After one of the most divisive, dark and damaging election campaigns in US political history, Donald Trump will be the 45th president of the United States. His victory sets in motion massive shifts in national and foreign policy, and will no doubt have a huge impact on debates around race, criminal justice, immigration, gender and the environment in the US and beyond. Many people, in America and around the world, are frightened.

Trumpism has exposed faultlines of cynicism, racism, misogyny and xenophobia, and awakened long dormant white nationalist groups. This election has revealed America to be a deeply polarized nation. As Trump assumes the world’s most powerful office, we must work to protect the US’s open, multicultural democracy which celebrates diversity of perspective and plurality of voices, especially with the Republicans winning the House of Representatives and much of the Senate. Trump will face few checks on his power.

Donald Trump wins US election: 'we're all on the same team' Obama says – live Read more

Never has the world needed independent journalism more. Through our reporting, the Guardian will hold Trump and his administration to account. We will strive to uncover the truth if those in power hide behind falsehoods. We will continue to sort fact from fiction. When underrepresented experiences are ignored, we will find ways to make sure they are heard.

We will also continue to seek to understand the forces behind Trump’s victory, and Hillary Clinton’s loss. Many people feel left behind by America’s growing wealth inequality. It is a story we see repeated around the world – where voters believe the establishment no longer represents their interests, and that they are best protected by higher walls and tougher restrictions on immigration. Our global perspective means we can join those dots. We can, with your help, set Trump’s victory in the context of a wider dissatisfaction and frustration with an increasingly unequal world.

Now is the time to support journalism that is both fearless and free – which is why I am writing today to ask you to fund our work by becoming a Guardian Supporter or by making a one-off contribution.

If, during this election season, you read Lucia Graves’s exclusive interview with Jill Harth, the first woman to publicly accuse Trump of sexual misconduct; if you watched Paul Lewis’s video series, Anywhere but Washington, which visited communities across the country left behind by the political establishment; if you followed Gary Younge’s month-long stay in Muncie, Indiana, where he reported without judgment on the rage so many Americans feel - then please help to pay for our journalism.

Because the Guardian is not beholden to profit-seeking shareholders or a billionaire owner, we can pursue stories without fear of where they might take us, free from commercial and political influence. But these are difficult times for independent media organisations, with advertising revenues across the industry falling, and we increasingly rely on the financial support of our readers to keep our journalism free and open for all.

There is tremendous work to do. Please join us, so together we can keep the world informed.