There’s no way to sugarcoat this.

Unless we see a serious uptick in online donations in the few hours left before TONIGHT’S MIDNIGHT DEADLINE, we will begin our new fiscal year tomorrow already behind the eight ball.

See my earlier note — copied below in case you missed it — for more about why something as mundane-sounding as “fiscal year” is actually key to powering all the important work you and Public Citizen do together.

But this is where things stall out every time we have a critical fundraising deadline like we do right now.

And I don’t know any way to address it other than to just explain it as plainly as I can:

When we get this close to a deadline, so many people seem to figure enough other people will chip in that hardly anyone actually does.

So — one more time — PLEASE DONATE BEFORE TONIGHT’S MIDNIGHT DEADLINE if you can.

Remember, anything you contribute in time will be matched dollar-for-dollar!

DONATE NOW
Even better, sign up now for our popular Monthly Giving program and your contribution will be matched dollar-for-dollar every month for one full year.

Thank you for everything you do as part of Public Citizen!

Onward,

- Robert

******

We are less than 14 hours from tonight’s make-or-break deadline.

How things go between now and midnight will directly impact how aggressive Public Citizen can be in the months ahead — including our campaign to prevent “centrist” Democrats from stonewalling President Biden’s landmark Build Back Better plan and to win passage of critical voting rights legislation.

Why?

Because Public Citizen’s fiscal year ends at midnight tonight.

I recognize that the phrase “fiscal year ends at midnight” is no “Ask not what your country can do for you ...”

This is an absolutely pivotal moment nonetheless.

Like many nonprofits, Public Citizen operates on what accountants call a “fiscal year” that is different from the calendar year (for a variety of reasons related to bookkeeping, taxes, and the like).

What it means, in a nutshell, is that we’re about to close the books on one “year” and begin the next.

Historically, then, the last few days of September have been rivaled only by the last few days of December when it comes to the online donations that are essential to powering the work you and Public Citizen do together.

And remember, we take no funding from Big Business or Uncle Sam — our independence and integrity just aren’t for sale. So, everything this shared project called Public Citizen gets done is possible thanks to folks like you chipping in what they can at junctures like this.

But we are facing some hard realities this time around:

• People are tapped out from donating last year to make Donald Trump a one-term president and to keep as many politicians of his ilk out of office as possible.

• People had to tighten up their budgets given the Trump Administration’s catastrophic failures in addressing the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout.

• And you’re no doubt getting emails from other organizations noting September 30 as a deadline for one reason or another. (Perhaps with gimmicks like ALL-CAPS subject lines, garish formatting, gratuitous graphics, misleading “membership status” alerts, and more.)

So if this is not a good time for you to donate to Public Citizen, we understand.

If you can, please contribute today.

A group of longtime benefactors will match anything you chip in right now dollar-for-dollar.

DONATE NOW
And if you sign up for our popular Monthly Donor program, your contribution will be matched dollar-for-dollar every month for one full year.

Thank you for everything you do as part of Public Citizen.

It really does matter.

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
 
 
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