AlterNet Readers Say Phooey to Financial Meltdown; Break All Giving Records in Supporting Progressive, Independent Media

Dear Reader, Thanks to readers like you, AlterNet's year-end fundraising campaign was a wild success! Now we can go back to bringing you kick-ass coverage of this amazing moment in history. Truth be told, we were nervous about our year-end fundraising campaign. We knew that the global financial meltdown had affected everyone. We feared that you would need to cut back when facing hard times, and either not give this time around or not give as much. I'm happy to report that we were completely wrong. You busted our year-end fundraising records by a huge margin, more than doubling our results from last year. In fact, this was the most successful fundraising campaign we have ever had at AlterNet. Almost 2,600 of you contributed more than $130,000. The average gift hovered around $50 -- the highest was $10,000 and the smallest was $5. And we are thankful for every one of them, small and large. Also, we are extremely pleased that our newest method by which you can contribute -- becoming a monthly sustainer, which spreads your donation over the year -- is catching on.* We take your generosity and commitment to mean that our blanket coverage of the economic crisis, the environment, the war on Iraq, health care, the drug war, our special focus on challenging the conventional wisdom on Obama appointments, the escalating violence in Afghanistan, and more, is what you want to be reading. One of our new projects, thanks to you, just launched today: AlterNet's Economy in Crisis -- it's a feature you can find on AlterNet's front page that tackles this incredible economic meltdown and hopefully, its recovery. Updated every day of the week, our Senior Writer Joshua Holland will guide you to the really important news and the hard-to-find analysis that actually makes sense of this historic change affecting all of our lives. And of course you can expect us to keep going head-to-head with the radical right wing. They are regrouping and already attacking the idea of a progressive stimulus plan -- the plan for millions of jobs, not the one for rich banks squandering taxpayer money to buy other banks. Even if we are concerned about Obama's appointments and certain policy directions he seems to be moving toward, which we are, there is probably a lot we can agree on in the short term to spread some wealth among millions, not just the superwealthy. And thanks to you, AlterNet is going to help make those changes happen. Thanks for everything you do, Don Hazen Executive Editor, AlterNet.org *P.S. If you missed our appeals and want to join our distinguished reader-funder base, you can go here to join -- and pick up a free copy of AlterNet's The Best of 2008, if you become a monthly sustainer.

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