Last night I sprung a last-minute fundraising drive on readers here at dailykos.
You responded.
27 of you made individual pledges totaling over $1900 towards grants that will go directly to bloggers whose participation and insights will increase the regional and ethnic diversity of Yearlykos Chicago.
I spoke with some of those bloggers today, and I can tell this to everyone who donated over the last twenty four hours: you are so appreciated.
My partners in this project, Howie Klein of Blue America and San Francisco Bay Area DFA-activist Vicki Cosgrove want to extend our heartfelt thanks to every last one of you. This innovative donor matching project works because you made it work.
But there's more to do...
Vicki and Howie and I set a goal of raising $5,000 to support at least 10 bloggers and get them to Yearlykos Chicago.
After the first day we are almost halfway there.
Of course, if any of you are familiar with Howie and Vicki and I, we don't do anything halfway.
It's late, it's Friday night, we have the weekend to work on this and some cool announcements to make, I'm not expecting the world tonight. I'm going to cut to the quick.
::
This is last mile money.
Every last one of these bloggers is raising money and working hard to find a way to get to Yearlykos. These are self-starters. It costs much more than the $500 stipend we have budgeted to fly from a rural state to Chicago and stay there for three nights and four days and pay the registration for the convention. For many bloggers, urban or rural, and our recipients include both, the barriers to entry are high.
Your contributions are the final push, you make the difference.
::
Here's how it works.
You make a pledge of $25 or $50 using the form email below and we match your pledge with a recipient. When that recipient turns in their budget and gives us the amount they need, we will call on you to "activate your pledge" and make a one time contribution to that recipient's Pay Pal or Google Check Out account for the amount you pledged.
It's that simple. It's that direct. You will know you made a difference.
Here's the form email:
Email to: yearlykosdonormatch@comcast.net
I would like to make one pledge of $25/$50 to help defray the cost of a blogger attending yearlykos. When I receive a reply email with my donor match, I will follow through by sending $25/$50 to that recipient's PayPal or GoogleCheckOut account.
If you are willing to support more than one recipient, and that is certainly welcome, we ask that you simply change the number of pledges, not the monetary amount. For purposes of simplicity and logistics, pledges are accepted only in $25 and $50 increments and no one donor will be allowed to contribute more than $50 to any one recipient directly. (For those with larger pocketbooks, see below.) For all intents and purposes you should consider this pledge an anonymous, small dollar gift.
We also ask that you use the form email as written above, so that we can make processing the donor matches simple and straightforward. We will complete the donor matches as swiftly as possible. This is a one weekend event with a specific goal. We will report back quickly on what we've achieved together.
::
Finally, for those of you able to give a little bit more, tonight we have one more way to give. If you are able to purchase the entire price of a Yearlykos Registration, currently $275, you can provide a diversity grant to one recipient by paying their entire registration fee.
Here's how that works.
Send the following form email to yearlykosdonormatch@comcast.net and then pay for a registration at the Yearlykos website. (Save your ID and Password!) When Vicki and Howie and I match you with a recipient, we will contact you and activate your pledge. You will then pass on the ID and Password of your registration to us and we will reregister that account in the name of a worthy recipient.
You will have made it possible for a deserving blogger to attend Yearlykos and made a donation to the convention at the same time.
Email to: yearlykosdonormatch@comcast.net
I would like to make a pledge of one Yearlykos Registration to allow a blogger to attend Yearlykos. I have paid for this registration at the Yearlykos website. When I receive a reply email with my donor match, I will pass along the ID and Password for that registration so that my recipient can attend Yearlykos Chicago using that registration.
Important: if you have already registered and cannot attend...send us the exact same email as above. You can donate your valid registration, whatever you paid for it, and help a blogger at the same time!
::
my sincere thanks
Some of you have known me for a long time. We go back to 2003. I can't tell you how it felt to see the emails come in strong and steady last night.
I know how the blogger recipients feel and wish I could convey that to you in its fulness. Instead, for them and with them, I just want to say that all of you who gave to this effort are my heroes tonight.
You understand the last mile.
That means something.