Help us pay for the debates.
Two of us — Matt and Nicole — are putting on three hour-long debates between the candidates for Chico City Council, and putting them on local TV: organizing it, running it, building this website, all of it, on our own time.
We could cover the cost with a few corporate sponsors and logos. We just think it means more coming from the community these debates are actually for — so that's the route we're taking.
What the money pays for
Estimates, not invoices. Only the videographer has given us a firm number — the other two are estimates of what we anticipate the costs will be to cover staffing time at the venue and refreshments for our debate filming day.
- Videographer
- $3,000
- Lighting, recording and editing for all three debates. This is a quote from the person doing the work, and it is the single biggest cost by a long way.
- Venue
- $350
- A neutral, quiet, and camera-ready space with the venue's staffing there to facilitate our filming time. The cost of the space is being generously donated, but we'd like to compensate them for the cost of staffing while we're there.
- Refreshments
- $150
- Food and drinks for the candidates, their teams, the moderators, and the crew who are there to film the debates.
The goal on this page is those three numbers added together. Anything past it, we don't need — and anything short of it comes out of our own pockets.
You get thanked, not advertised.
Everyone who chips in and wants to be named is acknowledged in the published debate videos and on this page. That's a thank-you card, not an ad: no logos, no reading out a business, no thirty-second spot, nothing that would make a viewer wonder who bought what. The debates themselves don't change because of who paid for them.
Everyone who's chipped in
Neighbors who decided this was worth showing up for, with what they gave — no ranking, most recent first.
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Fine print
- This is not a nonprofit, and this is not a charitable donation. There is no 501(c)(3) behind it and no tax deduction of any kind. If you're looking for something to write off, this isn't it. Do not report a contribution here as a charitable gift.
- Who actually gets the money. Card payments go to a Stripe account run by the two of us organizing the debates, and it goes straight to the costs above.
- What it's spent on. The costs listed above, in that order. The videographer is the reason this page exists. We'll turn off fundraising once we reach the goal that covers them.
- Nobody is endorsing anybody. This fundraiser is run by the organizers alone. It is not sponsored, funded or endorsed by Action News Now, the Chico Enterprise-Record, the City of Chico, or any candidate or campaign in these races. Chipping in buys you no say in the questions, the format, or who gets invited.
- Refunds. Changed your mind, or gave twice by accident? Tell us and we'll send it back.