C4SS Needs Your Help

[The following is a message from C4SS Director Brad Spangler. Brad just disbursed the last of the payments for the November writing and other services of the C4SS staff. As Brad says, he's revised the fundraising goals downward to paying the Fourth Quarter 2010 expenses by the end of First Quarter 2011. If we don't meet that goal, or "drastic cutbacks in our operations will have to be considered."

We've already got our monthly budget back down to under $2,000, which is roughly what it was before we started falling increasingly further behind on our fundraising goals from one month to the next. As I announced earlier, I've already scaled back my own writing output (from three to two columns a week and from four to two research papers a year) with a view to bringing our activities into line with what people are willing to contribute.

Speaking just for myself, and not for C4SS, it looks like our operations began to exceed people's willingness to contribute in the second half of last year. The present scaled-back level of expenses is probably about what contributions will cover for the time being. So if we can just get through the backlog of unpaid expenses -- with your help -- I think we can get back to running in the black on a steady basis. So please, if you value what we do and have the means and inclination, please give by clicking the widget on any page at C4SS.org.]

Dear Supporters of the Center for a Stateless Society,

Will you please help us keep the Center going? During the current fundraiser, donations have not come in at a pace that can meet our goal by the end of March. That goal was set in order to get us in the financial position we need to be shooting for. We’re revising that goal downward, pushing January pay expenses forward to the next quarterly fundraiser and seeking to build less of a financial reserve.

I just got done paying C4SS staff for all remaining pay that was due for the month of November 2010. What remains, what needs to be covered by the end of this month, are our labor costs for the month of December 2010.

By the end of the first quarter of 2011, I want to get everybody paid for work they performed in 2010. My thoughts are that falling any further behind than that on pay is just simply not right. Either we can accomplish that or drastic cutbacks in our operations will have to be considered.

DECEMBER LABOR

Research Associate: Carson — $400 (3 weekly articles + 1/3 of 1 quarterly study)
News Analyst: Worden — $200 (2 weekly articles)
News Analyst: D’Amato — $300 (3 weekly articles)
Social Media Specialist: Litz — $320
Media Coordinator: Knapp — $640
Director: Spangler — $120

TOTAL: $1980

We also have a domain renewal coming up and we ought to shoot for at least an additional $200, both just to have on hand and as a start on raising money to cover January 2011 pay.

So, I’ve added $2200 to the amount showing that we’ve raised so far on our fundraising widget and made that total our new, revised goal that we basically MUST meet by the end of March.

$1,445 + $2,200 = $3645 [GOAL]

In the three weeks remaining in March, can we raise that $2,200? I believe so.

Please support our work. Click on the “Contribute!” button in the fundraising widget you’ll find on any page of our web site.

http://c4ss.org/

Regards,

Brad Spangler,
Director, Center for a Stateless Society (C4SS)