This is a pivotal day for Mother Jones.

That makes this the most important email we've sent in a while.   [Mother Jones]( MoJo Reader, This is the most important email we've sent in a while, and it is imperative that we get it right. It also turned out to be a meaty one. So we broke it all down under three themes—The Vitals, The Big Pic, and Some Sappy Stuff to Finish With—to make sure the most salient parts come through loud and clear, and in hopes that at least something will speak to most all of you. Let's dive right in. THE VITALS Our fiscal year ends today, and we still have about $90,000 we need to raise in [online donations]( to finish it at break-even, or as damn close as we possibly can. That's an extraordinary amount for just one day, at the very tippy-top upper end of what we believe might be possible. The only other day to ever come close to that much generosity is December 31, the most magical day of the year for online fundraising, and June 30 just doesn't have that end-of-year giving tradition going for it. At all. But we need it to come close. Because if today is just a ho-hum, fairly normal final day of a campaign, we'll have a much larger gap than we can easily make up for. If today is pretty strong, but not off-the-charts, it will be an easier pill to swallow. And if we somehow get all the way there, holy smokes, that would be an incredible way to finish off a [brutal year]( for the news industry—more or less on track. Either way, after today, we won't be sending you high-stakes emails asking for [your support]( for a while. So if you're the type of person who waits until the deadline [to give](, or needs to know that [your gift truly matters](, now is the time and it does. [And if there's any way you can fit Mother Jones into your budget right now, please support the reporting you get from us with a much-needed donation this morning](. We've already cut $1 million from our budget and can't afford to come up short. We urgently need to see a record-breaking response to this email, so we need a lot more people to [donate]( than normal. Whether you can pitch in [$5 or $500]( (or $5,000 like someone did on [Brian's email]( Wednesday night!), 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. It really is that simple. Quality journalism costs money. In-depth reporting takes time and effort. Calling it like it is in no uncertain terms, prioritizing underreported beats, and looking at the forces behind the headlines requires [the independence of being a nonprofit supported by readers]( instead of profit-driven owners or billionaires with agendas. [Donations big and small]( make up 74 percent of our budget this year (the one that ends in about 14.5 hours—gifts are time-stamped Central Time) and there is nothing else that can keep us going strong. There is no backup. No largesse. No secret benefactor. And there is nothing more powerful: We are limited only by the amount of money we can [bring in]( so that we manage to break even and scrape by year after year. [Please help]( if you can. THE BIG PIC It's a balancing act, adequately communicating how urgent our fundraising goals are without making it sound like we're about to fall off a cliff—and indeed, hitting those goals is the thing that keeps us back from that cliff's edge. So, some real talk as we wind down this big fundraising push: Getting to $90,000 in [donations]( today is improbable. But many things feel improbable, until they finally happen. And you never find out if you don't go for it. It’s not lights out or [the other word]( that begins with "L" and is so common in our industry right now if we come up short. But it does mean that we'll have to take a big gulp and carry that shortfall over to the budget that begins tomorrow—without a whole lot of confidence we can actually do it. Because guess what? Next year is going to be yet another tough one. Monika got more [fired up]( than normal these last few months. While we've been stressing about how the heck we can get to break-even, we've seen in real-time just how brutal it is in the news business right now. The once high-flying BuzzFeed News threw in the towel and the once valued at almost $6 billion (whaaaat?) Vice Media entered bankruptcy. The venerable Texas Observer, a scrappy nonprofit magazine rooted in the values of justice and democracy, like MoJo, barely escaped a near-death experience—saved only, and of course, by readers rallying. Yet we keep seeing the same old (and false) platitudes when it comes to the big challenges facing journalism. No ifs or buts: Journalism is [in tough shape]( right now, and so is our democracy. Perhaps these things are related!?!?!? Sound worth digging into? If you'd like the full, factual details as you decide on whether to [support Mother Jones with a donation today](, we've got you covered. - In "[News Never Pays](," Monika connects the dots on several media trends that, taken together, expose one of the fundamental fallacies of media: That the marketplace will take care of providing the free and independent press a democracy needs, and that the Next New Thing (that investors will pour millions into) can fix the problem. Her four main archetypes of this news-for-profit fallacy—The Viral Dead-Ender, The Suit, The Serioso, The Fascism Flirt—as represented by the men who embody them are [as much of a hoot to read as they are illustrative of a huge problem]( that includes normalizing extremism in many different ways. - In "[It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal](," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, what our big challenges and opportunities are, and how we can best communicate the urgency of it all without screaming OMG PLEASE HELP over and over. We also touch on our history and how our nonprofit model, being [funded primarily by readers](, makes Mother Jones different than most of the other news out there. The upshot: Support from readers is what allows us to do the very things you want us to do—go deep, focus on underreported beats, and bring unique perspectives to the day's news that you don't find elsewhere. - We also shared [a concrete example]( of the hard decisions we've had to make to illustrate what that "we've already cut $1 million" line looks like in practice. In this case, being unable to fill an important position when a rockstar video journalist moved on earlier this year, and why it's particularly painful because not everyone wants to read a long article (or email like this!), so being multimedia and multi-platformed (on TikTok, Instagram, etc.) is vital to reaching the young, diverse audience that is the future of this country and of Mother Jones. - Finally, our DC bureau chief, David Corn, [wrote a great note]( to readers that highlights two of his recent dark-money scoops and how he came to view journalism as a cause, not a profession, back when he was a reporter for his high school newspaper. He's so right about that. The bottom line, which has never been more clear than it is right now, in the year 2023, is this: Journalism that serves the people needs [the support of the people](. That's the Next New Thing. We need to stop chasing after shiny objects. We need to invest in the solid reporting that’s already happening. It's what MoJo and our community of readers have been doing for 47 years. But staying afloat is harder than ever right now, so we urgently need people who care enough about our journalism to still be reading this email to [pitch in and support it]( if you can. SOME SAPPY STUFF TO FINISH WITH Wow. This is it. After today we're done harping about the budget deadline and goal we've been nervously staring down for months now. So many of us have been busting our tails to get to break-even over these last several months, and it's finally here. Here's [what it can feel like](. And we know, we've been awfully in your face about how important this all is. We really try to make these emails worth reading even if you don't intend to, or simply can't, donate because the truth is, (more than) 99 percent of the people who get them don't [pitch in]( to that particular email. That's why we have to send so many, and you can [let us know how we're doing here]( if you'd like. We hope you will. It's beyond nerve-wracking, trusting that what we put out into the universe will land with you and that those [magical deadline-driven surges will materialize at the last minute](. But it is also a joy. The other day the two of us were talking about where this campaign might realistically land, how close we might get to that big $390,000 June goal, and what to focus on for this all-chips-on-the-table final week. Well into a great chat, Monika happened to mention, "Sometimes I beat myself up that I haven't been able to make this easier." There's something there, including Impostor Syndrome, but the upshot is worth acknowledging. It's sooooo hard keeping a newsroom afloat, and with all the "we've already cut $1 million and we can't afford to come up short right now" honesty, it can feel defeating. It certainly makes a lot of our team worried for their jobs, not to mention the raises and extra notebooks, among other nice-to-haves or damn-near-essentials, they so incredibly deserve. As it is, our fiscal years (aka Junes) end with us coming screeching toward the finish line of our budget with our tires worn thin, muffler dangling, smoke pouring from under the hood—and we ask you all [to jump in](. But you know what? We completed another lap. We're still going. Even if we're not growing as much as we believe is possible, and needed. So no matter where we end up today and this fiscal year, thank you. It's been hard as hell and it will probably always be hard as hell, but with everything we've learned over this last year, and knowing what's possible thanks to you all, we're optimistic that the budget starting tomorrow might just be less of mad dash to the finish line for all of us. We'll see! And speaking of that, know that [donations that come in]( Saturday, Sunday, and beyond matter as much as those that come in today. Budgets and deadlines and fiscal years come and go, but the reality is we need [support whenever and however it works for you](—and always will. It's just that we're taking a break on the emails after today and breaking even would be fantastic. So thanks for bearing with us, and we'll pick this back up fresh and inspired before too long. 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