There’s no way to sugarcoat this.
Unless we see a serious uptick in online donations 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.
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, I’m asking, please donate before tonight’s midnight deadline if you can.
Anything you contribute right now will be matched dollar-for-dollar!
DONATE NOW
Even better, sign up to be a Monthly Donor today and your monthly donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar each and every month for an entire year!
Thank you!
- Robert
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We are just HOURS from a make-or-break deadline.
How things go between now and midnight tonight will directly impact how aggressive Public Citizen can be going forward.
That includes all our work to protect voting rights, ensure election integrity, and defend democracy — with barely more than a month until the almost existentially important midterm elections.
Why?
Because Public Citizen’s fiscal year ends at midnight this Friday, September 30.
I know 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, which is different from the calendar year for reasons related to bookkeeping, taxes, and the like.
What it means, in a nutshell, is that we are 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 guard our independence by refusing “help” from Big Business and 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:
- Many people are feeling tapped out from donating to candidates running for local, state, and national office.
- Everyday Americans are facing intense financial pressure and uncertainty because — once again — Big Business’ insatiable greed, myopic mismanagement, and rank profiteering have set the world economy on fire.
- 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 make a contribution, please donate today.
Because this deadline is so critical to our overall fundraising, a group of longtime supporters has offered to match — dollar-for-dollar — every contribution made today in response to this message.
DOLLAR-FOR-DOLLAR MATCH IS ON — CONTRIBUTE NOW
And if you sign up to be a Monthly Donor today, your monthly donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar each and every month for an entire year!
Thank you for reading this.
Thank you for anything you can chip in.
And thank you for everything you do as part of Public Citizen.
It really does matter.
- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
P.S. If donating today is not right for you, that’s okay. I hope you’ll understand that I need to ask from time to time so that we have the resources to carry out all the essential work you and Public Citizen are doing together.
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