Focus on the Family’s Health Care Fundraising Pitch

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As the health care bill nears a final vote this weekend, religious and social conservatives seem to be seizing the opportunity to maximize its fundraising potential. Yesterday, former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed e-blasted readers of WorldNet Daily asking for “donations” to his new advocacy group for “FaxGrams” to Congress opposing the bill. Today comes the lobbying arm of the slightly broke evangelical powerhouse Focus on the Family, which claims in an email that it has already spent $800,000 trying to defeat the Democrats’ health care proposal. Tom Minnery, the senior vice president for Focus on the Family Action, wrote to supporters on the eve of “one of the most historic votes in history,” that Focus was “stretched thin” by the health care battle and needed some extra cash to continue its fight to hold legislators accountable. He writes:

“There’s an old saying that there are two seasons in politics: legislative season and campaign season. When the politicians have finished voting on the bills, campaign season begins. That’s the time for you and me to hold them accountable. And after all of the secrecy, stunts and parliamentary shenanigans of the past year—on health care alone—lots of accountability is going to be needed!

That’s why I’m urgently asking you to help Focus Action hold them accountable with a special gift today. The election may be a few months away, but the accountability work starts right now—while the American people still remember what just happened.”

He might have added that health care reform has been a “special gift” to struggling right-wing groups looking for something to stoke hysterical fundraising appeals. No doubt there will be many more to come over the next 72 hours.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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