July 27, 2009

How to Do Congressional Oversight

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The Project on Government Oversight (POGO) recently published a new handbook outlining “best practices” for congressional oversight of government. It’s available free to members of Congress and their staff members. If you are not a denizen of the Hill, you can buy it online.

I’ll give you the bottom line for free: don’t assume that everyone else knows what you know or is asking the questions you’re asking. Wondering why something isn’t being investigated? Bother your Congresscritter. Have a whistle to blow? Bother your Congresscritter. Better yet, let us know: a lot of the time, media attention can get the ball rolling when it wasn’t before. Try scoop [at] motherjones [dot] com. We’re listening.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

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