INTRODUCTION

America is in trouble, we all know that.

The country we love is being torn apart by toxic partisanship.

Our political leaders and media outlets might get more clicks and campaign contributions by promoting division, but America is the big loser in this scenario.

At OUR NATIONAL CONVERSATION, or ONC for short, our goal is to reduce partisanship and get America talking again.

We are building a new kind of media outlet that focuses on nonpartisan problem-solving, not finger-pointing.

In recent years, over 900 student interns from across America came together for the purpose of building OUR NATIONAL CONVERSATION, which includes a website, hundreds of thoughtful opinion pieces, balanced policy proposals, podcasts, videos and more.

We even wrote a book called "Let's Fix America"!

Republicans, Democrats, Independents -- all are welcome at ONC, provided they treat each another with respect.

Our motto: Less Hate, More Debate.

We did a Kickstarter a year and a half ago and raised $28K. The money lasted us this long. It took us a while to build our site. OurNationalConversation.org is now 90% done and it's time to raise money again. We want to hit the accelerator and we're asking for $50K this time.

MEET OUR STUDENTS -- AMERICA'S FUTURE LEADERS

Please watch this video (one minute and 39 seconds) so you can "meet" four of our students. We have a small army of similarly eager students all across America.

Several experienced professional mentors have volunteered to work with our students. Our founder is a former vice president at the Los Angeles Times. Maybe you'd like to join ONC's mentor team. Let us know.

Our students are learning how to produce media designed to help bring America together.

They are also learning leadership skills, which they will sorely need in the years ahead. Gen Z is inheriting a very challenging world, indeed.

LOOKING AHEAD: OUR FUNDRAISING AND SPENDING PLANS

Together our students and mentors built the foundation; now it's time to build the house.

In this, our first GoFundMe campaign, we seek to raise $50,000.

With $50K, we will:

1) Spend $10K on producing original content. We want to focus on covering issues and people of interest to Gen Z. There is a "Voice of Gen Z" angle to what we do. Today's youth deserve a seat at the table.

We also want to add more humor, because much of what we do is pretty dry. We live in a TikTok world and need to make public policy inviting.

Our students tend to be very earnest; we think we need some professional (paid) help to pull this off. Are you funny? If yes, please get in touch!

2). Spend $15K on marketing. We need to boost our social media posts and start to attract an audience. We have some clever social media campaigns, ready to go (ask to see them!). If you are a marketing or PR guru, we hope to hear from you.

We also want to host a few on-campus events. It's really hard to talk about politics on campus these days. ONC offers a fresh approach.

3) Spend $10K on building a real fundraising infrastructure. We want to buy a one-year license for software program called "Kindsight" that will allow us to identify and reach out to known donors in the "save journalism" and "save democracy" spaces.

We also want to buy a targeted email list with 20,000 names and pay a licensing fee for an email blasting system called GoLevelHigh. It's like ConstantContact, only with some added tools.

If you are a professional fundraiser in the nonprofit space and you like what we're doing, we'd like to hear from you.

4) Spend $5K on a final tech blitz. Our software is OK but can be improved. It would be nice to overcome some pesky issues once and for all.

When we raise more money later, there will be some added tech improvements we'll want to pursue.

And in order to host big conversations at scale will require more infrastructure. If you are good at tech and want to help, please reach out. We have a ways to go, we know that.

5) Spend $10K on stipends for students, our mentors and ongoing operating expenses (around $500 - $1,000 a month). Our volunteer team has done an amazing job so far, but it's time to pay everyone at least little something.

Many of our students work at Starbucks and places like that. They'd rather work for ONC -- and we'd like to have them!

LOOKING AHEAD

We estimate the $50K we raise during this campaign will last us around six months. We hope to raise a total of $250K in the next 12 months via GoFundMe.

This is our grassroots campaign. We want to show popular support among our fellow Americans.

We seek to raise an additional $750K by applying for grants, reaching out to wealthy individuals and approaching nonprofits who share our desire to reduce partisanship.

Bottom Line: We want to establish OUR NATIONAL CONVERSATION as a household name, a trusted media brand where truth and fairness and civility truly matter.

It will take some doing to pull this off, we know that. This GoFundMe campaign gets us started.

OUR STUDENTS CAN'T DO THIS ALONE; THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN

At ONC, we're willing to do the heavy lifting. But we need your help.

Jump on board. Get in touch. Ask to see our plans. Make a donation.

What's the alternative? Give up on America? No way.

OUR NATIONAL CONVERSATION Is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (Tax-ID #: 93-1906747), so your donation will be fully tax-deductible.

All donors will be properly thanked on our website.

We promise to give this our all.

Thank you for your consideration.

The Students and Team at OUR NATIONAL CONVERSATION