As of this morning, Crosscut is only $1,354 short of our goal for the Spring Membership drive. Thanks to all of you who have signed up as annual Members or renewed for the coming year. We've gained scores of new Members, and I hope you've had some fun reading about Crosscut from me and other writers and backers. It's easy to donate online, and you can space your contributions in monthly installments if you wish.
Crosscut is a good cause, and we rely on Members to support this kind of journalism for the public good. Your tax-deductible support frees us from commercial constraints and enables us to pay our many fine writers and our growing staff. As you know, journalism across the country is moving from a subscription and advertising financial model to a nonprofit model based on support from individual Members and foundations, as well as corporate sponsorships. Crosscut is a national pioneer and leader in this model, so please help us thrive!
Today is also the last day to get your name into the drawing for the grand prize, an iPad 2. You'll be competing with only a few hundred names, so chances are good. We need your pledge or contribution by midnight tonight for you to be eligible.
Donors at the $100 level will get a snazzy new Crosscut tee shirt, long sleeved and in Navy or black. We'll have a drawing from the names of those who join or renew today, with the winner getting a $25 gift certificate to Elliott Bay Books. Our Sunday winner, earning four free mix-and-match tickets to Seattle Arts & Lectures, is Walter Bodle of Seattle. There are lots of regular benefits to Membership as well; see the Members page for details.
This week, at a Membership party, Crosscut celebrated its fourth anniversary. I figure that's about 7,000 stories that we have produced, many of them of high quality and making significant contributions to the public debate. Not bad in a time when local journalism is cutting way back and losing confidence. That's also about 200 writers we have given voice to, who would otherwise not have had this public platform. Day after day, Crosscut "advances the argument" by providing original and expert reporting and analysis from across a broad spectrum. I thank the folks who lifted a glass to Crosscut at the party, and I thank our many hundreds of Members who make all this possible. I hope you'll join the cause, too.
We're all very grateful for your readership, your generous support, your lively comments, and your heartening commitment to our region. You are the crucial difference, for you constitute an ideal audience of smart, engaged, show-me readers. Nothing better in journalism than writing for a readership you really respect, alongside other writers you value.
