We were already over the moon when we wrapped up our three-week campaign to add more Tyee monthly financial supporters to the established ranks of our treasured "Builders." Over the moon because we’d set a goal of 500 new Builders. And you hit that pretty fast. So we upped it to a “stretch goal” of 850. And by the time the official period was over the number had edged just over 900. Amazing! What a signal that independent, reader-backed journalism has a bright future.
Then we said that’s a wrap, thanks so much. And we turned our attention back to pretty much just producing journalism. We did notice a few more people were still stepping up to be Tyee Builders, so we left up our handy dandy counter (which is sort of mesmerizing, and you can see here). And then it got hot. And we got distracted. And it got even hotter. And then today, one of us checked the counter and it said: 1,000!
Doubling, in other words, the number of new Builders we’d set as our goal. Doubling the number of people who have begun contributing $10 or more a month to fund Tyee journalism. Doubling our appreciation for you readers who engage with the journalism on our pages and also support us with your dollars.
In the meantime lots of kind people made one-time contributions, too. We combined their names with the monthly Builders to create a sort of wall of great people — about 1,600 names — which also is mesmerizing to behold. You can scroll through them here.
All of this has happened even though The Tyee does not twist anyone’s arm by erecting a paywall. We figure if the public-interest journalism we produce is really of interest to the general public, best not to prevent people from reading it, particularly those who are low-income.
As a result, just under one per cent of all the people who come to The Tyee decide to sign up as Builders to pay for what they find here. Heroes, to us. Now those are One Percenters we love!
As we’ve explained, reader support is the primary pillar of Tyee revenue. Without it, we would not exist. And as it grows, we are able to produce more and more journalism celebrating what’s great about B.C., what needs changing, who is showing the way with actual solutions, and who in power needs to be held to account.
Today, compared to just six weeks ago, 1,000 more people are helping us with their monthly commitment. One thousand more Tyee Builders. In the middle of a hell of a heat wave even. We think that’s really cool.
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