Fundraiser update

This morning I received a check from someone I know has gone through hard times. She told me she’s been gradually digging out, and I’m glad to have her donation. But it’s the last thing I’d have expected.

Several people who’ve donated regularly in the past have been clobbered recently: illness, medical expenses, unemployment, divorce, you name it. Dear old friends, if you’re struggling, keep what little you have for yourselves.

I’m already blessed and I don’t want to take money from people who are worse off than I am.

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That said, however … if you’re not struggling and you benefit from this blog, I’ll be quite happy to take your money. 🙂 How-to info is in the sidebar on the right and in the link below.

And remember, everything up to a total of $5,000 will be matched by an anonymous donor. So contributions you send now will be doubled after the fundraiser ends on May 31.

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Today we are 1/3 of the way through this Final Fundraiser. (And I really mean final; only a dire emergency could inspire another.)

So where do we stand?

Number of donors: 22 (not counting the anonymous fund-matcher who’s standing in the wings, but including the one who donated three times)

Total to date: $2,064, a hair over 2/5 of goal.

Biggest donation: $685 — wow.

Average donation: $93.81 — which is really impressive!

Smallest donation: $5 — which is still smile-worthy.

I’ve been placing thank yous in the comment thread on the original May 1 fundraiser announcement. But I’m relieved to announce that I finally managed to send personal thanks to everyone, except of course the anonymous Bitcoin donors. And TH, whose thank you email bounced (sorry).

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The fundraiser began with a whopping bang. We hit 1/3 of goal in three days! Since then it’s slowed dramatically. Individual donations have been unusually generous. Numbers of donations, kinda small.

Because of the slowdown, I still have fears of not making goal. Since both my previous fundraisers (2014 and 2016) “broke the thermometer” that would be sad. In 2016, half the donors were first-time givers. This time? Only two of the 20 whose names I know are complete strangers to me. Yet there are plenty of new readers around. I hope to hear from more of you.

Still, no worries. Both those earlier fundraisers were blown out by gobsmackingly generous snailed donations that arrived late-ish in the process. So we shall see. And of course there is Anonymous Wonderperson standing by. All will be well, however this goes.

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So that’s it. And THANK YOU ALL — including old friends and new, and even you who can’t donate but who enjoy and add value to this blog by your presence.