A crucial moment for The New Atlantis

Dear Reader — 

I am writing with the most important message to our readers in many years — a message of need and opportunity.

The profile of The New Atlantis has grown markedly of late — we had over 1.5 million readers last year. I believe this is because we provide an alternative to the stultifying trends of today’s science and tech journalism.

But what makes The New Atlantis essential also makes our existence improbable. The easy ways to fund public intellectual work come from bowing to the very forces we resist.

Candidly, even as our profile has grown, we have been in an institutional holding pattern. With a staff of just three, we haven’t had the breathing room we need to keep our model truly sustainable over the long term. Our potential has exceeded our capacity to meet it.

I am writing to you now because  —  with your help  —  all that may be about to change.

A generous patron has stepped forward and offered us a $150,000 challenge grant, which will match dollar-for-dollar any new donations we receive this summer. That means that we might be able to realize $300,000 in new funding.

This is the most important opportunity The New Atlantis has seen since we launched.

Meeting this goal would be transformative. We could grow our editorial staff and hire a full-time fundraiser and business manager, whose sole focus would be on growing our funding for good. We could foster our editors and writers as public intellectuals, giving them the space to write, speak, and engage in public debates.

Imagine how much stronger the voice of The New Atlantis could then be on the national stage.

But this is all premised on the idea that we can bring in a broad new base of financial support — which is why our new patron structured this gift as a challenge grant.

Can we? The answer is up to you.

Allow me to offer some nuts and bolts. Last year, our readers answered our fundraising call at a level we’ve never seen before. In response to our campaigns, we received 290 donations totaling $45,000. Of those, 15 were in the range of $1,000 or more, an additional 74 were $100 or more, and another 200 were under $100.

To reach our new matching grant and set off that new virtuous cycle, we are asking you to help us beat these numbers again, growing each of those giving levels severalfold.

If you are able, please donate now:

DONATE

You can also mail a check to:

All contributions are tax-deductible. Read more about donating here.

I have spoken to many readers lately who echo back to me the thought I had when I first encountered the journal years ago: Has this place been here all along? Why didn’t I find it sooner?

Perhaps you have responded to our work in this way too. If you recognize what we are, and can imagine what we might yet be, now is the moment we most need your help. We are deeply grateful for your generosity.

Yours,

Ari Schulman, Editor

p.s. Our Summer issue is here! Check it out.