You might be wondering why I am having the two week drive to recruit more Donor Subscribers to my blog.

Here’s why. Things in the media world are changing and they are changing fast.

When I started my blog over ten years ago I just started writing stuff that, for a range of reasons, others wouldn’t publish. Maybe it was too personal, too long, too short, too controversial–whatever.

Then people began to read the blog. Thousands of people from all over the world. I realized that this was an important mission and part of the new evangelization. Then I started getting invitations to speak and reach thousands more people.

Folks would come up and thank me for the blog or send me emails: “Thanks for you blog Father. Because of your writings I came into the Catholic Church.” or “Father, all the churches in our area are worm eaten with liberalism. Your cheerful orthodoxy is a great antidote! Keep up the good work.!”

So I kept going. Then when social media started to gear up I connected in order to get more people to read.

The other exciting thing about blogging was there was true freedom of expression. You could say what needed to be said without filtering by editors and worry about readership being offended or advertisers cutting you off. I realized how much this influenced writing when I was writing for some centrist websites. They wanted copy that was uncontroversial to offend no one and attract the largest possible audience in order to please the advertisers.

So I pulled back from other writing commitments to focus on the blog. I also pulled back from Patheos because of all the advertising for stuff I didn’t agree with. With increasing censorship on Facebook and Twitter I am also pulling back from social media. This means we need to rely increasingly on our own mailing lists and loyalty to our own blogs and websites. That is why I am encouraging people to not only subscribe to the blog website, but also to sign up for my free twice a month email newsletter. Go here to do so.

This meant a new design for my website which would include the blog. The blog would be free for all and combining it with the website allowed me to add more content, more podcasts and guest bloggers.

As all this developed, the quality of websites and the internet continued to improve. I think the blog-website should be fast, look good, respond well and be interactive for people as much as possible.

Here’s something else to consider: some of the famous Catholics who produce TV shows, radio shows, DVD series and have huge mailing lists and a platform of thousands–some of these folks actually have a team of workers who help them produce the videos, publish the mailings, pump out the radio shows, design the books and booklets and groom the database, polish the website and market the material. To support this they also have patrons with deep pockets–wealthy individuals, dioceses or foundations.

Not me. Its just me blogging and podcasting and holding hands with my web designer and a few other folks who are also doing what they can where they are with what they have.

Which brings me to Donor Subscribers. Everyone expects internet content to be  free, and I want to provide it for free. That’s okay, but it is not free to produce and I don’t have any large patrons, foundations or dioceses to underwrite the website-blog. I also really don’t want to start taking ads of any kind.

Therefore the Donor Subscribers are just a bunch of little guys like me who also want to contribute to this mission and this cause. If you can help, please do. To be a Donor Subscriber means a donation of $8.95 a month. That works out to less than thirty cents a day. Three dimes.

I hope you’ll join me in this mission. Go here to subscribe. If you can’t be a monthly subscriber maybe you can use the yellow “Donate” button in the right sidebar of the  home page.

Thanks for listening. Oh, one other point. This two week drive in April is one of two times a year I’m pushing hard for new Donor Subscribers. There will be another two week drive in October.

PS: Go here to learn more about being a Donor Subscriber. Go here to sign up for the free twice a month newsletter. Go here to subscribe to my podcasts.

PPS: New subscribers during these two weeks can receive a free copy of Carl Olson’s book Did Jesus Really Rise From the Dead? After subscribing they just have to shoot me an email with their postal address and their request for the book.