A week ago, we leveled with you: a deterioration in the advertising business is putting ARLnow in a tough spot.
Tonight we’re happy to say that readers have answered our call for temporary support and provided a meaningful level of donations via Paypal and monthly pledges via Patreon.
We are humbled by the response from the community and promise to put your contributions to good use, providing vital, up-to-the-minute information during this crisis, telling stories that need to be told, and finding ways to support local businesses.
To that end, tonight we’re announcing a new initiative to help small local businesses reach potential customers during the outbreak. Effective immediately, all community posts on the site will be free to locally-owned small businesses in Arlington.
To get the word out about things your business is doing to serve the community during the coronavirus outbreak, submit a short post here for publication. We hope it helps keep readers informed and businesses afloat during this tough time.
(Other forms of advertising and sponsored content remains a paid service — we need to keep the lights on!)
From our overworked and home-bound staff, thank you to every one of our donors. And if you have the means to donate a few bucks a month but haven’t done so yet, we hope you’ll consider joining them — every little bit counts and we can still use the help.