When people ask what makes Inside Sacramento successful after more than 30 years, I give the same answer: Local partnerships.
Yes, we publish local journalism. We tell stories about neighborhoods, people, businesses and public issues. But at our core, Inside Sacramento has always been about connecting people.
For three decades, we have been fortunate to partner with hundreds of nonprofits, schools, arts organizations, neighborhood groups and civic leaders who share a common goal—making Sacramento a better place to live.
As Inside celebrates more than 30 years of serving our community, I’ve been reflecting on a simple truth: nothing meaningful is accomplished alone.
One of the most rewarding experiences in my career was helping establish the nonprofit Friends of East Sacramento.
What began as a volunteer effort evolved into a decade-long public-private partnership with the city to restore and manage McKinley Rose Garden and Clunie Community Center.
Thousands of volunteer hours helped maintain the rose garden. Local residents and small businesses contributed money to restore and improve these treasured public spaces.
Arts have long been another cornerstone of our partnerships. Sacramento has an extraordinary cultural community and Inside has worked with many organizations, including Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, Sacramento Ballet, Sacramento Choral Society, Verge Center for the Arts and Race for the Arts.
We donate advertising, provide editorial coverage and use our covers to showcase local artists and exhibitions.
One of our longest-running partnerships is with the KVIE Art Auction. We feature artwork by participating artists on our covers to promote the auction fundraiser and celebrate the creative community.
We partnered with Sacramento Photography Month, showcasing award-winning images by local photographers on our covers to build awareness of the monthlong event.
For more than a decade, we featured winning artists from the State Fair fine arts competition. Local galleries receive help from cover placements timed to coincide with exhibition openings.
A favorite collaboration is with Crocker Art Museum. Over the years, we highlighted many of the museum’s noteworthy events.
One memorable moment was celebrating the centennial birthday of Wayne Thiebaud. His artwork appeared on all four of our covers during the month of his Crocker retrospective. After his death at age 101, we honored his legacy by featuring his art on our covers.
Our partnership with Crocker continues today. We regularly feature works from major exhibitions, including the current Suzanne Adan retrospective, which runs through Oct.11.
In June, our covers showcased artwork from the museum’s annual Art Auction, helping raise awareness of artists who donate their work to support Crocker’s mission.
These collaborations reflect our longstanding belief that local journalism plays an important role in making arts and culture more accessible.
Education is another priority. For more than 25 years, we have partnered on home tours with Sacred Heart School, Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association and Preservation Sacramento. We have also supported numerous school fundraisers, garden tours and student programs.
Neighborhood associations and community groups have a partner with Inside. Over the years, our reporting, community calendars, feature stories and donated advertising campaigns helped grassroots organizations raise awareness, recruit volunteers, increase membership and build momentum.
We were founding committee members of both the Sacramento Walk of Stars and Run to Feed the Hungry. For decades we featured watercolors of the race by David Lobenberg on our covers each November.
Many small organizations operate with limited budgets and rely on volunteers. By shining a spotlight on their work, we help strengthen connections, encourage civic participation and foster neighborhood pride.
Animal welfare organizations are longtime partners. For more than two decades, Inside has donated advertising space to promote pet adoptions through organizations including the Sacramento SPCA, Front Street Animal Shelter and Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary.
When the pandemic disrupted businesses, we launched the 100% Local campaign. Working alongside city leaders, neighborhood organizations and businesses, we encouraged residents to support local merchants.
Throughout these three decades, Inside Sacramento contributed far more than news coverage. We donated advertising, graphic design services, promotional support, event publicity and thousands of hours of volunteer efforts.
The newspaper industry has changed dramatically since our first issue. Yet I’m optimistic. The partnerships that sustained Inside for more than 30 years reveal something important about our city. Sacramento is filled with people who care about their neighborhoods, schools, parks, arts organizations and local institutions.
As we begin our next chapter, Inside is committed to the organizations, nonprofits and civic leaders who make this region special.
Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublications.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
