Dear readers,
It’s springtime! And that means it’s time for us at New Matilda to make some hard decisions about the year ahead.
This time last year we appealed to readers to help us relaunch the website and keep us online for a year. We were extremely gratified by the response and we now have more than 1400 paid-up financial supporters on our books. That’s a solid base, and it’s one we want keep and build.
During the month of September we will be appealing to all of our original supporters to sign up for another year through our new monthly debit system. And we also need more of you to get on board if we are going to commit to staying online in 2012. By the end of this month we’ll know whether we have the backing to keep NM going next year.
To become a paid supporter now go here. It costs as little as $4.60 a month.
It’s been a big year at New Matilda so far. In many ways, it’s been our best yet. Traffic is up and our reach has grown. We’ve broken stories and fostered new writers, as well as keeping NM regulars on deck. We’ve managed to do a lot on a tight budget — and we reckon we offer damn good value for money to our supporters.
You’ll be hearing more from us over the month of September, as we remind you why NM is an important fixture in the Australian media, and keep you up to date with our progress. Please help by spreading the word! Last year we raised more than $170,000 and we’ll need to raise at least as much to carry on in 2012. We’re not prepared to proceed on a smaller budget. There’s just no room to downscale — and if we did, readers would notice the drop in quality.
As well as supporting independent media, you’ll also be eligible for some great giveaways including tickets to the latest films and events, books, Quarterly Essays and copies of the Griffith Review. Paid supporters have been receiving these all year, and we’ll be sending out extra freebies to supporters in September to encourage you to sign up.
If you want to keep reading what we’ve got to offer at NM, if you value media diversity and get fed up with what’s on offer elsewhere, now’s the time to support NM. If you love us — or even if you love to hate us — please get behind NM’s September fundraiser.