With a few weeks left, it does not appear as if we can even get close to our fundraising target. I wanted to raise $20,000 and we are not even close. I attribute this to my inability to fundraise or to ask people who can probably afford it to write checks, but I am grateful to the individuals who did give. Still, I must now consider changes to ensure we can continue providing content that no one else will or can.
This is important.
Every other “media” outlet in the state allows the political class to act as a de facto censor. There are some stories they will not touch because they would lose advertising revenue from candidates or elected officials, or risk losing access for future reporting. They could cover them, maybe better than we ever could, but won’t or can’t.
All of them except GraniteGrok.
Some will admit it, while others will pretend it’s not true, but it is. Not everything all the time, just some things, usually when it matters most.
We have no such limitations, which is why we rely entirely on readers for support. Even if someone were to write us a large check or promise us ad revenue, that would never influence our editorial decisions. This is clear up front. I’m certain this is part of the reason it is difficult to raise funds—first Principles before people and parties.
We could use a few major donors or sponsors who share the value of that approach, but I’m not sure where to look.
And when the economy sucks we pay more too but raise less but I’m not willing to let the only unfiltered voice in NH politics suffer because the economics do not allow us to raise enough funds.
We’re not going anywhere, but a few things need to change in the short term.
Site interactions have tripled since we moved to the new website. Events are up from around 2500-3000/day to an average of 11,800/day. A lot goes into those numbers, but traffic is up. We are slowly recovering our lost social media traffic and building audiences. I’ve shared other changes, and all of that seems to be pointing us in the proper direction. If this trend continues, success will lead to increased costs for maintaining bandwidth and higher operating expenses.
I need to plan for this.
I reduced our use of automated ads, hoping to increase donations. We raised less. I need to reintroduce automated ads to the mix to raise funds for operating costs, even though it may impact the reader experience. I want less clutter, not more, but in the short term, we need the revenue stream.
My time will need to be further diverted to earn additional income to support myself, my family, and the website. This pursuit requires me to decrease the number of posts I need to curate or write each day. I am dropping the daily planned content from nine posts a day to six, with bonus content added, time and content permitting.
Ideally, we find ways to keep providing more content, not less, but it is not something I can do myself, and many of our authors have shifted their priorities. Many have had personal matters intervene (which are always more important), moved on to other pursuits, or redirected their energy elsewhere. As we get older, the time we have becomes more precious, and this hobby may not be as appealing.
We also supplement our original content with opinion editorials and third-party materials. That requires editorial time I may not always have, but if contributors come through with more content, I’ll publish it. The goal is to have more content, not less, but I can’t do it all myself. It’s exhausting, and it stops being fun.
If it’s not fun and I’m not raising enough money, well, what would you do?
Everything else remains the same. We will continue to share press releases and content from other liberty-minded groups, promote events, run their paid ads (we could use a few more of these, by the way), while trying to eek out a few bucks from affiliate programs with Amazon, and My Patriot Supply.
The goals have not changed. The commitment to government transparency and accountability remains the same. We will continue to aim high while punching below the belt because Tyranny never rests, and neither will we, but Steve’s gotta eat. I have never relied on this business, but it relies on donations. We’re not an NGO or a non-profit, and no big “anything” is funding us, probably because they can’t buy us.
That’s not changing, but the rest might. If I find a few individuals who can cover the funding deficit, we could find ourselves in better shape. Regardless, I’m 100% committed to doing as much of what we do as possible without that, if necessary, and this requires planning and a few tweaks on my part.
If all goes well, you won’t notice I’ll just be a bit less accessible, if you can imagine me being less accessible than I am now.
Thank you again to everyone who has given or continues to do so. We’re not going anywhere; I just wanted to let you know that the mission remains the same. Firewall-free, subscription-free, all access news and opinion you can’t get anywhere else, every single day, 365 days a year.
No matter what.
If you want to support us by check, please make it out to Grok Media LLC and email me for the address.
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