Profile: Peter L. Buttenwieser (with Terry A. Marek)

Owner, Peter L. Buttenwieser & Associates, <br>Philadelphia, PA

Photo: Getty Images

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Peter L. Buttenwieser, an heir to the Lehman Brothers securities fortune, has been among the most generous Demoncratic donors for nearly a decade. Since 1990, has donated $ million to Democratic causes, and has hosted fundraising events for scores of Democratic candidates. Two years ago, on a single day, he rolled out the welcome mat at lunch for Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, who was engaged in a hard-fought reelection campaign, and at dinner for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Buttenweiser also has politics in his family tree: His great-uncle, Herbert Lehman, was a U.S. senator from New York. Still, Buttenweiser has shied away from the usual favors that come with such campaign largesse. He turned down invitations to dine at the White House during the Clinton years. And he has remained particularly focused on a few issues, among them public education. Having spent a decade as a principal at an inner-city school in Philadelphia, Buttenweiser now runs his own educational consulting firm.

“I don’t feel the need to ask for things,” he told the Philadelphia Daily News. “It allows me a certain role in Democratic politics that I couldn’t get by asking for stuff. My strength is not asking.”

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.

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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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