September 19, 2011

Big News in Ketchup City

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From the Wall Street Journal today:

In 2006, when activist investor Nelson Peltz battled Heinz for board seats, he pushed the company to make a number of changes, large and small, including developing easier-to-open ketchup packets.

This is in a story about — hey. Wait a second. Did I read that right? Back in 2006, a shareholder activist was demanding that Heinz develop an easier-to-open ketchup packet? Seriously? I guess shareholder activism isn’t what it used to be.

Anyway, Heinz has finally complied, introducing a ketchup packet that can be opened at one end if you want to squeeze out the ketchup, or the other end if you want to dip your food in ketchup. It’s also bigger than the old packets. I don’t like ketchup, myself, so I’m not blown away by this news. But maybe you will be.

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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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