One Week to Launch: Lessons From the Road (or the Bicycle We’re Still Building)

We’re one week away from launching our print edition of La Conner Community News. It’s a huge milestone, and we’re excited. But we also need to be honest: we’ve made some mistakes along the way.

From the start, we knew we’d be building the bicycle while riding it. We launched our newsletter just one week after organizing the paper because we had to — our community couldn’t get used to not having a newspaper. It was a risk, and we took it. And as with any rough road, there have been bumps.

Lesson 1: The Bureaucratic Waiting Game

We underestimated how long it would take to offer tax write-offs for donations. When I joined the community group organizing the paper, I thought they were further along in securing 501(c)3 nonprofit status. We pivoted to finding a fiscal sponsor, and then, we ran into another problem: demand.

Last year, so many organizations sought fiscal sponsors that most national organizations offering the service stopped taking applications. It took nearly three months before the wonderful folks at San Juans Today stepped up to sponsor us. In the interim, we had no funds to pay employees, expand our coverage, or even cover basic expenses. I’ve been paying for all of our tech investments out of pocket just to keep us going.

What I’d do differently: Start with a dedicated committee focused only on securing nonprofit status and financial infrastructure. If you’re thinking about launching a nonprofit newsroom, trust me — handle the tax paperwork first.

Lesson 2: An Arts Town Deserves an Arts Reporter

Let me tell you how much of an arts town this is: La Conner has four museums and fewer than 1,000 residents. That doesn’t even count the many galleries, studios, and the truly staggering number of accomplished writers, photographers, and artists who call this place home.

Yet, we don’t have a dedicated arts reporter. And people have noticed.

What we’re doing about it: We’re immediately interviewing people in town and reaching out to local colleges to recruit interns.

Lesson 3: The Business Structure Matters (More Than You Think)

Nonprofit newsrooms are still a relatively new thing, and there’s no one-size-fits-all model. Our board wants the paper to be self-sufficient after a year, meaning we might be an interim nonprofit entity — but ultimately, we may become hybrid.

Because we didn’t map out a clear structure in the beginning, we had a confusing interim period with a real tactical problem: Should we have one checkbook (for the nonprofit) or two (one for fundraising and one for expenses)? Who was responsible for what? The lack of clarity made running the business side of the paper harder than it needed to be.

If I could do it over again: I’d define clear roles between the board and staff from day one and prioritize business functions alongside editorial ones. Having great reporting is essential — but so is having the structure to sustain it.

The Road Ahead

Mistakes aside, we’re still here. And in one week, we’ll have a print newspaper in the public’s hands. That’s worth celebrating.

We took risks because we had to. Some paid off, some cost us time and frustration, but all of them taught us something. If we can keep others from making the same mistakes, even better.

So, here’s to learning, adapting, and — most importantly — making sure La Conner never goes without a newspaper again.