update

Hey there, just wanted to share a quick update. The numbers don’t look great so far, actually. On this day last year, we had 771 donations come through in response to our emails about Public Citizen’s critical September 30 fundraising deadline. So far today we’re at 214. And tonight’s midnight deadline is just hours away. So I’m asking: [Please donate before the midnight deadline if you can.]( [CONTRIBUTE NOW]( [Or join our popular Monthly Giving program to help make sure we have the baseline financial strength it takes to confront corporate power and government inaction day after day after day.]( See our earlier note — copied below in case you missed it — for more about why this is such a make-or-break moment for the work you and Public Citizen do together. And thank you for being part of this shared project called Public Citizen. - Lisa ****** The deadline is at midnight tonight. How things go between now and midnight will directly impact how aggressive Public Citizen can be over the next twelve months. That includes all our work to confront authoritarianism, protect voting rights, ensure election integrity, and defend democracy as our country faces what may well be the most consequential election in its history. Why? Because Public Citizen’s fiscal year ends at midnight this Monday, September 30. We know the phrase “fiscal year ends at midnight” is no “Ask not what your country can do for you ...” This is an absolutely pivotal moment nonetheless. Like many nonprofits, Public Citizen operates on what accountants call a fiscal year, which is different from the calendar year for reasons related to bookkeeping, taxes, etc. What it means, in a nutshell, is that we are about to close the books on one year and begin the next. Historically, then, the last few days of September have been rivaled only by the last few days of December when it comes to the online donations that are essential to powering the work you and Public Citizen do together. And remember, we neither seek nor accept “help” from Big Business and Uncle Sam — our independence and integrity just aren’t for sale. So, everything this shared project called Public Citizen gets done is possible thanks to folks like you chipping in what they can at junctures like this. But we are facing some hard realities this time around: - Understandably, many people have concentrated their giving on critical races for national, state, and local office. - Everyday Americans are under intense financial pressure and uncertainty caused by the insatiable greed, myopic mismanagement, rank profiteering, and political interference of Big Business. - And you’re no doubt getting emails from other organizations noting September 30 as a deadline for one reason or another. (Perhaps with gimmicks like ALL-CAPS subject lines, garish formatting, gratuitous graphics, misleading “membership status” alerts, and more.) So if this is not a good time for a donation to Public Citizen, we get it. [If you are able to make a contribution, please donate today. Anything you can chip in — $5 or $25, $50 or $100, $500 or even more — will make a difference.]( [CONTRIBUTE NOW]( [Or join our popular Monthly Giving program to help make sure we have the baseline financial strength it takes to confront corporate power and government inaction day after day after day.]( Thank you for reading this. Thank you for anything you can [chip in](. And thank you for everything you do as part of Public Citizen. It really does matter. - Robert Weissman & Lisa Gilbert, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen Public Citizen | 1600 20th Street NW | Washington DC 20009 | [Unsubscribe]( [supporter]