National Review founder William F. Buckley Jr.

We rise and shine this morning to find we have passed $100,000 in contributions to NR’s 2019 Spring Webathon. An undeniable milestone that! But also undeniable: NR needs to raise at least $75,000 more (and more on top of that if at all possible). What motivates someone to give? There are as many reasons as there are donors — God bless them, each and every one — some of whom anticipated your curiosity by sharing their moolah-transferring raisons d’être:


• Dixie drops $100 on us and . . . maybe it signifies resignation: “All right, all right, all right already!” Well, Dixie, what’s all right is everything about you. Thanks so much.

• Mark and Kristine tag-team a $250 donation and share their familial happiness: “About to send my oldest off to college. Thankfully she is grounded and not succumbed to the views of the left. (I’ve even caught her listening to the Great Books Podcast!) So grateful to NR for clear, logical content with which we can arm her as she enters the lions’ den.”

• William went for the barrel-of-oil donation suggestion, but (and we should never say “but” regarding generosity) his contribution is for $55.22, shy of the $63.26 suggested. Assuming we’d want that difference explained, he supplies such: “I’m sending a barrel of crude. But it is North Dakota Light Sweet, which goes at almost an $8/Bbl discount to WTI partially thanks to the anti-infrastructure keep-it-in-the ground groups. Keep up the good work.” Thanks William, this is truly sweet.


• Philip finds $200 and segments his generosity: “$25 each for Williamson, Goldberg, Cooke, and McCarthy to keep pounding out their great work. And another $100 because NRO is essential daily reading for me.” It all adds up to selflessness. Thanks!


• Stephen is good for 100 bucks, and throws in a plug for NRPLUS: “I’ve been reading NR since my younger days and was a fairly early member of NRPLUS. I’ve enjoyed the call-ins and I’m especially looking forward to the Dan Crenshaw (my congressman) on the 29th. Keep up the good work!” Keeping . . . because you keep keeping.

• Big Bad Paul forks over the same amount, and speaks for a lot of people with his attending comment: “One of the things I enjoy about NR is that it’s open to a wide range of conservative viewpoints, a range that other media sources never see to acknowledge.” Bingo!


• Okay, this will be the last, because it’s hard to top: Stephen gave a thousand bucks and then throws down an amazing trump card: “I had dinner with Mr. Buckley when I was a college student at Lehigh University in the ’60s. Life-altering experience.”

We’d love to know more about that experience, Stephen (why not email us and share details if you wish?). And we’d love for folks who, whether directly or from afar, found their lives altered by what Bill Buckley did through NR, and what NR continues to do for conservatism (combatting socialism tooth and nail!), to help keep this enterprise fortified and fighting on behalf of our mutually shared beliefs. Maybe you can’t match Stephen’s grand (But, what if you can?! Maybe you can even surpass that amazing generosity!), but please consider donating s what your wallet might permit. Is it $10 or $100 or $500 or even $55.22? No matter, it will used consequentially.

Nearly 900 people have donated so far, but again: We remain far short of our $175,000 goal (given our true needs, we could have set a goal double that). So here’s the plan: You donate to the 2019 Spring Webathon so we can sock socialism in the mouth. No worry of you want to do that in old-fashioned mode: Mail your deeply appreciated contribution (made payable to “National Review”) to National Review, ATTN: Spring 2019 Webathon, 19 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036. God bless!

