Support the Legal Information Institute – here’s the pitch!
Friends:
Twice each year — once in December, and once as the Supreme Court term draws near its end — we ask you to contribute to the LII. We are deeply grateful to you for every donation, not only because you donated, but because your contributions are a vote of confidence in us and in our mission of helping others find and understand the law.
Last year, you helped 31 million people from 240 countries to view 150 million pages of legal information. The vast majority come from the United States; we estimate that the LII reaches around 10-13% of the adult population here. Many who visit us come here because of personal crisis or business need, but in recent years it has become clear that the site plays an important role in educating people about current events. Your contributions provide an important source of objective, non-partisan information for citizens who have questions about our system of government and how it works. People from all points on the political spectrum have thanked us for our objectivity and accuracy. We take a great deal of pride in that, and we certainly hope that you do too.
I’m pretty sure that this will be the last time I ask you for a donation. As many of you know, I’ll be retiring at the end of June. Over the past 27 years I’ve had the privilege of getting to know some of you, far fewer than I would have liked. I think it’s safe to say that the LII has one of the most interesting and diverse groups of donors on the planet. Among you there are a President of the World Bank and a manager of a Michigan food bank, judges in Federal courts and traffic courts, a woman who teaches in Alaska, and a guy who makes prototype machine parts up in Rochester, NY, among thousands and thousands of others. I’m only sorry that I haven’t met more of you in person. You’re a fascinating and dedicated group, and it has been a pleasure to turn your contributions into action.
As for the future of the LII, I could not be more confident. My successors, Sara Frug and Craig Newton, are smart, capable, and creative. We’ve had time to plan the transition and it has gone extremely well, except for one thing. My successors refuse to believe that I can use a sports metaphor effectively.
So…. it’s my last time at bat as a fundraiser. Will you help me hit it out of the park?
My best regards — and deepest gratitude — to you all.
T.