Matchbox Magazine

Matchbox Magazine is a student run literary magazine based at UC Santa Cruz that publishes talented writers, artists, and musicians from the entire undergraduate population of the UC system. We distribute our magazine in the spring of each year and strive to feature the best work our peers have to offer. As the only student publication that is UC wide, Matchbox is an important way for UC students to have their creative voices widely heard, and to hear voices and perspectives from all over the state that they might not have otherwise been exposed to. Not only does Matchbox provide amazing learning opportunities for our staff, but it also provides a singular forum for writers and artists who might otherwise be overlooked.

Since the books are entirely free to students, all of our funding is donation based. In recent years, we have received the majority of our funding from various on-campus resources, as well as some local businesses, and last year for the first time we tried crowdfunding, to such success that here we are again! As our dreams for the magazine grow, so does the cost of production. We are trying to print roughly 300 more copies than we did last year, in the hopes of reaching more people and spreading our peer’s amazing work farther than before.

Our budget for this year is around $6,900. This will let us increase production from 1,200 to 1,500 copies of a little over 100 pages each. Last year’s issue flew off the shelves, so we’re using the extra books to makes sure everyone who wants one can have one. We already have raised almost $3,000 so our goal here of $3,500  will put us directly in reach of our budget and hopefully allow some seed money for next year’s issue.

We love making this magazine and people love reading it, so sustainability for the future is incredibly important to us as an organization. By supporting Matchbox, you’re helping us leave a legacy for future years to create bigger and better magazines. Each book costs less than $5 to make, so your donation can directly put a book in someone’s hands. Without you, we wouldn’t be here. Make a gift today to support students, the arts, and the expansion of Matchbox Magazine.