January 9, 2009

Asking for TARP Funds Takes Only 27 Minutes

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Journalists have written so much about the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), better known as the federal bailout, that it’s hard to find a new angle. Seems like everyone‘s clamoring for a piece of the collective capital. Maybe that’s because it takes less than half an hour to ask for it.

It turns out that the application for TARP funds is surprisingly simple. Interested parties can find the complete guidelines for the TARP Capital Purchase Program
here. The application is just two pages long. As a test, we decided to fill it out. Including the time it took us to explain this project to our chief financial officer, the TARP application took a mere 27 minutes to complete.

To put it in perspective, here are five things that take longer than filling out the TARP application.

  1. Applying for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): 4 hours.
  2. Watching Wall Street: 2 hours, 5 minutes.
  3. Making a tuna noodle casserole: 1 hour, 20 minutes.
  4. Applying for New York State unemployment insurance benefits: 30 minutes.
  5. Applying for food stamps in New Jersey: 30 minutes.

One of the only things that takes less time is filling out a credit card application: 2 minutes.

—Alexis Fitts and Daniel Luzer

Image by flickr user JRP Photo

WE CAME UP SHORT.

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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.

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