Support independent nonprofit news that informs, connects and empowers.
We’re funded by hundreds of locals like you. Your donation to Santa Cruz Local will:
- Keep our crucial news free and accessible.
- Power our guides that connect residents to basic resources.
- Hold leaders accountable to residents.
Join as a monthly or annual member
A member is anyone who gives monthly or annually to support our work. Membership with our newsroom is different from a newspaper subscription. With traditional subscriptions, you pay for access to a product. Our news is free for everyone. With Santa Cruz Local membership, you join our cause. You help to produce fair and accurate local journalism that holds power to account.
Becoming a Santa Cruz Local member means you help make our news free for everyone. You help our reporters inform a greater audience about our community’s biggest issues.
For us, membership is not just a financial transaction. We want to have an ongoing two-way conversation with you. We want to understand your needs so those needs can help guide our reporting. Learn more about how we tune our reporting to Santa Cruz County residents’ questions, concerns and priorities. Our members share our vision: When we are all watching and engaged in our local government, our needs are addressed, democracy works better and our community is stronger.
About 80% of Santa Cruz Local’s revenue comes from local residents like you. We’re a nonprofit news organization. We’re not accountable to advertisers. We’re accountable to you, our readers.
By pledging a monthly or annual gift, you give us predictable income and a runway for growth.
Yes! Your donations are tax deductible. For information or questions, contact our CEO Kara Meyberg Guzman at 831-291-3456 or [email protected].
We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit and our EIN is 37-2064285.
Learn more about Santa Cruz Local on our FAQ and our About Us pages.
Follow these links to make changes to your membership. You’ll have to log in.
Need help? Email Cosme Lobato, our Individual Giving Manager, at [email protected].
Sure! Please make checks out to “Santa Cruz Local” and mail to:
Santa Cruz Local
877 Cedar St., Suite 150
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
If you want to become a member by making a recurring donation by check, please include a note with your check along with your contact info and we’ll send you a reminder.
More ways to give
Santa Cruz Local accepts donations from donor-advised funds, including at the Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Fidelity, Charles Schwab and more.
Search for Santa Cruz Local in your fund or account portal.
- Our EIN is 37-2064285.
- Our mailing address is 877 Cedar St. Suite 150, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
Read more about donor-advised funds.
A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from your IRA is a tax-savvy way to support local news.
You can make a contribution directly from your IRA to a charity if you are 70 ½ or older, and it will not count as taxable income for the year.
What’s more: If you’re 73 or older and you have a traditional IRA, the IRS requires you to take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) each year. By directing part or all of your RMD directly to Santa Cruz Local as a QCD:
- You support local news: Your gift directly funds in-depth reporting in Santa Cruz County.
- You lower your taxable income: The transferred funds count toward your required distribution but are excluded from your gross income, even if you don’t itemize deductions.
How it works:
- Contact your IRA custodian (e.g., Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard) and let them know you’d like to make a Qualified Charitable Distribution to Santa Cruz Local.
- Ensure the transfer is direct: The check or transfer must go directly from your IRA to Santa Cruz Local to qualify for the tax exclusion.
- Let us know: Drop us a quick note so we can keep an eye out for your gift and thank you properly!
Santa Cruz Local Inc.
877 Cedar St., Suite 150
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Federal Tax ID (EIN): 37-2064285
Please email Santa Cruz Local Individual Giving Manager Cosme Lobato Dondiego at [email protected] to let us know that your gift is on its way.
Because tax circumstances vary, we encourage you to consult your financial advisor.
Donating appreciated stock may allow you to take a tax deduction for the fair market value. Check with your tax advisor.
When you’re ready, email Santa Cruz Local CEO/Co-founder Kara Meyberg Guzman at [email protected] with this information:
- Your broker’s name and your brokerage firm’s name.
- Name of stock and number of shares.
- Planned date of transfer.
Ask your broker to transfer the shares to Santa Cruz Local Inc.’s brokerage account at Fidelity. Provide your broker with the following wiring instructions:
- Receiving account name: Santa Cruz Local Inc.
- Receiving account number: Z40396050.
- Santa Cruz Local Inc.’s Tax ID number: EIN 37-2064285.
- Fidelity’s DTC number: 0226.
- Fidelity’s address:
Fidelity Investments
Attn: TOA Receives
PO Box 770001
Cincinnati, OH 45277-0036 - Fidelity’s phone: 1-800-544-4442.
Once the stock is transferred, Kara Meyberg Guzman will email you a tax receipt and acknowledgment letter.
Several employers in Santa Cruz County and the Silicon Valley will match their employees’ donations to 501(c)3 nonprofits.
Santa Cruz Local is set up with Benevity and CyberGrants, matching gift portals used by many companies including:
- Hewlett-Packard.
- Apple.
- Microsoft.
- Roblox.
- Ebay.
- Google.
- Driscoll’s.
- Netflix.
- Bank of America.
- Intel.
- Verizon.
- Johnson & Johnson.
- Target.
- Lowe’s.
Please search for Santa Cruz Local in your company’s Benevity or CyberGrants portal. Santa Cruz Local’s EIN is 37-2064285 and our mailing address is 877 Cedar St. Suite 150, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
If your company uses a different matching portal, please contact Santa Cruz Local CEO/Co-founder Kara Meyberg Guzman at [email protected] or 831-291-3456. Kara can help register Santa Cruz Local with your company’s program.
Learn tax-savvy ways to include Santa Cruz Local in your estate plans, including gifts that pay you income.
Questions? Contact Cosme Lobato, Santa Cruz Local’s Individual Giving Manager, at [email protected]