If you’re a regular reader of People’s World, you’ve become accustomed to hearing from us this time of year about the annual fund drive. We fill your email inbox with appeals to donate. We ring you up on the phone to ask for help. We contact you to make sure your credit card hasn’t expired and that your monthly sustainer donations are still coming in.
And on the PW homepage, we post up the fundraising thermometer to keep track of the progress made toward the $125,000 May Day goal. Well, we’re doing all of that again this year, too, but this time, the stakes are even higher.
Long View Publishing Co., which produces People’s World, has been hit with a $550,000 deficit in its balance sheet. For an independent working-class publication like ours, which doesn’t have corporate sponsors, that’s a huge chunk of money.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when the economy collapsed, People’s World struggled to survive, with staff going on rotating layoffs and the production schedule being trimmed. Thanks to the dedication of our donors, supporters, readers, and staff, People’s World met the moment and never missed a day of publication.
Right now, PW is deeply embedded in the resistance to the onslaughts of the Trump-Musk administration. Postal workers battling privatization; teachers and students fighting to save public education and prevent censorship; women standing up to save reproductive choice; African Americans, Latinos, and LGBTQ folks blocking white supremacist and homophobic “anti-woke” and anti-DEI attacks; immigrants and their friends and neighbors stopping the deportation blitzkrieg—People’s World is covering it all from the frontlines.
That won’t stop. Wherever there’s a struggle, People’s World will be there. It’s in our DNA.
The truth, though, is that PW never really got past its pandemic money troubles. Funds have remained tight for the past several years, and so have the belts. This latest half-million-dollar hit isn’t going to be easy to tackle, and its effects are already being felt.
The payroll has been chopped, which means there are fewer staff carrying out the essential work that People’s World does. The Fundraising Collective, meanwhile, is scouring every line item in the budget, looking for ways to save money and reduce expenditures.
The sacrifices are real, and they’re painful. We won’t stop looking for cost efficiencies, but the truth is that People’s World can’t cut its way back into the black. The only way to overcome the challenge the publication now faces is to raise more funds.
And that’s where you—our readers and dedicated supporters—come in. By this time last year, the Fund Drive had brought in $56,000 toward its goal. Right now, the total collected for 2025 sits at just $49,000.
We’re behind schedule, and that’s before we even calculate in the giant hole that’s been blown in PW’s finances.
Some people say I’m alarmist with my fundraising appeals, but I think it’s best to tell our readers the truth: People’s World needs your help, and desperately so.
Can you become a monthly sustainer?
Could you spare $5, $10, $25, $50…how about $100 or more per month? Think of it as your subscription to pay for the cost of producing the great news coverage and analysis you get from PW.
Can you afford a one-time donation to the campaign?
Give your favorite publication a gift – perhaps $101 for its 101st birthday? Or how about participating in the old tradition of “A Day’s Pay for the World”?
Can you help make calls as part of the People’s World Phonathon?
We’ve got thousands of numbers to get through, so pick up the phone and chat with a PW reader about why you love the paper and what they can do to help.
Can you or your club or organization take out an ad in the People’s World May Day Greetings Book?
It’s a great way to publicize your group and send solidarity messages out to our nationwide audience.
Can you host an event in your area that can raise funds for the publication?
Forums, picnics, potlucks, birthday and anniversary parties, silent auctions, May Day events…there are tons of ways to socialize, have fun, and raise money for PW all at the same time.
These are just a few ways to help. There are probably a thousand more, and we hope our readers and supporters will get creative. Let us know your ideas; we’re eager to hear them.
If you’ve already given to Fund Drive ’25, please know how very much your support is appreciated. Publishing and financially supporting People’s World is a collective task; it’s a job for our community of friends and allies—indeed, for our whole working class.
So, let’s all dig deep and get down to work.
In solidarity and gratitude,
C.J. Atkins
Managing Editor of People’s World
CONTRIBUTOR
