een noodkreet van sing out....

A Very Important Message from Pete Seeger About the Future of Sing Out!

November, 2009

Dear Holly,

A little over 59 years ago, I help to co-found a wonderful little magazine called Sing Out!

From the beginning, it's brought music, community and enrichment to tens of thousands of readers, sharing information about our best songs, and honoring the people who make the music. Hundreds of important songs, old and new, from many communities and cultures, were first introduced in the pages of Sing Out! In fact, a little song I wrote with Lee Hays 60 years ago -- "If I Had a Hammer" -- graced the cover of its very first issue and gave the magazine its name.

Pete Seeger Writes

Over the years, Sing Out! has grown, changed formats several times, and added songbooks like Rise Up Singing to its catalog. It's createda resource center collecting music, books and photos, reaching back through our community of music and its revival. We even do a weekly radio show that you might be hearing on a local radio station.

Today, in these changing and challenging economic times, Sing Out! is struggling to survive. As we head toward our 60th anniversary next year, we need your support more than ever. I ask you to consider making a contribution to help Sing Out! get through this very difficult year AND to ensure another 60 years of sharing songs that we need to learn and sing.

At the bottom of this message, you'll find information about how you can help ... if each of us gives even a little, Sing Out! will be able to survive and grow.

Thank you for whatever you can do!

I don't think I could say it any better than Pete ... Sing Out! needs your financial help to survive. As we look back over the last few years, we've seen other music magazines that have struggled, and some that have not been able to stay afloat. We're determined to be different, to carry on the best traditions and services of Sing Out! for years into the future. But this has to be a collective and shared effort. Pete's vision and leadership in past decades needs your support in the new century!

The leadership at Sing Out! is truly being proactive. The board and staff have developed a three-pronged strategy to regain stable financial ground and ensure organizational stability in the future.

1. Decreasing Immediate Overhead Costs. A strategic partner is willing to trade the property equity we have accrued over the past 15 years, allowing us to move us into a new space with dramatically lower operating overhead. This will instantly provide us with free space for the next 5 years. This change, in concert with the other ongoing important programmatic changes and cost cutting we already have in place, will increase our cash flow so we can continue our work. We are actively looking at alternative ways of sharing the songs, history, news and commentary, that are so important to Sing Out!'s mission.

2. Fundraising Campaign. This is your part: We are reaching out to members, readers, current and potential supporters throughout our community who care about the things we care about. We simply must retire the debt Sing Out! has been forced to accrue. We know that an infusion of funds from friends like you will help us create the all-important stable financial platform needed, so that we can move forward into 2010 and beyond.

3. Celebration of Our 60th Anniversary. As we look towards the future of Sing Out! we must look at our past as well. We are planning a significant fundraising event to coincide with our 60th anniversary in early 2010. This will help create an endowment enhancing our ability to continue our work into the future. We will announce the details of this exciting event very soon.

As Pete noted, and in order to be able to navigate through the financial crisis we are facing, we look to you -- and the rest of our community -- for help. Simply put, if we are to survive, we need your help now! Please click on the link below to make a tax-deductible contribution to ensure our survival. We can't do it without your support!

Yours In Song,

Mark's Signature

Mark D. Moss
Executive Director / Editor

Toll Free: 888-746-4688 x203

These PayPal Donation buttons will let you make your tax-deductible contribution quickly and easily using the credit card of your choice. If you'd prefer to contact us to make a contribution directly, don't hesitate to call Mark Moss at the phone number above, or you can simply mail your contribution to the address at the bottom of this e-mail.

$1000 $ 500 $ 250 $ 100 $ 60

If you'd like to make a contribution of some other amount, click HERE to access our web form that will let you easily set the amount of your donation.

We have a very limited number of autographed copies of Pete's new autobiography on hand. While supplies last, we would be pleased to offer copies to any donors of $250 or more as a small token of our appreciation for your support.

Note, too, that if you would like your contribution to be recognized in a specific way, or have any other requests or instructions to add, you will have the option to include those notes and instructions in the final step before the contribution is processed. Just follow the prompts as they appear, and look for the "Add Special Intructions to Seller" on the final page before submitting your contribution.