The "Oh no OMG please HELP!!!" phase.

This is so nerve-wracking.   [Mother Jones]( MoJo Reader, GAAAAAAAAAH. That seems like a good way to start this email, because trying to adequately describe how the two of us are feeling heading into the final week of our vitally important fundraising push is quite complicated, and no one has time for that right now. Here's the deal: The last few days have been slower than we were expecting, and the $165,000 in [online donations]( we need by Friday, to finish our fiscal year break-even or damn close, is starting to look like a long shot—and that's rough given the complete lack of cushion we have right now. Our fate isn't sealed just yet though! These fundraising drives typically end with a big deadline-driven surge, and we're holding out hope for a truly unprecedented [spike in giving]( to have any chance of getting there, or close enough to manage, by Friday. We're literally banking on a big response from this email. From you. If you can right now, [please support the journalism you get from Mother Jones with a donation today](. Like [right now](. Whether you can pitch in [$5 or $500](, it all matters and allows our team to do the type of in-depth reporting the moment demands, that you don't find in many other places. "Oh no OMG please HELP!!!" is one way to think about where things stand right now, 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 that just being real with folks has seemed to work over these last few weeks and months. That's a real silver lining to the dark cloud of [the brutal economics of news]( and whether we'll finish this year close to break-even that's been hanging over our heads of late. Even though we might not make it all the way to our big $390,000 June goal based on what we normally see (we also might if enough people are [nudged off the fence and donate]( this week!), our level-headed look at the [rough state of journalism]( and our transparent peek behind the curtain into our [finances, challenges, and opportunities]( are really resonating with readers. The fundraising asks on our site are breaking records for their efficacy. But here's the thing: Significantly fewer people are paying attention to the news compared to a few years ago, and we see that in how many people visit our website every day. So with fewer people seeing these messages, it's proving hard to maintain the levels of support. Which is why we really, really really really, need to do everything we can to [coax a donation]( from the folks who are not tuning out the news—at least not tuning out Mother Jones. And you are reading this, which tells us you are one of those folks. So if you can afford to fit Mother Jones into your budget, we hope you might [help kickstart the final surge we urgently need and pitch in]( before moving on with your day. We need all the help we can get. Because the only way we can bring you journalism that you don't find elsewhere—in-depth investigations, underreported beats and angles, a fiery, fact-based perspective in anything we write—is thanks to readers, who have always been our primary source of support. [Donations big and small]( make up 74 percent of our budget this year (the one that ends Friday and we're behind on) and there is nothing else that can keep us going strong. There is no backup. No largesse. No secret benefactor. We are powered only by the amount of money we can [bring in]( so that we break even and scrape by year after year. 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. And despite how (very) 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. Because that kind of support doesn’t go [poof](. That kind of support is from the people who will be here next year and the year after that, who will work for change one day at a time. Tens of thousands of people doing their part to keep fearless, [impactful]( investigative reporting alive is a powerful thing. It is the thing that will sustain journalism that many in field are [looking for]( (mostly in the wrong places). It is what Mother Jones and our community of readers have been doing for 47 years now. And it's particularly salient right now, both in terms of [the money we need by Friday](, but also so those media gatekeepers and funders can see us defying the odds and somehow finishing this [brutal]( year off close to on-track, showing the industry it's possible if not profitable to stay committed to in-depth, quality journalism. But to do it, we need that base of support to grow, we need more regular readers to [decide to pitch in at this critical juncture](, because it’s the only way we’ll be able to come up with that $165,000 we need in the next five days. It's the only way we can keep on doing the reporting you get from us, at our current level. It’s also a tall order, but we just might get there if more readers than normal [decide to pitch in, starting now](, as we focus on the silver lining more than the dark cloud today. Please [learn more]( about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't get elsewhere—and [help us do it with a donation]( if you can right now. We've already cut $1 million in expenses and hitting our online goal is critical. Thanks for reading, and for everything you do to help make Mother Jones what it is. Onward, 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