Beginnings
Business, then pleasure. This is the May issue of moment. The last issue was the March issue. Perceptive readers (and which of moment's readers is not perceptive?) will note the absence of April....
...I thank each and every one of our readers who shared so generously with us...
...But not to worry...
...Beginning in mid-February, we set out to raise a total of $100,000...
...they are enthusiasts...
...Last March 9, we sent a letter to 6,000 moment subscribers—all who showed on our rolls as having, at some point, renewed their subscriptions...
...Indeed, as I write—it is April 23—we have over a 17 percent response...
...So the problem becomes how to communicate to large numbers of people, at low cost, that moment is not just "another" Jewish magazine...
...We do not want, intend, or expect to make fund raising a way of life...
...feel free to call and talk specifics...
...Specifically, we must add at least 5,000 new subscribers to our rolls in 1979, and another 10,000 in 1980...
...In short, for all that our letter spoke of 1000 responses and a target of $54,000, we were very skeptical that we would make either goal...
...Imagine, therefore, our delight when the responses started barreling in...
...In that letter, we outlined moment's fiscal plight, discussed the grim prospects we faced, and asked for help, suggesting that the help come in the j form of triple-Chai—$54—contributions...
...Successfully reaching a larger share of that market will also permit a more persuasive advertising sales effort...
...With Mother's Day and Father's Day, June graduations and weddings soon upon us, now seems to us an especially good time to get started...
...You see, we have labored at our desks foi over four years, believing deeply in our work, without knowing—really knowing—whether we were, as we hoped, touching our readers, establishing with them the kind of relationship which alone justified the difficult and continuing effort...
...And your response, verbal as well as financial, told us that we were...
...Why shouldn't synagogues and temples get into the habit of providing all their youngsters away at school with moment...
...Despite intolerable post office delays (we had mentioned a March 20 deadline in our letter, yet about a third of the mail was not delivered until after that date, forcing us to send still a second letter assuring would-be participants that it was not too late), we very quickly climbed over the five percent mark...
...But first, we'd like to pause and invite you to share our joy...
...While we normally don't print "puff" letters, we thought you'd like to read some excerpts from the mail that has attended the response to our appeal...
...Thanks" hardly expresses what we here feel these days...
...First, our renewal rate is very high...
...2. We're pushing hard on bulk sales to institutions—federations, synagogues, and the like, in the expectation that a large volume of introductory subscriptions will bring us many subscribers who will want to stay on with us...
...True...
...Nor is there any reason that we should have to...
...And the mail is still coming...
...As against these obstacles to our growth, we have two very powerful resources...
...Thanks, ever so much...
...Those of you who sit on boards of appropriate institutions can be very helpful here...
...To make this one easy and attractive, we've developed a new and exciting plan—introduced in our ad on the page after next...
...Second, many of our readers (as attested both by our renewal rate and by the results of our fund raising effort) regard moment as something special...
...The typical reaction of people who open a piece of our promotional mail (many, of course, simply junk the envelope without even opening it) is, "Oh, another Jewish magazine...
...But along with the checks we received have come a very large number of notes and letters of encouragement which, I am bound to say, have meant quite as much to us as the dollars...
...B* March, we had raised a bit over $40,000 in $1,000 contributions—a considerable achievement, but one that left us a substantial distance still to go...
...And thanks...
...However large or small your contribution, it was deeply, deeply appreciated, and you may l rest assured that we shall try, in j every way we know how, to con-i tinue to merit your concern and : support...
...They're on the next page...
...Here's what we're planning, and what we're asking: 1. We'll continue limited direct mail promotion, on a highly selective basis...
...Nor do we anticipate any further interruptions in our publishing schedule...
...The way we keep track of these things, you see, is by volumes and issue numbers...
...So even if your address label carries the old expiration date, the computer knows that we owe you one more...
...The typical response to direct mail appeals is on the order of two or three percent...
...Which brings me to pleasure...
...The money is, of course, essential, moment is an independent magazine with no organizational backing, and while we have no doubt that the day will come when we will be able to stand on our feet, that day is not yet here...
...A total of 1045 people have contributed a total of $45,291...
...The issue before us, obviously, is how to expand our circulation, not how to run a series of successful fund raising campaigns...
...We're back on track...
...They are not merely readers...
...As we define the problem, our limiting conditions are (I) that promotion in general, and direct mail promotion in particular, are very expensive undertakings, and (2) that even if we had the resources for an elaborate direct mail promotion of moment, we would run afoul of consumer resistance...
...moment's potential market is more than adequate to permit it to stand firmly on its own...
...We'll be in touch with you individually on this one...
...3. Creation of "moment Committees" in as many cities as possible—friends of the magazine who will assume some responsibility for meeting specific growth targets in their communities...
...moment has become our collective endeavor...
...I Many of you raised interesting questions or offered interesting suggestions in your letters...
...We permitted our-| selves the hope that we might reach i five percent—that is, 300 responses, i averaging, we predicted, .some $20-$25 each...
...And you were entirely right to do so...
...5. We'd like people who care about this magazine to get into the habit of making it their standard gift for all manner of occasion...
...4. Continued emphasis on the moment College Program...
...We decided to turn to our subscribers to provide the balance we required...
...And so we decided to take a very difficult and a rather unpromising step...
...Once a person becomes a subscriber, he or she is likely to want to stay with us...
...The innards of the computer have been tinkered with, and all subscriptions have been extended for one month...
...These are reasonable and reachable targets, //you're willing to help...
...That letter was part of a larger campaign to Finance moment's 1979 deficit...
...Putting all that together, it seems clear to us that moment's future depends on its subscribers' readiness to become its promoters...
...We were not optimistic...
Vol. 4 • May 1979 • No. 5
