Vol. 71/No. 24      June 18, 2007

“Your contributions, and those from workers, farmers, and students like you, are the only way the socialist newsweekly keeps coming out,” Malapanis said.

Donations, ranging from $5 to $500 and more, cover everything—from operating expenses like printing, shipping, and rent, to big budget items like the three international reporting trips to Cuba and Venezuela the Militant fielded just during the course of the drive.

“Going over the top is very welcome, because we face extra costs we had not budgeted,” Malapanis said. These include expenses for the hike of second-class postal rates (see article on page 9) and a computer software upgrade.

One of the highlights of the two-month effort was the number of people who donated to the paper for the first time. Militant supporters in several cities reported getting contributions from coworkers in packing plants, sewing shops, and elsewhere.

Special fund-raising forums were held during the drive, as well, on topics covered in the Militant—from the sharpening class conflict in Venezuela, to Cuba’s revolutionary example in the world today, to the struggle for legalization of undocumented immigrants. At several of these programs, new readers of the paper were part of the platform of speakers explaining why the Militant is important to their political work.

All but one of the 27 local areas where supporters of the paper took fund goals made or surpassed their quotas. That’s a victory to build on for the paper’s fall fund drive.

Click here to see the fund drive chart