A match update

Help Tone Madison make some important steps by the end of this year.

This is our newsletter-first column, Microtones. It runs on the site on Fridays, but you can get it in your inbox on Thursdays by signing up for our email newsletter.

Back in July, I challenged Tone Madison readers with a matching donation offer. Tone Madison relies on donations from readers. That’s our biggest income source, and we use that money to pay our writers and cover basic overhead. A few local businesses sponsor us, but our readers play the biggest part in helping us keep the lights on and keeping us independent. 

Time has been doing its weird stretchy quarantine thing, so we’re overdue for an update on this match. 

I pledged $25 for each person who signs up to become a new Tone Madison Sustainer at the $10 per month level or higher, up to $500; and for every current Sustainer who increases their monthly give, I pledged $10, up to $200. The short version is, the goal was for 40 people to either start giving or increase their give. 

I ran the numbers this week, and since I issued my challenge in July, 41 people have done one or the other. About half of those Sustainers are giving at the Cool Building Level at $5, our most popular level by far. There were 12 people who increased their give, which means most of the people who’ve responded to the match are first-time donors. A few of our previous Sustainers ascended to the coveted, elite Tone Madison Reply Guy level, at $25 a month.

Technically, we’re still working toward our match goal, but in these precarious and worrisome times we’re extremely grateful that so many people have stepped up to help us out. A dedicated community of readers each giving a few bucks a month can actually add up to a damn good support base for a scrappy publication like ours. 

As of next month, we will have published Tone Madison for six years without big corporate advertisers or foundations propping us up. It’s never been easy—especially this year—but it’s incredibly rewarding to publish our work for people who truly get it and truly care.

I’ve gone ahead and put my $700 where my mouth is. But I’d like to ask you to support us if you haven’t already done so. By the end of the year, we’re aiming to have a few things in place: A couple of part-time editors, the beginnings of a bigger editorial board, a part-time fundraising coordinator. We wouldn’t even be able to start planning these moves without the help you’ve given us so far. We can actually get there with a little more.

If you value what we’re doing, consider becoming a Tone Madison Sustainer today or increasing your existing donation. If you’re not in the position to do that, consider telling your friends why Tone Madison matters to you. Thanks for being in this with us.

P.S. Did you know that Communication acts as a fiscal receiver for Tone Madison? Set up your recurring, tax-deductible gift today!