November 2, 2009

Chamber Gets No Love on Facebook

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UPDATE: It appears the Facebook onslaught is a coordinated effort by the activist group MoveOn, rather than an organic uprising. You win this round, Chamber.

The US Chamber of Commerce is taking a real hammering on Facebook these days. A visit to its wall finds a significant number of visitors demanding that it stop fudging its membership numbers.

A few sample comments:

“Is it the ‘spirit of enterprise’ to tell a whopper like having 3 million members when you only have about 2-3 hundred thousand? And then continue to repeat that whopper even after you admit it’s not true? This speaks very poorly for your credibility in other areas, such as health care.”

“You guys are a complete joke…lol Did you guys give birth to Superman too?”

“Saying that you are for limiting CO2 emissions and writing letters lobbying to oppose H.R. 2454 are contradictory positions. At least represent your position honestly. It is time for business leaders to stop dragging their feet on climate change regulation. It’s going to have to happen sooner or later. I hope it is sooner.”

In a sign that the Chamber is still sticking to its guns despite mounting criticism of its policy stances, the page also features a poll for fans asking, “Which piece of legislation is worse?” The choices:

  • The Health Care Reform Bills including a government-run plan
  • The Climate Change Bill (Waxman-Markey Bill)

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

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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