In the past, when soliciting your help, NR was fixated on . . . despair. I should know — I was (and remain) the biggest despair-er. So the prose would be honest but along these lines — thank God I have a big nose, because I am standing on my tippy toes in a sea of red ink, head tilted back, still able to breathe, but barely . . . But of late I’ve held off on showering you with such woeful rhetoric.
Today that changes.
National Review Institute — the owner of National Review magazine and NRO, the happy home to many of your favorite conservative writers (after all, it’s a journalism think tank, and if you take a look at its roster of fellows, which include VDH, Andy McCarthy, Kevin Williamson, Jonah, Reihan, JO’S, Ramesh, Jay, KLO, Douglas Murray, David French, Rick Brookhiser, you’ll be wowed) — is running out of time in its vital End-of-Year appeal effort to raise $250,000 to support, among other things, the fellows program.
We’re not close to that goal. I am breaking out in hives: I need you to help us make it. Why should you? Because surely you believe the collective work of the fellows, and all the programming in which NRI engages to preserve and advance the Buckley mission, is important to conservatism, and therefore merits the support of actual conservatives. Which means . . . you. The fact is, never having had a Sugar Daddy or Momma, NRI — like NR has been for decades — is very dependent on that support. If that wanes, well, then there is trouble in paradise. Which we just cannot allow.
Lots of good people understand that. Over the Christmas weekend, many interrupted their festivities to send NRI a welcome gift, with welcome words too. Such as:
‐Carolyn saw fit to contribute $250 and has a blunt explanation: “Appreciate you as keepers of the flame.” Thanks. We take that duty quite seriously.
‐John also put $250 into the collection basket and said, “Here’s a small donation to support the best news and commentary in the business.” Nothing small about that, or any donation. All are selfless and deeply appreciated.
‐James, who also found 250 bucks to send NRI, tagged it with a simple reason: “Now more than ever.” Amen.
‐We’ll end with good old Bob, he of the $100 donation, who chimed in: “You are a voice of reason in a mad world.” Maybe even a mad, mad, mad, mad world!
That’s all wonderful. To those who have given, thanks so much. But we need many more to do likewise. Many. The cause is just. And, as James said, now, more than ever. Can you find your way to sending NRI a tax-deductible contribution of $25 or $100 or $250? Or maybe $1,000, or $2,500? Or something even more — an extraordinary contribution that will make us faint from relief and joy?
I hope so. It needs to happen. And you can make it happen. Yesterday NRO published a terrific history of NRI by John O’Sullivan. I encourage you to read it. And then do as John recommends: Show your generous and tax-deductible support of NRI and the Buckley mission, which has been entrusted to it. You can do that securely, here.