Matching Offer: A Seasonal Gift from Richard to RDFRS

Matching Offer: A Seasonal Gift from Richard to RDFRS
by Richard Dawkins
We are coming into the finishing straight of our current pledge drive and I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all those who have contributed so far, to bring us over the $50,000 mark today on Christmas Eve. Our target of $100,000 was always optimistic, and now it is beginning to look rather unrealistic. But here’s a way to make it realistic again. In the closing days of this pledge drive, up until the stroke of midnight, Pacific Standard Time, on December 31st, every individual donation will be worth twice as much as its face value. This is because today I am giving a personal pledge to match every donation (up to a maximum total of $25,000). That means that if I end up paying my specified maximum of $25,000, that will mean that we have reached our target. In a sense you could say that, although the apparent total in the kitty so far is $50,237.06, the shortfall from our target of $100,000 is less than $25,000!

So, if you give $100, you will, in effect, have given $200. If you give $1, you will have given $2. And don’t for one moment think that $1 is too small to matter. Of course we like large donations, but we also, for technical reasons, have a need to show a wide base of support – a high total number of supporters (no matter how small their donations might be).

As you can imagine, producing high quality materials and ensuring their widest possible distribution is an expensive business, so we really do need your support to help us keep getting the message about science and reason across to as many people as possible. Every dollar you donate will be put to good use, and every dollar donated between now and the deadline will be able to work TWICE as hard and be TWICE as effective.

Every donation, large or small, makes a vital contribution to our work and is greatly appreciated.

Thank you again to those of you who have already supported RDFRS by donating. And thank you to those of you who are willing to help with this final push to try to reach our target, which will enable us to turn our plans into reality. We cannot do it without you.

Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your contributions to this website during 2009, for your intelligence, your insight and your wit; I’d like to thank you for your enthusiasm and support; and I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Newton’s Day, Winter Solstice or whatever you like to call it, and a very Happy New Year.

Richard