THIS WEEK: The 2012 Nygaard Notes PLEDGE DRIVE!

"Quote" of the Week: "I'm so glad!"

Pledging to Nygaard Notes: The Basics

Have You Already Made a Pledge? Read This

How Much Should Your Pledge Be?

It's been almost exactly one year since the last Nygaard Notes Pledge Drive. So, it's time for the 2012 version! This is a special, SUPER-SHORT issue of Nygaard Notes, entirely devoted to asking you to send in a Pledge of support for this independent media project called Nygaard Notes.

So, here it is: Please Pledge your support for Nygaard Notes by sending in a check or an online donation TODAY!

If you're new to Nygaard Notes, here's how it works: Everything I publish immediately goes into the public domain. The only reason I can do that is because many faithful readers support the project by sending in Pledges of support—similar to the way that people support their community radio stations or public radio.

Should you decide to Pledge, you will be supporting not just the excellent newsletter called Nygaard Notes. The Nygaard Notes project also makes it possible for me to:

✱ Teach classes in the community (the current one is "21st-Century Propaganda: Mind Control in a Democracy").

✱ Make public presentations to churches, schools, activist groups, and whomever asks me.

✱ Appear on our monthly cable-TV show, "Our World Today." (Find the TV schedule, or watch the show online.)

✱ Keep working on a book I hope to publish, once I get past whatever internal roadblocks seem to be holding it up.

✱ Make myself available as a public resource for my community, which is anyone who supports the Nygaard Notes values of Solidarity, Compassion, Justice, and Democracy.

I hope to receive your Pledges before the end of the month, which I realize is only about one week from now. So, If you already know you want to pledge your support for the Nygaard Notes project, NOW'S THE TIME. You can remember the deadline if you think of this as a sort of Trick or Treat. Maybe. (Although I don't know what the trick is—I'll keep publishing even if few of you meet my arbitrary deadline!)

There will be a "regular" issue of the Notes coming your way before long, following up on the Just World Theory issue that came out last week. For now, nothing but Pledge Drive why's and how-to's.

"Quote" of the Week: "I'm So Glad!"

As is the tradition with the Nygaard Notes Pledge Drive, the "Quote" of the Week is made up of the words of an actual Nygaard Notes reader—just like YOU—who took the time to write in with her thoughts. (This is supposed to inspire you to send in a Pledge, of course.)

This week's Pledge-time "Quote" of the Week comes from a long-time reader who wrote in last spring to say:

"I'm so glad you're still doing what you do so well. I don't often respond about specific issues of the Notes, but they are always so insightful and I always find myself wishing you had an even wider audience for helping people to understand what's really going on."

That's what I'm working on—teaching, writing, speaking, TV—and with your help the audience will continue to grow.

Pledging to Nygaard Notes: The Basics

Nygaard Notes is made possible by readers who donate money to the project in the form of Pledges. Pledges can be made anytime, but once or twice each year I devote an issue or two especially to the task of inviting you to send in a Pledge to assure that Nygaard Notes continues publication. Will you do your part? Here are the basic things you need to know:

First off, there are two ways to make a Pledge of support to Nygaard Notes.

The FIRST WAY is to make out a check to "Nygaard Notes," and mail it to:

Nygaard Notes
P.O. Box 6103
Minneapolis, MN 55406

The SECOND WAY is to use your credit card and pay via the PayPal system. Here's how:

1. Go to the Nygaard Notes website.
2. Look for "Donate to Nygaard Notes," and follow the instructions to donate online using the PayPal system.

Have you already made a Pledge, but are not sure if you are due for renewal? The next article is for you.

Have You Already Made a Pledge? Read This

I tried something last year that worked pretty well, so here goes again:

I will list below the names of all of you whose Pledges are now due (first names only). If you see your name here, please send in your Pledge NOW, and that way I'll be saved the time and expense of sending your renewal AND you won't have to get another piece of fundraising mail in your mailbox. It's a Win/Win! If I don't hear from you within a week or so, I'll send you a personal reminder via the US Postal Service or, if you pledged online, via email. Or, if you made a Pledge and know you do NOT want to renew, let me know that and I'll refrain from reminding you.

So, what follows is a list with the names of all of you who made Pledges last October and undoubtedly want to renew your Pledge this year. (Maybe you even want to make a slightly larger Pledge, what with inflation and all.) Here we go:

➡ Evert
➡ EB
➡ Carol
➡ Rebecca
➡ Clarence
➡ Jan
➡ Gail
➡ Steve
➡ Josh
➡ Elizabeth
➡ Mary Ellen
➡ Marlys
➡ John
➡ Brad and Terri
➡ Jenny
➡ Mary
➡ Loren and Elizabeth
➡ Art and Maureen
➡ Tom
➡ Donna and Paul
➡ Cathy
➡ Davis
➡ Bill
➡ Stuart
➡ Medora
➡ Elizabeth
➡ Lisa and Dean

It's a slightly shorter list than last year because many of you have ALREADY renewed your Pledge. Thank you! If you think you see your name on the list, just get in touch with me and, if it is you, I'll tell you when you last pledged and for how much. And I'll thank you in advance for renewing your Pledge!

The Take-Home Point: If you do nothing right now, you'll soon receive your renewal notice in the mail. To stop that from happening, send me a note. Thanks!

As always, if you would prefer to receive your Pledge renewal notice via email, rather than in paper form, then you should send me an email, and ask to receive your renewal via return email. I'll send you the same letter, with the same information, but without the paper or the stamps. Then you can either send in your Pledge online, or use your own envelope to mail in your check.

How Much Should Your Pledge Be?

I offer here THREE tried-and-true methods for figuring out how much you would like to donate to support Nygaard Notes.

Method #1: The Standard Pay Per Issue

The familiar way of pledging, or subscribing, is to attempt to determine what each issue is "worth." How ridiculous! Who can assign a dollar value to ideas? But, if you insist, here's what you need to know:

Each year I seem to put out somewhere between 20 and 30 issues of Nygaard Notes. Sometimes more or, if many of them are double-sized issues (like this year) then maybe fewer. If each issue is worth a dollar to you, then maybe you would send me $25. Fifty cents each? Then it's $12.50. Maybe each issue is worth $5.00 to you. Then you would send in $125. And so on.

Method #2: Income/Wealth Calculation

A second way to think about what amount to pledge is to relate your contribution to your own income or wealth. Are you willing to devote one or two hour's worth of your wages each year to supporting Nygaard Notes? Then send me that amount. If you make minimum wage, I am more than happy to accept $7.25 or $14.50 for your annual subscription donation. Maybe the minimum wage in your state is different than the federal minimum, which is the number I used. Go with that.

The average hourly compensation for "production and non-supervisory employees on non-farm payrolls" (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) is now $8.68. So $8.68 or $17.36 would be your Pledge amount using this method.

Moving away from income to wealth (that is, looking at what you HAVE instead of what you EARN), you could send one-tenth of 1% of your net worth. Since the median net worth for all households in the United States has now "plummeted" to $66,740 (according to ABC News), this would be roughly $66.74. (For help in figuring out your own wealth, the median household income, etc., see Nygaard Notes #138, "Wealth in the United States.")

Method #3: Whatever

Just send whatever you think is right, for heaven's sakes.

I will record whatever amount you send and then I will contact you in a year and ask you to renew your Pledge. (Most people do renew, but you don't have to.) I will even send a pre-addressed and stamped envelope—that's about as easy as it gets.

Thank you for supporting Nygaard Notes!