Díaz: As The D.O. embarks on another ambitious fundraising campaign, we want to be more transparent about our goals

Over the past two years, The Daily Orange has reevaluated its business operations in an effort to be more efficient, effective and digitally minded. These updates are the result of an assessment of our short- and long-term goals, an expansion of online advertising opportunities with The D.O. and a full-blown financial review of the organization by a Syracuse-based accounting firm.

The D.O. Board of Directors has used the review’s findings as a guide to put the organization in the best possible position ahead of our expected move from 744 Ostrom Ave. We will need to relocate in about the next five years as Syracuse University’s Campus Framework infrastructure plan calls for the demolition of our current home. Updates on this project will come soon.

We’ve adopted key financial policies, adjusted business workflow to ensure our records are in order and made a much-needed switch to a bank with greater nonprofit and investment support. The D.O. also welcomed back our general manager, Mike Dooling, as part of a recently signed 5-year contract.

While we continue to improve our internal fiscal structure, we want to be as transparent as possible on all fronts of The D.O.’s finances, including fundraising. We want to answer questions alumni have questions about fundraising and its distribution: If we don’t meet our donation goal for staff salaries, are staffers paid? How will the move be paid for? How much has been raised in recent years?

The fundraising wishlist in its current format was successfully kicked off by former editor in chief Mara Corbett (‘17) in 2015 and has been continued by management teams since then. The two completed campaigns combined have raised $39,250, much of which came from our generous alumni.

Here’s a breakdown of those investments:

During the 2015-16 year, 147 donors contributed $20,150 to complete a fundraising goal supporting staff salaries ($10,000), sports travel ($5,650), two new computers ($900), Adobe Creative Cloud software ($2,100) and an in-house photo studio ($1,500).

These funds were used the following academic year. During the 2016-17 year, the cost of staff salaries — which is one of The D.O.’s biggest annual expenses — was offset by $10,000. Donations to the sports travel budget allowed the staff to travel 33,076 miles and make 37 road trips to 15 states and Canada.

The campaign also allowed us to incorporate the latest editions of Adobe software into our in-house computers, which include two new Microsoft desktops funded by donations. The in-house photo studio was installed in our basement and most recently used for a shoot with SU’s Orange Central homecoming king and queen nominees. The studio kit, which is portable, provides us with consistent staff headshots and is particularly useful for media day photo opportunities.

During the 2016-17 academic year, 171 donors contributed $19,100 to fulfill a fundraising goal supporting staff salaries ($9,000), sports travel ($4,000), Adobe Creative Cloud software ($2,100), web development ($3,000) and archiving ($1,000).

The campaign offset the cost of staff salaries and has covered our football coverage at away games so far this fall, including at LSU, at North Carolina State and this week’s trip to Miami. On the technical side, the donations funded the latest edition of Creative Cloud licenses on our in-house desktops, which have allowed us to produce stellar designs for the print and digital products, including our Snapchat Publisher Story.

While $3,000 was raised for web development, including the creation of a D.O. app, we are instead focusing on the functionality, security and stability of our website. Our IT team is actively working to resolve the numerous website issues we’ve encountered over the past year, including lags, errors and a lack of accessibility at times. We’ll keep alumni up to date on our progress.

For the 2017-18 year, managing editor Alexa Torrens and I outlined a $17,000 campaign identifying archiving, digital media equipment, sports travel, staff salaries and web development as The D.O.’s primary areas of need. The full explanations for why we chose these areas can be read here.

We can’t continue to lean on you to fund The D.O.’s future as we look to a new school year, let alone the costly transition to a new office in the next few years. We want the paper to be sustainable without fundraising support reliant on small but gracious donations from our alumni and friends.

Paired with a separate targeted fundraising push to establish a scholarship program, we’re excited to formalize our fundraising structure with The Daily Orange Alumni Association and focus on community-driven fundraising events, among other strategies in the works. We hope to capitalize on our nonprofit status in the Syracuse community this year and lay the groundwork for future staffs to do the same.

With the help of a robust grants team and task force established by The D.O.’s Board of Directors to research options for a new office, we’ll develop comprehensive plans to preserve The D.O.’s archives and fund the move to a new space. We’ve made it our goal to do so without depending on alumni as a pillar of financial support.

We’re committed to doing our part to ensure The D.O. is ready for its upcoming move and being transparent about the process. With a general manager at the start of a five-year contract, insight from our task forces and continued support from our alumni base, we know we can achieve that and more.

To learn more about our recent financial review or discuss anything else in this column, please contact us at 315-443-9798 or editor@dailyorange.com.

Alexa Díaz (’18) is the editor in chief and former managing editor and editorial editor of The Daily Orange. She serves as president of the Board of Directors. Please feel free to contact her at editor@dailyorange.com and on Twitter at @alexalucina.