"Oh no OMG please HELP!!!"

What happens if we come up short?   [Mother Jones]( MoJo Reader, We won't try to sugarcoat it: Our short fundraising push to rally $300,000 in [online donations]( is scheduled to end this Wednesday, and we still need to raise $130,000. These fundraising drives typically end with a big deadline-driven spike, but it's going to take an unprecedented one of those to have any chance of getting there—or getting close enough for comfort before we stop showing up in your inbox so much about it. If you can right now, we really hope you'll consider [pitching in]( with a donation today. We need it. Whether [$5 or $50](, it all matters and makes Mother Jones possible when added up with your fellow readers. As big and intimidating as a $130,000 gap is, with just a few days left, the truth is that [if just 10 percent of the people reading this right now decided to pitch in](, we'd blow that number out of the water and be close to break-even number we're so anxious about that comes due June 30. It doesn’t seem too far-fetched that enough of you will [be the one in ten]( we need to help us put a huge dent in it today. "Oh no OMG please HELP!!!" is one way to think about it, and it's how a lot of these last chance emails tend to read. But you told us loud and clear that you're sick and tired of the overwrought and outright manipulative fundraising requests we're all bombarded with—and we're right there with you: "You won't even lift a finger…even though we BEGGED you time and time again to respond," "I am absolutely heartbroken that you've ignored us," "our worst nightmare has become a reality," and "it appears all hope is lost" are all highlights (well, lowlights) from [two such emails]( that caught reporter Jeremy Schulman's eye a while back. It's so gross. Which is why it's so encouraging than just being real with folks has seemed to work these last few weeks. Our level-headed, "[It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal](" post about how our finances work, how existential the economic challenges for journalism are right now, and why [reader support]( is the ONE thing that keeps us going strong has been striking a chord with your fellow readers—even if there's still a long way to go to hit our number. So we'll keep at it. If you're prone to wait until the deadline to give, or need to know that your gift truly matters, now is the time and it does. [Please be the one in ten we're hoping might pitch in from this email](. What happens if we come up well short? Honestly, it's not lights out for Mother Jones. But it means we'll need to figure out what we can cut because getting to break-even by June 30 probably ain't going to happen, at least for the online portion of the pie. Jobs are thankfully safe, but we already scoured the budget and made the least painful cuts we could a few months ago—six figures worth. Trimming another $50,000 or $100,000 would be rough. And beyond these next few months, we'd need to ratchet down what we can reasonably expect to bring in from online donations in the years to come. How tough is it for journalism right now? “This will be a year of heightened concerns about the sustainability of some news media against a backdrop of rampant inflation, and a deep squeeze on household spending” is the first sentence from a [recent Reuters Institute report]( that found only 44 percent of news leaders are confident about the year ahead. In our case: For a decade-plus, advertising reliably made up between 11 and 15 percent of our budget. Now it’s 6. At one point, Facebook showed our reporting to users as many as 83 million times in one year. Now it’s just under 5 million. [Paper]( and postage for our magazine and mailings has gone up 30 percent. Insurance and lawyers to defend against [attacks on the truth]( and powerful interests who [take issue]( with what we investigate used to be $85,000 per year, now it’s $250,000. This is the new normal in the news business. For corporate media, the responses to this uncertainty have run along the lines of: 1) Shut down entire newsrooms; 2) Big layoffs that leave [a skeleton staff]( chasing thinner and thinner stories; 3) Put up paywalls so you have to pay to read the information you were after; 4) Ratchet up [softer content]( because people are tired of news; 5) Pivot to the latest magic bullet (right now, the big money [loves]( the idea that artificial intelligence will replace journalists.) Grim options for a vigorous, free press in a democracy where everyone needs to be informed and engaged. And we all saw how fragile it all is when the legendary Texas Observer suddenly shuttered, before, and of course, being saved by readers showing up big time for them. [That hit close to home](. Why does every donation matter so much? What sets Mother Jones apart from virtually every other national newsroom in America is that we are supported by a lot of people, not mostly by people who have a lot. Like every nonprofit, we need and are grateful for grants from foundations and major donors. But what sustains our work, what makes us confident that Mother Jones will carry on, are people who give [$5 or $50 when we have to come knocking like we are right now](. People like you. Despite how nerve-wracking these fundraising campaigns can be, hoping and/or praying that [enough donations will come in these next few days](, we're beyond grateful that Mother Jones' biggest funding source is our community of readers: 74 percent of our budget comes from donations big and small this year. Nothing else could keep us going. There is no backup, no secret benefactor. That kind of support is from the people who will be here next year and the year after that. The fundamental truth is that corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. And advertising or profit-driven owners will never make time-intensive, in-depth reporting viable. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you. And right now, [we really need your help]( to get to our $300,000 goal—or dang close to it—in these next few days. Please [learn more]( about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and [help us do it with a donation]( if you can right now. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now. Thanks for reading, and for everything you to do make Mother Jones what it is. Monika Bauerlein CEO Brian Hiatt Online Membership Director [Donate](   [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755