As I write this it is seven days almost to the minute since the five week On London crowdfunding campaign was launched. Progress has been very good so far. Fuelled by some large early pledges, things got off to a flying start. At the start of today the fund total stood at £6,795. That’s 27% of the target of £25,000, which is ahead of schedule so far. But there is still a long way to go and the hardest part of making this project a success has only just begun.
The advice from the excellent Crowdfunder is that the middle section of your campaign period is when you have to work hardest to keep progressing towards your goal. That phase has already begun. Yesterday (Wednesday) was encouraging, with 13 new people coming on board and pledging around £500. But there was a 24 hour period before that when no new pledges were made at all.
Thanks to that fast start I can afford a couple of slow days, but not many. Remember, that £25,000 is an all-or-nothing target. If I don’t raise the whole lot by 8 March, I don’t get any of it and all my plans for improving and expanding what On London does will be imperilled.
I am more certain than ever that the capital badly needs coverage of its politics, development and culture that explains the big and complex issues London faces and eschews the shallow, populist approach to them that dominates so much of the output of Big Media across the board, “quality” outlets included.
The range and expertise of the supporters and contributors it has attracted so far underlines that On London has the potential to establish itself as a small but influential alternative to all that. But it will struggle to do so without your financial help over the next four weeks. Please give what you can. Thank you.
Dave Hill.