This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 226 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in the financial realm. Please join us and participate via our donation page, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Read about why we’re doing this fundraiser and what we’ve accomplished in the last year.
Thanks to our loyal readers for such fast and generous responses! This has been far and away our best first day response evah! We hit our first goal in nine hours! Because Lambert, the Master of the Fundraiser Thermometers, is off the grid, our thermometer is very much behind where we are. He will get it more current when he comes back on duty.
We’ve already well over 200 donations towards fundraiser target of 1100 donors (the total number of donations is an approximation since I do a full count every midnight and then work off that during the day). It was particularly gratifying seeing donations start coming in right as the fundraiser post went live just before 7:00 AM this morning.
Even more important, we blew past our first goal, which was $19,000 to provide for more technology investments in the site, better loading speed, more robust defenses, design and feature tweaks, and faster resolution of other site issues, a markedly higher level than last year due to a more hostile external environment. So good for you for helping us support unsexy but absolutely critical budget items. This is our foundation for all the content we provide.
But this is only our first goal. If you haven’t had time to contribute yet, we hope you’ll go to our Tip Jar pronto, which show you how to give by check, debit or credit card or PayPal.
We’ve hit our target quickly, and are moving faster than at the same time last year.
Our second goal is $21,500 for travel and meetups, and as of 4:00 PM, we already have $1,305 towards that target. We used to devote this item to conferences. Travel has become more expensive thanks to higher oil prices. This year, we had to turned down the opportunity to speak even at the MMT conference even though it was in New York City because your humble blogger couldn’t handle the time demands.
In recent years, I’ve turned down pretty much all conferences (as well as TV requests). For us to keep up our regular publishing schedule, we need to provide for blog coverage by paying our writers to do more than their usual duty if I travel, go to meetups, or even do media. As one astute reader said, we are like a single mother who can’t leave our apartment without hiring a baby sitter. So we even with your generous past support, we are still so resource constrained that we aren’t getting out as much as we ought to.
As much as I joke that we run this site with 1.5 people (now up to maybe 2.3 with Jerri-Lynn, Outis, and Jules), that’s due to Lambert providing Water Cooler, and Lambert and other writers also making sure none of us keels over due to overwork. Taking the time to do what most normal journalists and business people do, get out and have face time, has been a luxury we’ve seldom been able to indulge in.
So our big priority is going to more meetups, particularly in cities where we haven’t held them before.
More important, it’s clear from the reader participation in all the meetups we did this year and, and the wistful comments from reader in other cities would like meetups, readers enjoy them and regard them as very valuable, as the rise of meetup groups in cities we haven’t gotten to yet, like Tucson, Minneapolis, and Salem, Oregon, attests. It’s not just that some of you would like to meet Lambert and me. Much more important, it’s an opportunity for local members of the NC community to get to know each other. We’ve found without exception that readers really enjoy these discussions, and they always go on well after the formal session time.
However, our skeletal staffing means these trips are more costly than you’d think. Even going to Washington DC on a day trip and having a few meetings (as in cabbing around a bit) is over $600 item, and a meetup means an overnight stay. And for most travel, the blog coverage cost exceeds the actual transportation/lodging expenses. So as much as we’d love to go to conferences, see readers outside NYC for meetups, and go visit a CalPERS board meeting and ask a few questions, all of those are bigger ticket items than you might imagine.
So those of you who have contributed already, thanks again for your generous support, and we look forward to those NC fans who have just found out about the fundraiser to donate through the Tip Jar to help make the site more successful.
22 comments
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Great news!
I’ll try to donate again this year, but I don’t think I can this month. Have to pay 1500 EU on a apartment deposit/change in Berlin.
Meetup in Berlin?
:)
Would love to do Berlin but that might take a big frequent flier mile donation (we’ve asked for those too!).
We should have a big Bourbon St meetup during Mardi Gras and discuss what really matters – BEADS
Heres another 10 for all those fn loco Marxists out there!
Mt Olympos Forgive if we want just the facts!
I loved the Seattle meetup.
We put our names on the list, but I can’t remember if anyone took it and sent anything out.
Donation check in the mail….it’s a pleasure to support NC.
Donation via pp, penance for all my idiotic posts. Well, some of them. I don’t have that much money.
Ooh, my favorite fundraiser of the year! Hope yinz’re up for a rust belt visit next year; blow through all the goals until you can’t think of any more!
Came out a little ahead in fantasy baseball this year. Winnings heading NC’s way! And I can’t be the only one in the readership. There’s gotta be a decent intersection between NC readers and sabermetric-ly inclined baseball fans.
So happy to help this wonderful site! Thanks for all you do.
But seriously, we need to get you on PBS more often. It’s a great boost for your site. You present so confidently w/o hubris. You present as likable, and believable. When you were on more often, I’d have friends call and say, “Oh, that woman whose website you recommend was on PBS. She was really good.” They now are lurkers on NC!
I’m too lazy to look, mainly because I view PP as a necessary evil in this case. Will my monthly subscription through PP continue without my doing anything? If I have to resubscribe, that I will certainly do so. I could not begin my day without checking my browser default page, which is NC.
Yes, subscriptions continue until they are cancelled or changed, so thanks of your continuing support!
“I could not begin my day without checking my browser default page, which is NC.”
Roger that.
Meet up in Sandpoint, Idaho!
Any takers?
That’s an Amtrak stop, right? The Empire Builder runs through there.
(Amtrak 30% off sale ends today, btw)
I especially support the meet ups, nothing like human face time, especially for those in the location that would not otherwise make acquaintance under normal circumstances. For all the hard work and effort the purveyors of this blog undergo the cornerstone of it all is its readership and their interaction and how that expands the information base this blog offers.
None of the NC admin team can be everywhere at once, others have to take up the responsibility to forward the information as best they can and with in their capacity, all things considered.
To that end they will only be as effective as the base that supports them.
On the other hand, said through grit teeth, due to my address I will never have the pleasure of attending one of these shin digs… lament…
I used to have a way of getting Qantas tickets cheaply in American Airlines frequent flier mile terms, but Qantas stopped that awhile back :-( . I would love to go to Australia again.
I think AA used to pay Qantas hard dollars for frequent flier mileage awards on Qantas, so AA customers had better access to the long-route awards.
Oh Yves… no dramas…
I know you would, but I would also suggest things have changed since your last visit. On that note I think your energy’s are better spent where it counts and my remote part of the seven[ish] is an honor.
I’ll live love… it’s what we do for the greater….
Anyone interested in having an Austin or Houston, TX meetup?
Would Austin, Nov 10 or 11 work?
Sorry…just saw this…floods have taken my attention….the 10th would probably work. Let me know…how about others?
“…constrained that we aren’t getting out as much as we ought to.”
Please no shoulds, oughts, or musts; I want to or i meant to. We enjoy our time with you. Don’t make the D.C. inside the belt mistake. Come hear our thoughts. Thank you for all your efforts.
I have been very fortunate in the last year, both financially, and having NC to interact with.
Donation on the way.
Thanks to all.