TLDR: Streetsblog Chicago is kicking off our 2026 fund drive, and we need to raise $50K. We hit some rough road this year, and it looked like we might not be able to keep the (bike) lights on in 2026 – read on if you'd like to hear about how we got saved... for now. And please consider making a tax-deductible donation to keep our sustainable transportation reporting and advocacy running smoothly next year. Thank you!
On October 31, something happened in Illinois to inspire hope during these troubled times. The CTA, Metra, and Pace were on the verge of massive service cuts and layoffs, but lawmakers pulled off a surprise victory, passing a robust transit reform/funding bill, aka the "Halloween Miracle."
Along with transit-friendly politicians; and public transportation agencies and workers; credit for this win goes to tireless work by our advocacy colleagues. These include Active Transportation Alliance, Better Streets Chicago, Sierra Club of Illinois, Metropolitan Planning Council, Center for Neighborhood Technology, People's Lobby, Commuters Take Action, Equiticity and many more.
And Streetsblog Chicago was no slouch when it came to beating the drum about the looming transit fiscal cliff. In a little over a year, we've published over 80 articles on the subject.
But to lay our cards on the table, recently it looked like we might not publish much longer. Chicago would have been the largest U.S. city without a Streetsblog site.
As I've previously discussed, I'm grateful to the The Chicago Community Trust for steadfastly supporting SBC since we relaunched as an independent nonprofit in 2015. Recently, they covered about half of our annual budget.
But just after the 2024 election, The Trust informed me that, due to a strategic refresh including the new journalism project Press Forward Chicago, the foundation would no longer fund editorial expenses.
The Trust graciously provided tips on other possible grant sources. But after spending many nights and weekends applying, by summer 2025, nothing had panned out.
Thankfully, a very loyal Streetsblog reader, who's chipped in $10,000 a year since this site launched, agreed to donate another $17K to help us survive for the rest of the year. We were extremely grateful for their $27K total gift in 2025.
However, by summer's end, no other large-scale funding had materialized, and we were still over $40K short of our planned 2025-26 budget. Our bank account would be pretty much drained by New Year's.
Feeling at the end of my rope, I contacted a longtime Chicago sustainable transportation advocate and funding expert to ask if they had any leads. They weren't encouraging, noting that, due to Trump's federal grant cancellations, the charitable landscape is currently very competitive right. (They gave me permission to share our convo.)
"I wonder if Streetsblog Chicago's job is done," they said. "If I were you I would... do some stories on SBC's impact over the years... and plan a big party at the end of the year... End with a bang rather than a whimper."
I pushed back, arguing that while SBC's budget is a tiny fraction of that of Chicago's daily news outlets, we punch way above our weight class in influence. For example, we recently interviewed 11 state legislators, some of them multiple times, so we deserve a little credit for the Springfield win.
"You can spend the rest of this year looking for funding, and there's a 20 percent chance you find something," the advocate replied.
This was actually helpful, I responded. It realized applying for grants would be an uphill battle.
But throwing in the towel seemed wrong, I added. I love this work, and it wouldn’t benefit Chicagoland livable streets efforts if this became a no-Streetsblog city. Therefore, it made sense to switch to plan B, becoming a leaner, meaner operation.
"You've got the fire," the advocate replied. "Go for it."
The first step was belt-tightening. SBC cofounder Steven Vance and I agreed our part-time reporting position needed to conclude at the end of this year.
That was a tough call because that reporter has many positive attributes. Fortunately, when I broke the news, he was upbeat and open to occasionally freelancing for us in the future.
But even with a reduced payroll, how could we replace the rest of our previous foundation funding without a new grant? I put on my thinking helmet...
I realized at least one of our sibling Streetsblog websites probably had a much higher percentage of its budget paid for by a single private donor. I reached out to the editor, who kindly confirmed that my hunch was right.
So I resolved to do a Hail Mary to save this site. I reached out to Streetsblog Chicago's extremely supportive reader again. I asked if, given the dire grant outlook, they might be willing to cover a much larger portion of our annual budget.
The reader wisely asked for time to review my long pitch email. At the end of the week, they were comfortable chipping in roughly half of our slimmer budget annually.
Again, this news source likely wouldn't exist next year if it wasn't for this person's amazing generosity. Now Streetsblog Chicago had a future!
Soon afterwards, longtime ad sponsor Freeman Kevenides Law Firm proactively reached out with an offer to renew early. Loyal supporter Keating Law Offices also graciously agreed to renew their ads early. Thanks so much to both firms!
That said, SBC need to raise another $50K to complete our new 2026 budget, via other major donations, ad sales, and contributions from readers. So it's time to launch our 2026 fund drive. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today to help grease the wheels.
Streetsblog Chicago's outlook was pretty bleak for a while. But thanks to the generosity of our truly loyal supporter, our sponsors, and readers like yourself, I'm hopeful that next year Streetsblog Chicago will not ride off into the sunset!
Do you appreciate Streetsblog Chicago's no-paywall sustainable transportation reporting and advocacy? Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us continue publishing through 2026. If you can afford a $100 donation, you can view that as a subscription, which will make access to the site easier for people on tighter budgets, as well as decision-makers. Thanks for your support!
