The Final Sixth

This month marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of our latest fundraising campaign. As of this writing, we’ve raised $173,125, or roughly five-sixths of our goal of $205,000. We are extremely grateful to those of you who’ve helped us come this far. Thanks to you, we’re close — really close — to closing this thing out. But we have yet to complete the coda.

Why did we launch this fundraiser? Back in December 2017 our website was the target of a bot attack in the form of hundreds of fraudulent credit-card transactions that we believe were automatically generated by an unknown person or program. The effects were crippling. We suffered a devastating blow to our bottom line, which led to our inability to pay for promotions of our print magazine and thus a stagnation of our (already struggling) subscriber base. On top of that, it was critical that we strengthen the security of our website, which ended up requiring a complete overhaul. The dirty details are laid out in our editorial “Attack of the Bots!” (Oct. 2018).

With the generous assistance we’ve received thus far, we’ve begun paying down the debt we incurred from our website redesign, resumed print advertising, and launched a direct-mail appeal for new subscribers. Alas, the appeal wasn’t very successful. In fact, long ago we reached a point of diminishing returns with direct mail. But it’s the tried-and-true method of increasing a print subscriber base — and long ago we made a promise to our readers not to abandon our print edition — so we’re sending out another appeal this month. Please say a prayer for its success.

While trying to maximize our print readership has been an exercise in vexation, our online readership has grown by leaps and bounds, especially since the introduction of our new-and-improved website this past October. We’d be fools not to devote some share of our resources to the digital arm of our apostolate, even as we try to shore up our print losses. So we have begun exploring ways to augment this serendipitous development with a multifaceted approach to increasing our online profile. We must, of course, be judicious here because in our past experience, online advertising has been a rabbit hole when we relied on our own (admittedly very limited) knowhow. For this reason, we’re in discussions with a recommended and reputable web development and marketing team to “grow” our digital footprint. Please also say a prayer for the success of this endeavor.

In the meantime, we invite you to cruise over to our website and check out all its features. Chief among them is the NOR blog, called The Narthex, which features frequent updates from our team of writers — material that’s not available in print. Of note too is the ongoing development of our online Archives, to which we’ve added yet another year of back issues: 1985. In that blessed year, we featured columnists Robert Coles, John C. Cort, and Fr. Robert E. Lauder on a regular basis, and presented writers such as Peter Kreeft, L. Brent Bozell, Fr. Raymond T. Gawronski, Ronda Chervin, Thomas Molnar, James J. Thompson Jr., Fr. Henri J.M. Nouwen, Christopher Derrick, Fr. George Rutler, and Kenneth D. Whitehead. All articles and columns from that year can be found at www.newoxfordreview.org/volumes/1985.

Digital subscribers enjoy full access to our Archives, which now span 35 years and boast thousands of articles, columns, and book reviews — a ton of great content! — as well as each new issue as it’s posted to our website. Digital subscriptions cost as little as $29 for one year.

The best deal going, however, is a combined print-and-online subscription for only $38 for one year. Bought separately, a one-year print sub costs $24 and a one-year digital sub $29. The combo offer represents a nearly 30 percent savings off these regular rates. Two- and three-year combo subs are also available at a similar discount.

If you’re not ready to jump right in, you can test the waters by registering for a free 7-day digital subscription, during which you’ll have the same full access as regular digital (and combo) subscribers. Go to http://www.newoxfordreview.org/register to sign up for a free trial or to purchase a digital subscription, a print subscription, or both!

In the meantime, please consider contributing to our fundraising campaign. It’s one year on, and we’re $31,875 short of our goal. Can we count on your help closing out the final sixth of our fundraiser? Please send your contribution to: New Oxford Review, 1069 Kains Ave., Berkeley CA 94706. The NOR is a nonprofit organization and has 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service. Donations are, therefore, tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Checks are, of course, to be made payable to New Oxford Review. Credit-card contributions can be made at www.newoxfordreview.org/donations.

With your prayers and support, we can close the book on the “bot attack” and, if God wills it, together we can begin a new chapter in the annals of this small but vital apostolate.