Last week we announced — You Knew This Day Would Come! — that The Agitator would disappear behind a paywall on July 1. Since hardly any US fundraisers will be working that Independence Day week, probably only our non-U.S. readers will notice.

Maybe we’ll push The Wall launch to July 8 to level the playing field. No promises on that.

We’re delighted with the response we’ve received so far to our announcement of The Wall. Our Global Headquarters remains graffiti free. And heaps of readers have already subscribed, with quite a few encouraging messages, well ahead of our June 30th deadline.

We’ve also received some questions and comments that we’d like to address to clarify our intentions. So rather then interrupt our substantive weekday postings with Agitator promotional stuff, we decided to publish this weekend edition.

Here we go …

Question: Will we offer organizational discounts for agencies and nonprofits wanting to sign-up numerous subscribers?

Answer: Yes, details to follow. We need to figure out how to facilitate that with our paywall keeper, TinyPass. (For the technically inclined, the paywall grants entry only if it can identify each subscriber’s unique IP address, so ‘bulk’ or ‘group’ subscriptions pose a problem — for now.)

But whatever option we come up with, you can expect that each individual reader will need to officially subscribe, so as to be recognized by TinyPass when you attempt to read The Agitator.

Keep in mind that since any subscriber can name their own price ($15 and over), you can always get together as a team, pick an amount, then subscribe individually at whatever discounted rate you decide upon. You’re fair. We trust you. We’re easy!

Question: If you’re getting tired, why not publish less frequently and keep it free. Every day is too often anyway.

Answer: We’re not getting tired. We want to continue interacting with folks who are seriously interested in the advice, admonition and information we offer. Of course, we don’t expect everyone to read every post of ours, but we believe that publishing less than five times a week wouldn’t do justice to all the ideas and challenges that need to be addressed.  Keeping to that schedule requires some support from Agitator readers.

Question: You are asking me to become a stakeholder without knowing anything about your finances. What was the revenue of The Agitator in 2012? Expenses? Is there a 990 or tax return to review?

Answer: Huh?! We’re simply asking readers to subscribe on the basis of value received. It costs us a minimum of $75K a year to publish The Agitator daily, and put on the occasional webinars. We’ve covered those costs out of our personal pockets for the past seven years. We’re asking for some help, not seeking investors.

Question (citing Seth Godin): “What if instead of a funnel, we imagine a two-part market? One part is actively participating, supporting and partaking, all because the second part is busy free riding.”

Answer: We considered simply asking for donations. But then we decided … our audience consists of professional fundraisers and communicators, not paupers. Moreover, we then set a ridiculously low minimum fee — $15 a year. And frankly, we do admit to some aversion to parasites.

We hope that what we offer significantly improves the ability of each and every one of our readers to be more effective at his or her job. If you disagree that you should pay for this, we suggest reading any of the splendid blogs on The Agitator’s blog roll who are disposed to offer their advice for free.

Question: Are you sure you can’t just become an NPR show like Click and Clack, The Car Guys?

Answer: We’ve been waiting for that phone call for years. It hasn’t come yet.

Question: Are you guys nuts?

Answer: Maybe. But no more than any other digital publisher who believes they are offering valuable content. However, it doesn’t matter what we think of our mental state. You’ll tell us if we’re nuts by your decision to Continue or Kill The Agitator.

Roger & Tom

P.S. Subscriptions are great and greatly appreciated. But we’re also grateful for your encouraging comments. Like this one from Charlie Hulme in the UK:

“I’m really proud to be a ‘Charter Subscriber’. The idea of both you and Katya stopping within the space of a week just would have been too much!

The Agitator is always thought provoking, educational and practical to apply to my work. Moreover it raises the bar; sets the standard in an era where there are so many blogs that are either poorly written, attention seeking, or poorly disguised sales pitches (excuse the rant!).

Keep up the great work.”

CONTINUE or KILL?