This is An Experiment. I’m asking Free edition readers if they would like to fund “scholarships” for others in exchange for not having ads in the free newsletter. To test the idea, I’m funding the first 5 scholarships myself.
I made the initial “announcement” very quietly to start with, with the idea of giving first priority to those who actually read the whole newsletter. If you found that paragraph, you’re clearly paying attention, and that’s one aspect of the sort of reader I want.
So “if you have always wanted to have a Premium subscription but have higher priority needs (aka, can’t fit it into your budget),” then I encourage you to fill out the form below. All fields are required. Please apply only one time.
What sort of person am I looking for, other than actual readers who pay attention to the whole newsletter? I don’t know! It’s why the questions are fairly general. Could be I’ll only get 1 or 2 responses, and then it will be easy. Or I could get 50, and then it will be very hard for me to decide (unless there are a lot of scholarship sponsors in the coming weeks).
Either way, the selection criteria will not be released for obvious reasons.
As I said: it’s an experiment! 🙂
Update: Within around 2 hours of the newsletter release announcing this, applications had outstripped supply. That said, not all applications have been granted, and there are (hopefully!) more scholarships coming. So do not hesitate to apply as long as I am still encouraging that here.
Want to Sponsor?
My idea and preference is to not “hit up” current Premium subscribers: they have already been very generous in their support, and the idea behind this is for those who can afford to upgrade, but “don’t want to” for any reason whatever, such as you have limited time to read fun stuff, and want to help.
This program also gives a better understanding of exactly what your contribution will go to. One such reader already stepped forward before I added this section. I would love to have you contribute too! Just go to the regular Contributions page and put in any amount of contribution you wish, which (unless specified for something else) will go to the Scholarship Fund.
The fund will be used $44 at a time (the minimum amount of a year’s subscription). If 2 people put in $22, that will net 1 Scholarship. If 1 person puts in $440, that will net 10 Scholarships. And each scholarship will count as 1 upgrade toward omitting ads in the Free edition so that you (and everyone else) benefits, in addition to supporting the newsletter as a whole. Everyone wins.
Thank you!