Since Correntewire.com started almost two years ago Lambert has been paying the monthly server costs entirely out of his pocket. As our popularity increases, the server costs go up. Currently they're at $200/month.
If you appreciate posting on Corrente and having an average of 3,500 daily visitors read your stuff; if you enjoy commenting and interacting with other readers with no restrictions on cussin'; if you get information and entertainment out of the shrill, reality-based postings... signing up for a recurring donation would be a Good Thing to do.
Halfway into our pledge week we're at 30% to our goal of $100 in recurring contributions. Also, we have a $25 one-time donation. The Mighty Corrente Building thanks you.
However, since most of the pledges were made last week, the inevitable conclusion is that the pr0n inducement has worked on only one donor: me. What does that tell you about Victor Shystee? That clever and original fundraising ideas appeal to him. That's all. Period. Read nothing into it.
So we're going to switch gears and try a different angle. Don't worry, if we reach our goal we will keep our pr0n promise. We're not lying-ass Republicans after all.
More reasons (if you need them) below the fold:
Question: What happens if I don't donate? It's not like the Mighty Corrente Building will go away, right?
A couple things will happen:
- No Progressive Pr0n for anyone
- Lambert will be forced to feed the Zucchini of Chastisement to the hungry hamsters that run the servers
While I doubt that Lambert will give up fighting fascism until he types his last keystroke, saddling him with the whole cost of the server doesn't seem right to me.
I think we should make it easier for non-A-list bloggers to keep doing their thing. While Lords Kos, Atrios and Marshall get paid through advertising, fellowships and donations, I want the independent spirit of the smaller blogs to keep going.
This is going to be hard to do if, besides spending huge amounts of time writing, bloggers have to expend their own financial resources as well.
And I'm not just talking about Corrente. If this kind of weeklong pledge drive combined with monthly contributions works out, we can pass the practice on to other small blogs.
If you don't like the fact that an elite is forming in the lefty blogosphere world, this is the way to do something about it.
Question: I'm saving my money so I can donate to HillBadWards or a local Democratic candidate. Why should I contribute to Corrente or any other blog?
Keep in mind that only one candidate will win. So if you donate to the wrong candidate your money will go "poof". Besides, your donation will be skimmed by consultant fees, media commissions, admnistrative costs, etc. Also, you will just be another record in a database to them.
The "small donor" phenomenon is a great thing, but how much are the candidates really listening to the small donors? And besides listening, how are they doing as far as following through on doing what the small donors elected them to do?
Anyway, there is no reason you can't do both: support a progressive candidate and support a progressive blogger. Both are important.
As we are seeing, even progressive politicians, once elected, are restricted to what the Conventional Wisdom says is Politically Possible.
Progressive bloggers are constantly chipping away at the conventional wisdom and moving the Overton Window to the left. I really believe that a one-two punch of progressives in elected office combined with a strong progressive influence on the national discourse and public opinion will get us the policy outcomes we want.
Question: OK I'm totally convinced how does it work?
- This page has some frequent answers.
- A one time donation is certainly much appreciated, but a recurring donation will keep on givin' and make it so we don't have to do pledge drives every month/quarter.
- If you have further questions leave them in comments below.
- If you want people to know you have contributed post a comment below as well. Otherwise your name will be kept private.
Question: The fabulous Bush economy has reduced me to choosing between paying rent and paying for my medication. Should I donate to the Mighty Corrente Building instead?
Only donate if you can really, really spare it. If you have any room in your beer/wine/ice cream budget please consider a recurring monthly donation of 5, 10 or 20 bucks.
Thank you,
Victor Shystee
Senior Fellow of the Mighty Corrente Building and proud supporter of same
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And by contrast
Nothing wrong with this, but check out the numbers here, starting with $4000 for a system administrator.
Heck, maybe this weekend I'll install the social networking features for free....
Of course, we're not "A-listers." Then again, we're not A-listers. Eh?
No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
You're A-listers
to me.
Sadly, words are cheap, and I'm poor so I shant be sending money. But I find Corrente more than worth reading, and think the contributors do a damn good job - catching things, and saying things, that often don't get caught or said by others.
At some point people get what they pay for, and blogging does't pay worth a damn except for a very very few people. (Strictly speaking, I think I qualify as "a list" (ghetto a-list) and I'll tell ya, I'd have been much, much, much better off financially getting a job at McD's rather than blogging.)
So... please give to Corrente.
Sustaining Corrente
"We are self-supporting through our own contributions."
Did you ever wonder why an organization like Alcoholics Anonymous is still around after 60 years? Several million members and over 100,000 groups worldwide?
Let's leave aside efficacy for a moment. Many people think it doesn't work for this reason or that. Fine.
Nonetheless AA exists, and it isn't a cult by Oxford English Dictionary terms:
So why is it around 60 years later? I believe it is because the first 100 members had two radical insights. The first was that whole Higher Power thingy. God of your own understanding, not Bill Wilson's or the Oxford Group.
The second was self support. The refusal to take money from outside sources combined with not arguing over surplus (healthy groups give away all surplus minus a prudent reserve of a few months rent to service entities).
Think of what outside support has meant to politics and media. Think of how important it is to fund our own media so that we get a chance at truth, a chance at reading about what is important, not what CNN believes will deliver eyeballs to their corporate customers.
I started donating to Minnesota Public Radio again. They're far from perfect, but their model is right. I subscribe to Salon - again, far from perfect, but I read Glenn and occasionally Digby over there, and Tom Tomorrow.
And I am a sustaining contributor to Corrente. I am part of a "we" at this site, a we that includes people I normally wouldn't mix with: farmer, CD, MJS, Sarah, vastleft, scarshapedstar, shystee, xan, Leah. Doesn't mean me all agree or all fall down on our knees before lambert's zucchinis. But we all feel like something useful and important and disruptive and funny happens here, and that is worth sustaining.
We don't give until it hurts in AA - we just do our part.
"A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
"A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
alternate means of donations?
Is there an alternate method of support other than BlogPatron?
My job ends in December so I can only make a 1-time donation right now, so the BlogPatron subscription model isn't useful. Their registration requires more information than paypal or credit card (including phone number), and I'd rather avoid that.
BlogPatron allows one-time donations
I guess I'd prefer to have one source, especially one that manages all the contact info for me. As for the phone, I've asked them for the rationale, though if you were feeling adventurous, you could try the old 555-1212 dodge.
No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
ok
I was just asking if there was an alternative for a 1-time donation as before. I signed up (it looks like you have to give the right phone number on record on the billing page).
With luck, more later when I have a new job (and a better beer budget, too).