It’s the end of the year, the time of year when a lot of people are making charitable contributions in anticipation of the tax man.
We can help you with that!
We hope you saw the annual report [PDF] we publishing in the fall issue of White Crane, Lovers. That should answer most detailed questions about our budget and circulation. And now that you know what we do with the monies that come in, we hope you will consider making a year-end contribution to our efforts.
White Crane Journal, in hard copy and which has an international subscribed circulation of approximately 1500 (not counting the on line Gay Wisdom daily e-mailing we do that has a non-crossover circulation of around another 500) remains self-sustaining, insofar as the expenses of printing and postage are covered by subscriptions. New subscriptions come in every day, so all numbers remain approximate. But we do a press run of 1500. Still, (and not to our liking) no salaries or payment are made to anyone. And we provide the Journal free of charge to LGBT community centers across the country. Postage costs are forcing us to increase the cover price, and subscription price, so if you think you might enjoy a magazine that treats you as something other than a marketing niche, subscribe now and save!
Surplus funds and contribitions support the continuing publication of books. We have moved from simply republishing out-of-print classics (though we will continue to do that) and are now publishing original material, beginning this past year with ALL: A James Broughton Reader, followed by The Beautiful Tendons, by poet Jeffrey Beam, and A Saint in His Own Land: A Malcolm Boyd Reader, next year, in conjunction with Malcolm’s 85th birthday. While the book publishing has also been self-sustaining through the use of print-on-demand technology, the addition of original material and books brings with it additional promotional expenses (advance copies for review, possible speaking engagements, etc.)
We have been touring the Fellow Travelers exhibit to LGBT community centers around the country, and this is an expense (mostly shipping, at @$250 – $300 per city) we are absorbing. After a successful run at the NY LGBT Center, Fellow Travelers traveled to Philadelphia, where it was displayed for Gay History Month at the William Way Center, and has now gone to Salt Lake City. There, we were able to coordinate with another White Crane Institute sponsored project, Queer Spirit, run by Jerry Buie, and in addition to the exhibition we created a weekend mini-retreat there, bringing in Mark Thompson and Shoshone ceremonialist, Clyde Hall (also one of the subjects of Mark’s exhibit) to do talking circles and community development activities with the Queer Spirit Project. Additional funds would enable us to continue to tour this show, which goes to Portland. Oregon, and Modesto, CA after this, then Detroit, and Chicago as of this writing.
Next year marks the beginning of our 20th year of publishing, and we are in planning for a "Road Show" that sets up the framework for yet another on-going project we have long wanted to do, a White Crane Speakers Bureau. Taking advantage of the network of contacts we developed through the touring of the Fellow Travelers Exhibit, we intend to kick this off with a three or four day White Crane Institute conference/retreat at Easton Mountain (with whom we continue to collaborate on a number of projects, including the Gay Men’s Health Leadership Academy, that you attended, and which is now in its third year). After this event at Easton, we will take groups of writers and provide speakers events, quarterly, to LGBT Centers around the country. We envision this to be the "embodiment" of the magazine at various sites around the country, and the roster of speakers would change from city to city.
We are also sponsoring a documentary film, Standing On The Bones of Our Ancestors, by filmmaker, Steven Solberg. We are seeking finishing costs support for this project as well.
We can’t do all of this just on the surplus from subscriptions. And if you’re just reading us on line, then maybe it’s time to consider connecting with White Crane and the programs we are undertaking in a more substantial way. White Crane Institute is a registered charity with NYCharities.org and just by clicking here you can make a secure donation on line.
And as always…we thank you for your support.