IRE | Announcing an urgent campaign for $15,000

Please help me retire Gannett Blog on a positive note, by making one last $20 donation. But this time, I'm asking you instead to give to Investigative Reporters and Editors, the non-profit professional trade association that has offered me invaluable help over the past 20-plus years of my career. IRE's support included computer-assisted reporting training at NICAR in 1994 -- training that helped in make Gannett Blog possible in the first place.

I'm using microfunding to appeal for 750 donors to give at least $20 each. Now, I won't ask you for something I'm unwilling to do myself. So, yesterday, I donated $15,000 to this wonderful organization.

In a letter, IRE said my contribution "will help IRE complete a matching grant as part of the Challenge Fund for Journalism. The program will help IRE improve our ability to serve our members and community and continue development of our online services. Our goal is to raise $75,000 to release $50,000 in funding for IRE."

Here's a quick link to IRE's donations page.

My IRE gift honors Dr. Samuel Hughes, who died Jan. 20, 2008, in San Francisco, Calif., after a distinguished career devoted especially to the care of mothers and children worldwide, and those living with HIV.

Double your support! The Gannett Foundation will match your contribution 100% -- if you're an eligible active employee or director, and you donate a minimum $50! Just follow the link to the GannettMatch site. From the FAQ:

What is GannettMatch?
GannettMatch is a matching gift program administered by the Gannett Foundation. Our goal is to encourage eligible active employees and directors of Gannett Co., Inc. to contribute to qualifying nonprofit organizations of their choice. It is a way to double your donation to your favorite charity.

How do I participate in GannettMatch?
You make a personal donation between $50 and $10,000 per individual, per calendar year to an eligible institution. GannettMatch will match the eligible donation dollar for dollar. Gifts may be paid by cash, check, credit card or by negotiable securities that have a publicly listed market value. Gifts must be charitable contributions that are deductible under IRS regulations.

Note: The Blogger publishing platform I use was down last night just as my $15,000 cash transfer was completed, preventing me from posting this on schedule. I apologize for any confusion.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

For Sam

My gift to Investigative Reporters and Editors honors Dr. Samuel C. Hughes, who died Jan. 20, 2008, in San Francisco, Calif., after a distinguished career devoted especially to the care of mothers and children worldwide, and those living with HIV.

In an essay, NBC science and health correspondent Robert Bazell said later that spring: "Whatever the list of requirements to be good doctor might include, Sam embodied most of them: intelligence, charm, curiosity, compassion, and decisiveness, to name a few."

Sam inspired my donation with his generosity and his joie de vivre, over and over again. Thank you, Sam!

IRE | How to turn $20 into $15,000 . . .

IRE | How to donate online when far from home

[Glimpse of an authorization form I faxed yesterday]

Use the Internet! Meanwhile, check out the new Gannett Blog IRE Challenge blog. fundraising goal is set to be announced tomorrow.

Gannett Blog is shutting down July 10; let's retire the site on a positive note! I'm lobbying for your $20 gifts as I offer crucial support to one of our industry's treasures. Here's a quick link to IRE's donations page.

Double your support! The Gannett Foundation will match your contribution 100% -- if you're an eligible active employee or director, and you donate a minimum $50! Just follow the link to the GannettMatch site. From the FAQ:

What is GannettMatch?
GannettMatch is a matching gift program administered by the Gannett Foundation. Our goal is to encourage eligible active employees and directors of Gannett Co., Inc. to contribute to qualifying nonprofit organizations of their choice. It is a way to double your donation to your favorite charity.

How do I participate in GannettMatch?
You make a personal donation between $50 and $10,000 per individual, per calendar year to an eligible institution. GannettMatch will match the eligible donation dollar for dollar. Gifts may be paid by cash, check, credit card or by negotiable securities that have a publicly listed market value. Gifts must be charitable contributions that are deductible under IRS regulations.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

Why I give to IRE | A wealth of information!

I was missing a basic fact for my story about Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore, newly named principal executive at Gannett, following CEO Craig Dubow's announcement yesterday that he's taking a medical leave of absence. My question: How old is Martore?

Then I remembered a terrific tip I learned at an an Investigative Reporters and Editors conference, where financial investigative reporter Diana B. Henriques (hi!) of The New York Times mentioned that a public document filed annually by publicly traded companies such as Gannett includes a wealth of basic information.

For example, have you ever been stumped for a company's phone number and address? You'll find it at the top of that document, called a Form 10-K. So, this morning, I went to Gannett's investor relations page, which is chock full of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. I clicked on the most recent 10-K, did a quick search, and there it was: Martore is 57.

"Bravo, good story,'' Anonymous@9:40 p.m. wrote last night.

"Don't thank me,'' I replied. "Thank Investigative Reporters and Editors with a contribution!"

Please join me!
Let's retire Gannett Blog on a positive note! I'm lobbying for your $20 gifts, as I offer crucial support to one of our industry's treasures. Here's a quick link to IRE's donations page.

Double your support! The Gannett Foundation will match your contribution 100% -- if you're an eligible active employee or director, and you donate a minimum $50! Just follow the link to the GannettMatch site. From the FAQ:

What is GannettMatch?
GannettMatch is a matching gift program administered by the Gannett Foundation. Our goal is to encourage eligible active employees and directors of Gannett Co., Inc. to contribute to qualifying nonprofit organizations of their choice. It is a way to double your donation to your favorite charity.

How do I participate in GannettMatch?
You make a personal donation between $50 and $10,000 per individual, per calendar year to an eligible institution. GannettMatch will match the eligible donation dollar for dollar. Gifts may be paid by cash, check, credit card or by negotiable securities that have a publicly listed market value. Gifts must be charitable contributions that are deductible under IRS regulations.

IRE | More than 700 expected at Baltimore

I owe a huge debt to Investigative Reporters and Editors, the non-profit professional trade group where I first learned computer-assisted reporting. Without the training I got in 1994 at IRE's boot camp, I would have come to blogging much too late.

Starting tomorrow, the group says on its website, "hundreds of dedicated investigative reporters and editors will gather for the annual IRE Conference to hear from the industry’s biggest names, to honor the nation's best investigative journalism and to brainstorm about ways to breathe new life into the profession. Already, more than 700 reporters, editors, journalism educators and students have pre-registered for the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference that begins Thursday, and continues through Sunday, at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront."

Please join me in supporting IRE!
Your support of IRE and investigative journalism is needed now more than ever. Through August, donations from new individual donors will help the group complete a $50,000 Challenge Fund for Journalism grant. The program will help IRE improve our ability to serve our members and community and continue development of our online services.