Every week, the finance department staff at People’s World tally up the fund drive totals. They open every envelope delivered to our mailbox, hoping to find a check inside. They update the accounting spreadsheet, eager to see if some new folks have signed up online as sustainers.
Diligent stewards of our supporters’ hard-earned donations, they never miss a cent, and they never squander a contribution, no matter how big or small.
Lately, though, they haven’t had much counting to do.
That’s because, unfortunately, donations for the People’s World Spring 2024 Fund Drive have dwindled to almost nothing.
At this point in the campaign, there should be $97,000 in the door so far. As we close in on the May Day deadline to raise $125,000, however, the grand total sits at just over $65,000.
That’s barely half—and the number hasn’t budged much for weeks! If we’re going to make the goal by May 1st, People’s World has to raise $3,000 per day!
It’s a tough task, but it’s not impossible.
Many times over the past 100 years, this newspaper has been threatened with financial extinction. But every time, its readers have come to the rescue. That’s because they knew the value of People’s World and the unique role it plays as a news source and organizer for the labor and democratic movements.
Readers today also recognize that value. Have you seen the testimonials they’ve been sending in discussing why they support PW?
Janice Rothstein is fed up with the corporate media. She reads PW to get the stories of working-class struggle and culture that the mainstream press ignores. She’s a monthly sustainer, giving a regular donation to keep the paper going.
Waleed Ahmad says PW is his go-to place for analysis of the war in Gaza and the struggle to save the Palestinian people from genocide. It’s a publication, he believes, that “keeps the voices of Gazans front and center.”
Lisa Armstrong has been reading the paper since the days when it really was a paper. She became a subscriber in 1987 and continues to financially support People’s World today. Why does she like PW? “Because it doesn’t lie; it tells the truth about the world we live in.”
Jahmal Henderson started out as a People’s World reader five years ago. Today, he regularly writes for PW and distributes a print version of the paper in his neighborhood in Connecticut. He sees PW as “a voice for working people.”
Christopher H. is one of the millions of Americans who’ve been locked away in the prisons of our country’s system of mass incarceration. Every week, he gets a printed digest of PW articles mailed to him by volunteers in Chicago. For Christopher and other inmates at his facility who only have access to Fox News and CNN, PW is “a breath of fresh air.”
Cameron Harrison is a grocery worker in Detroit. He says that PW has the analysis and information that “matters most” to him and his co-workers. He’s another reader-turned-reporter, writing about the UAW strike, the ceasefire struggle in Michigan, and more.
Former People’s World Editor-in-Chief Tim Wheeler, now retired, is a PW lifetime loyalist. He started writing for the paper when it was called The Worker back in 1966—58 years ago. He’s pledged to give $1,000 during the Spring Fund Drive because he sees PW as a key resource in the struggle to stop fascism in the 2024 elections.
What about you? What does People’s World mean to you?
If you’re reading this, then surely you must have reasons of your own that bring you back to check out the latest news and analysis in PW.
But have you made a donation to keep it publishing every day? Have you signed up to be a supporter? Have you asked your co-workers, friends, family, and comrades to also support PW?
If you’ve donated already or signed up to be a monthly sustainer, THANK YOU! Is it possible you could give a bit more?
Perhaps you’d like to cover the costs of sending the printed PW digest to an incarcerated person. It costs us $5 a month per individual to print, pack, and mail it out.
We know that times are tight for everyone who works for a living right now, and a lot of causes and campaigns are competing for the few dollars people have to spare. Not everyone can afford to make a large donation, but we welcome whatever amount you can give.
Every dollar is an investment in People’s World and its mission.
We’ve survived a century, and we hope to be around for another one. With your help, PW can move ahead and keep doing the independent, pro-worker journalism it’s been known for since the early days of the Daily Worker back in 1924.
Will you help keep PeoplesWorld.org online?
With gratitude,
C.J. Atkins
Managing Editor
CONTRIBUTOR
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