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thank you in advance

December 17, 2012

Help make GothamSchools stronger in 2013 by donating today

by Elizabeth Green, at 10:00 am

Dear readers,

All year, you have sent us tips, comments, and helped spread the word about our reporting. We have appreciated every single Tweet.

Now, as the year comes to a close, we have one more request — this time for a donation. Your tax-deductible contribution will ensure that in 2013, we can keep delivering the great stories you’ve come to expect, plus more and better of them, without sacrificing any of our independence.

We are about $100,000 away from meeting our 2013 goals of:

  • adding two new reporters to expand coverage in the city as well as the state legislature;
  • compensating our reporters in a way that adequately reflects the value they produce every day; and
  • building a website to deliver stories more intelligently.

With traditional journalism in a crisis, important stories are going untold. GothamSchools exists to ensure that the issue we all care about most gets the coverage it deserves.

In 2012, we wrote hundreds of news stories about the city’s schools, introduced dozens of unheard voices into the public dialogue, expanded our readership by a third, brought our virtual community into real life with a new events series, and took big steps toward financial sustainability.

But we still need the support of our readers. More than 70,000 people visit our site each month. If each of you gave $50 today, we’d meet our 2013 goal tomorrow and more.

Would you consider making a contribution of $50 toward our effort — or $100 to cover yourself and another reader? You can make a contribution online here. Together, we can make sure journalism stays strong where we need it the most.

All the best,
Elizabeth

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  • Guest

    I just tried to donate, but your link does not work. 

  • Philissa Cramer

    Thank you! One of the three links to our “donate” page was broken, but they all should be working now. We appreciate your support and are looking forward to great things in 2013!

  • Tim

    I made a very modest donation, and I stipulated that it must be applied only to Gotham Schools’s budget for cigars, Champagne, and limousine rides. 

    On a more serious note, was there an announcement on GS about the organizational changes and I just missed it?  

  • Philissa Cramer

    You are right to have questions — we have not made a big announcement (nor have any organizational changes happened yet) but we will early next year. Thank you for the cigars!

  • NYC Flerpucator

    “compensating our reporters in a way that adequately reflects the value they produce every day;”

    this would be outstanding.

  • http://www.gothamschools.org Elizabeth Green

     As @PhilissaCramer:disqus said, we’ll have more to share in the new year on the organizational front. In the meantime, thank you so much for chipping in. Even modest amounts add up.

  • Michael Fiorillo

    I suggest Gotham Schools ask E$E for a contribution. After all, you provide every false utterance of theirs with such breathless and uncritical coverage, you might as well just reprint their press releases.

    Bill Gates and the hedge funders behind the Robin Hood Fund (there’s hypocrisy for you: fund front organizations that speak for your financial interests, and say you’re taking from the rich and giving to the poor) might also be able to help out.

  • Guest

    So is that a “no” on the donation question, then? If so, did it really require an announcement?

  • NYC Flerpucator

    2 Fiorillo Points (for “hedge funders” and “Bill Gates”).

  • Michael Fiorillo

    You’re opinion is important to us. Please write again!

  • Clay

    Would contribute but not as long as I see StudentsFirst/Michelle Rhee banners on this site.

    GS, how much would I have to contribute to make those go away? Seriously.

  • Former Turnaround Teacher

    Although I disagree with a lot of what GS covers and does.  I do think they cover both sides of the issues and pick up a lot of stories that other news outlets ignore.  (See GS being at some of the major “early engagement” hearings when no other news outlets would touch them.”)  I think they do an invaluable service to education in this city, but not only reporting on all of the issues, but giving other people an opportunity to discuss these issues through the comments section.

  • Nycdoenuts

    And by reading & linking to parent, teacher and activist blogs. I disagree with some of the stuff they cover too, but they sure do let voices in from all sides. That’s worth a donation from me.

  • A.S.Neill

     GS is cool. They post news from all sides, a lot of it quite interesting and out of the way. I call them the Hyde Park of NYC education. The E4E spot I’m pretty sure is paid for by the Billionaire Club $, which is too bad for American democracy but hey, news organizations accept paid advertising so what else is new.. So yea, I’ll donate soon as I find my credit card swiped by my daughter. She always leaves a little bit so no worries.

  • I noticed that…

    At least Michael is explaining why he wouldn’t donate instead of giving a flat “no”. 

    Or do you accept it when people tell you “no” with no explanation behind that decision?

  • I noticed that…

    Same here!  I would donate if those banners are removed. 

  • Former Turnaround Teacher

    I agree, I don’ t think you can call a site completely one sided when they link to your blog, NYC Educator, Class Size Matters, Ed Notes, etc.  I for one am going to donate $50 to keep this site alive!

  • http://www.gothamschools.org Elizabeth Green

    Thank you to those of you who have already donated! Your support means a lot. 

    As for questions about sponsors, our goal is a diversity of funding sources. We think that’s crucial to our independence. 

    Also, just to reiterate, we have a firm wall between our editorial and business sides. Neither sponsors nor donors have any say on what we report (and reporters don’t have anything to do with which sponsors appear).

    More on all of these issues is here: http://gothamschools.org/about/how-were-funded/

    Our media kit, explaining how to purchase a sponsorship, is here: http://gothamschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/gothamschoolsmediakit.pdf

  • Former Turnaround Teacher

    Finally got around to making my $50 donation.  Feeling good about supporting independent education journalism!

  • VGW

    Bah!  Paypal does not want our money!  It turned down my credit card 3 times (which is working on about a dozen other charities’ sites), timed out my husband, then said there was another problem with my husband’s attempt to donate.  Ok GS, expect a check in the mail.

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