Friday Cat Blogging – 16 December 2011

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This has been new things week. Not really new, of course, just new enough to be newly fascinating. The nights are getting chilly here in Southern California (mid 50s!) so Marian tossed an extra quilt on her side of the bed, and Inkblot instantly fell in love. Every day he hops up on the bed and burrows under it for his late morning nap. Likewise, I got a little chilly a few nights ago and grabbed a quilt, which I then tossed onto my chair after I was done. Domino, who has never shown any interest in this chair before, claimed it immediately. Yes, she’s the round black ball in the middle of the nest on the right.

In other news, today is Beethoven’s birthday, so go listen to a symphony. Or, better yet, his violin concerto. And in case you’re a late riser and missed my fundraising pitch this morning, you still have a chance to contribute to the Mother Jones Investigative Fund today. This is our last beg of the year, and we’re trying to raise $75,000 to help fund our reporting activities for 2012. Many, many thanks to everyone who’s contributed so far, whether it’s $5 or $500.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

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