Full Results of Mother Jones’ 2008 Student Activism Survey

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WHAT’S ACTIVISM ANYWAY?

 

Students

Nonstudents

Giving spare change to the homeless

34%

30%

Taking “Ending Poverty 101” instead of “Intro to I-Banking”

49%

46%

Thrifting

52%

49%

Being a vegetarian

57%

46%

Buying organic

63%

59%

Taking public transit

70%

68%

Recycling

78%

75%

Boycotting Wal-Mart

85%

83%

Buying fair trade/non-sweatshop labor

85%

83%

 

ARE STUDENTS MORE OR LESS ENGAGED NOW THAN IN THE 60’S?

 

Students

Nonstudents

More

14%

16%

Less

86%

84%

 

WHERE’S THE FUTURE OF ACTIVISM?

Where's the future of activism?

Source: 2008 Mother Jones Student Activism Survey; 1,353 total respondents (678 students, 675 nonstudents)

 

MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR STUDENTS

MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR NONSTUDENTS

 

Former Students

Ever been arrested for a cause?

Ever been arrested for a cause?

Where is student activism more important?

Where is student activism more important?

What’s more important?

What's more important?

What’s the lamest form of activism?

What's the lamest form of activism?

What do you wish you’d spent more time on?

What do you wish you'd spent more time on?

 

Current Students

Ever been arrested for a cause?

Ever been arrested for a cause?

Where is student activism most important?

Where is student activism most important?

What’s more important?

What's more important?

What’s the lamest form of activism?

What's the lamest form of activism?

2D Charts by Jeff Berlin

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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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