On January 3, 2019, we came to you with an idea: a magazine built on the principles that history is for everyone, that every way of doing history is worthwhile, and that historians should be paid for their work.
Since then, our supporters have donated over $110,000 to make Contingent Magazine a reality, including over $21,000 this year so far, 98% of which came from 208 monthly donors. Here’s how those donations have helped us put our principles into action in 2022:
The content
So far this year, Contingent has published 37 pieces, with at least nine left to come in the year. Among those have been six incredible guest mailbags, one historian’s reflections on his hurried departure from Ukraine in February, and our upcoming series “History & Mystery”
The people
A lot of skilled work goes into producing these pieces and getting them to you. Our content has come from 37 paid contributors, hosted on a site built and run by our web developer and promoted by our communications specialist, with gorgeous colors and graphics from our graphic designer. Most months, we’ve had enough to pay our three editors small stipends for their work as well. By the end of the year, the magazine will pay at least seven more contributors.
The infrastructure
There are significant costs associated with running a magazine and non-profit organization. We pay Donorbox, Stripe, and Paypal to accept and manage donations. We pay for accounting software, website hosting, and email management. We pay for checks, stamps, stickers, and postcards, and yearly fees to the state of Connecticut to maintain our status as a corporation and public charity.
We hope you’re pleased with what Contingent has done during 2022, and we’re excited for what’s next in 2023, including the results of our partnership with Sacred Writes. We have a few other things percolating as well, and we hope you’ll continue to support, read, and engage with our work.