraising campaign that combined traditional fundraising tactics with creative public engagement initiatives.

Campaign Deliverables

• Coordinated a multi-faceted fundraising campaign that included special events, raffles, silent auctions, sponsorships, and direct community donations.
• Developed and launched the Coffee & Newspapers initiative in partnership with local coffee shops. Participating businesses received promotional materials and custom coffee cup sleeves featuring fascinating headlines, stories, and trivia discovered during the digitization process. The campaign encouraged residents to “read the news of the past” with their morning coffee, generating significant community awareness, goodwill, and appreciation for the value of preserving local history.
• Conceptualized and helped deliver a Johnny Cash at the Gaol fundraising event, inspired by Cash’s famous Live at Folsom Prison performance. Hosted in the outdoor courtyard of the historic Huron Historic Gaol, the event transformed a unique heritage asset into an unforgettable fundraising venue and community experience.

Results

• Increased public awareness of and engagement with the newspaper digitization project
• Strengthened community understanding of the importance of preserving local historical records and making them accessible to future generations
• Generated a substantial portion of the remaining funds required to complete the digitization project
• Successfully contributed to the completion of a project that preserved and provided public access to more than 170 years of local newspaper history.