Spring fund drive goal met! NCR thanks its generous readers

In the late night hours of May 13, you generous readers pushed us over the $100,000 goal we had for your 2018 Spring Fund Drive. We have only two words for you: Thank you! Add two more: Thank you very much!

For nine years, we’ve been hosting this fund drive in the spring. For nine years we’ve laid out our funding needs to you, and every year you, our generous, dear readers have come through. You’ve met and even exceeded our goals. Thank you again.

This year, we added a bit of a twist by giving you a choice of making a one time donation or becoming a sustaining member, you came through with the support we need. We added some 280 new members to our membership program.

We struggle to find words to express our gratitude for your support.

The NCR team, which includes many more people than the newsroom staff whose names you see and recognize, work day in and day out to deliver to your mailbox, your web browser and your smart phone or your tablet quality journalism. It is a team effort, from the newsroom to the accounting department. The advertising department is no less important in this mission than the newsroom. So too the marketing and development offices. The customer service department is also on the front lines every day ready and eager to provide you quality service.

We speak for all of them when we say thank you.

Next time you read a report from national correspondent Heidi Schlumpf or from staff writer Brian Roewe, when you see an article from Joshua McElwee from a far flung corner of the world following Pope Francis, next time you read commentary by Jamie Manson, Michael Sean Winters or Sr. Christine Schenk, know that all of that is possible because of your generous support of National Catholic Reporter and our mission of using the tools of journalism to explore the church and issues important to you.

And year in and year out, our readers – you – have proven you value that mission enough to support us financially.

Thank you.

[Dennis Coday is NCR editor. Caitlin Hendel is NCR publisher.]

P.S. If you didn't have a chance to give to the Spring Fund Drive, it's not too late to support NCR by becoming a sustaining member or making a one-time donation.