There isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t hear some version of, “Wait, you don’t do this as your full-time job?!” And the answer is always the same:
No.
This blog is what I do when I’m done with my full-time job as a chemist and nearly full-time (volunteer) job as the Chair of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party and the time-consuming job of recording, producing, and publishing our weekly podcast. And that’s totally okay. I love this blog with all my heart and soul. It’s important, both here in Michigan and nationally.
That said, it’s not a charity. It costs a substantial amount of money to do keep the blog humming along. Not just the monthly paychecks I send to the regular contributors but the web hosting fees, the site security plug-in costs, the hosting fees for the podcast, and so much more. And Anne and I don’t make enough money to pay for this out of pocket.
I also detest running ads on the site. Besides bogging down the site and making it load slowly, they’re a distraction from what we’re trying to do here. So, other than ads from our progressive partners and the ads the are an inherent part of the Disqus commenting system, you won’t find ads on Eclectablog. They don’t pay that much anyway.
So, we rely on YOU to help us out. I’ll be frank: it’s been a quiet week, fundraising-wise. We haven’t had many donations and that worries me. Site traffic is still up so I know people are reading our stuff. But folks aren’t stepping up to support us financially. We really need for that to change.
If you are able to help support us financially, we would be most grateful. There are two ways to help. First, you can use the handy PayPal forms at the top of the right sidebar to make a one-time donation via Paypal in the amount of your choice or to set up a monthly donation. Second, you can send a check (which avoids Paypal taking out a percentage of your donation) to Chris Savage, P.O. Box 32, Dexter, MI 48130. Please make the check payable to “Eclectablog”.
Alternatively, consider becoming a sponsor of our upcoming annual fundraising party (and live recording of the podcast!) You can learn more about how to do that HERE. This option is available to both individuals and organizations.
Your support of Eclectablog is an important way to continue this amazing community and to ensure our continued growth and impact.
Thanks for being part of our community.
– Chris
[CC photo credit: James W Bell – Leeds | Flickr]
