Support The Rambler
Pricing Intro
Welcome to The Roanoke Rambler! We're thrilled that you are considering a membership to our weekly newsletter, which brings you exclusive stories, including coverage of local government and politics, the environment and racial justice, as well as original fiction and poetry. You can now sign up for free here. You may cancel your membership at anytime, but we cannot process refunds. Please note that benefits at the patron and angel level are available only at the yearly level or equivalent monthly level (i.e., 10 months).
Pricing List
- MEMBER | $10 | https://buy.stripe.com/fZedSK7bBgThegU8wH | $100 | https://buy.stripe.com/28o3e60NdcD13Cg7sE
- PATRON | $20 | https://buy.stripe.com/28o3e61Rh7iHfkY14e | $200 | https://buy.stripe.com/14k2a2gMb46v7Sw4gp
- ANGEL | $50 | https://buy.stripe.com/5kA15Y9jJfPdgp24gv | $500 | https://buy.stripe.com/5kA15Y9jJfPdgp24gv
Benefits List
- Access to all content | 3
- Tote bag | 2
- Sponsor two (2) newsletters per year | 1
- Our gratitude | 3
- Your name on our website | 2
Who are we?
We are a local and investigative news site and weekly newsletter serving the people of Roanoke and the region. To learn more about our vision, please visit our About us page.
Why are some stories behind a paywall?
It costs us thousands of dollars each month to produce original, local journalism. We have a single employee who makes $31,200 per year.
That's why we rely on support from members, who have full access to all our journalism, for as little as $8.33 per month. From our launch in September 2021 through March 2023, all of our journalism required a subscription. Now, you can subscribe to our weekly newsletter for free.
Yet we still want to provide extra value to our supporters. So we will continue to paywall some of our main stories, including our exclusive, investigative and in-depth stories.
How does my membership support The Roanoke Rambler?
Your membership, which renews automatically monthly or annually, provides us with a reliable and predictable source of revenue.
When the Internet emerged, many publications posted their journalism online for free, and many of us have become accustomed to accessing such news for free. Unfortunately, the rise of the Internet also tanked print advertising revenue, which still makes up the bulk of most newspapers' funding. Today, the vast majority of new digital ad revenue goes to Google and Facebook. A digital-only news outlet premised on ad revenue alone is nearly impossible.
So rather than rely solely upon advertisers, our publication must depend on the support of you, our readers. We also accept advertisements, and you can find more information about our advertising and sponsorship opportunities here. Still, on The Rambler, you'll never find any pop-up ads, clickbait, moving pictures or other unfortunate advertising gimmicks.
About 70 percent of our expenses go directly to personnel, whether to pay our founding editor/writer salary or to pay our freelance journalists, according to our latest financial report (below). The remaining 30 percent of our costs go to spreading the word about The Rambler through marketing and member swag, paying for public records requests, and paying for the technology that makes this website and newsletter possible.
Can I donate in addition to or in lieu of a membership?
You sure can! Every dollar counts and goes straight back into providing local journalism. Currently, folks can donate via our PayPal here.
I want to give a gift membership!
Great! Thanks for the support. Please fill out this form, and you're all set!
Where's my swag?
Thank you for subscribing at the patron or angel level! We sent our first shipment out to members in January 2022. If you haven't received your swag, please contact us at editor@roanokerambler.com.
Is my membership tax-deductible?
No. The Roanoke Rambler is incorporated as a private company in Virginia called Big Blue Press LLC.
Can my business sponsor or advertise in The Rambler?
You sure can. You can find more information about our advertising and sponsorship opportunities at this page.
Who is giving you money?
We believe strongly that you should know how your journalism is being funded, and by whom. To that end, we publicly post the names and contribution ranges for memberships or gifts of $200 or more. We are grateful to all of our members for supporting local, independent journalism. For the sake of transparency, and to honor those who have joined The Rambler at the patron level and above, we publish their names. Here is a list of our current supporters, based on payments processed as of 3/19/2023:
Founding donors ($5,000 and above)
- The Estate of Lorraine Deubel
- Anne and Raymond Gendreau
- Henri Gendreau
- Google News Initiative
Angels ($500 to $4,999)
- Dotsy Clifton
- Robert Dean
Patrons ($200 to $499)
- Genevieve Anderson
- Phillip Anderson
- Backstreet Beat LLC
- Samantha Barton
- Joel Bashore
- Book No Further
- Ryan Bailey
- Robert Barrow
- Susan J Cloeter
- Valerie Coles
- Crafteria: Handmade Food & Goods
- Rupert Cutler
- Edward Downing
- M.T. Eley
- Lauren Ellerman
- Raphael and Terri Ferris
- Mary Flinn
- William Fralin
- Aaron Garland
- Cathy Greenberg
- Ann and Bill Hackworth
- Brenda Hale
- Mary K. Keene — in memory of John Lucas Krippendorf, a.k.a. “Luke Pewk the Living Legend”
- Mary L. Kegley
- Alison Krug
- Jeffery Lewis
- Jim Lindsey
- Bryan A. Musselwhite
- Kurt Navratil
- Theresa Ruth Neilsen-Steinhardt
- Philip W. Parker
- John W. Pendleton
- Linda Pharis
- Paula Prince
- Melissa Robinson
- Rockfish Food & Wine
- Wendy Singer
- Suzanne Thorniley
- Charlotte Walch
- Jean Whitaker
- Carol and Doug Wright
Where is your money going?
As another mark of financial transparency, we also publish "thirdly" reports, which every four months will explain to the public where our money is going to and coming from.
Thirdly Report January 2023 to April 2023:
Thirdly Report September 2022 to December 2022:
Thirdly Report May 2022 to August 2022:
Thirdly Report Jan 2022 to April 2022:
Thirdly Report Sept 2021 to Dec 2021: