Dear fellow skeptics:
We recently celebrated the 8th anniversary of the Skeptics Society and Skeptic magazine. A lot has happened since that exciting first day at Caltech when James "the Amazing" Randi kicked off our monthly lecture series and we filled the hall to standing room only:
--With no seed money and only a few thousand dollars from my personal savings, we launched Skeptic magazine, a publication highly respected in leading scientific circles. Distribution has now expanded to 40,000, and Skeptic is in every chain bookstore in the US.
--We have a national television series on the Fox Family Channel called Exploring the Unknown, hosted by myself and Mitch Pileggi from X-Files, airing Fridays at 10:00pm.
--In 1997 we launched our wildly popular Jr. Skeptic for children, bound in the back of every Skeptic magazine.
--We have hosted over 100 public events at Caltech, including 7 international conferences on a variety of important and controversial subjects.
--My two books, Why People Believe Weird Things and How We Believe, have been widely and positively reviewed and become national bestsellers.
--We have made over 1,200 media appearances to provide the skeptical and scientific side of pseudoscience and the paranormal, including Oprah, 20/20, Dateline, Charlie Rose, Tom Snyder, Politically Incorrect, Phil Donahue, Leeza, Unsolved Mysteries, and documentaries on A & E, TLC, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, and PBS.
Throughout our eight years we have continually operated solidly in the black, and we have even purchased and paid for our own building. All this and more has been accomplished through the support of memberships and subscriptions.
But we need to do much more. As you are only too aware, pseudoscience, antiscience, and nonsense continue to flourish in the hothouse climate of media sensationalism. To counteract these forces we are launching a major fund-raising drive not to construct an empty building, but to build and expand a powerful intellectual edifice that will immediately, directly, and forcefully counteract these irrational forces.
In order to implement this program we have engaged Mr. James Kimberly, of Kimberly Development Systems, to do a major feasibility study by which we can realistically establish our goals for this year and years to come. I have gotten to know James quite well over the past year, and I find him to be a man of integrity and genuinely devoted to our cause.
We could use some information from you. We have a short list of questions below. We are not asking for money. We are trying to determine the level of support we might receive from our members in the years to come. If you could please complete the questionnaire and e-mail it back to us as soon as you can, it will likely provide answers unavailable from any other source.
Gratefully, Michael Shermer, Director
P.S. On a personal note to the readers on this e-Skeptic internet list, for the past couple of years I have been wondering how we can become more of a major player on a national and world scene. I.e., how can we get big, really big, and socially powerful as well, in order to really make a difference (otherwise, what's the point of all this stuff we are doing?) To find out I did what I always do when I want to accomplish something: I went to people who are already there and asked them how THEY did it. The answer was straightforward and simple: you hire a professional in the field. Mr. Kimberly is one such professional. For three decades he has raised tens of millions of dollars for nonprofit organizations that have enabled them to take great leaps forward in their goals. There is no reason that the Skeptics Society cannot do the same in taking the next great step in skeptical science. I hope some of you can get involved with us in the projects I have outlined for the Skeptics Society in the coming years, details of which I will share in another posting. For now if you could complete the survey below it would be most helpful.
Title:
Name:
Mailing Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Phone:
Fax number:
Cell phone:
E-Mail:
Occupation:
Where?:
Retired?:
Marital status:
Spouse full name:
First digit in your age________
Highest educational attainment____________at
(Institution)_______________________________
1. For how many years have you been a skeptic?________
2. What one event had more to do than any other with your becoming a skeptic?
3. How would you rate Skeptic magazine on a scale of 10 for graphic style and content?____
4. If you have ever attended, how would you rate the monthly Caltech meetings on a scale of 1-10 overall?____
5. If you have ever attended, how would you rate the annual conferences on a scale of 1-10?____
6. On a 1-10 scale how would you rate the work of the Skeptics Society staff in the advancement of reason?_________
7. Would you be in favor of a Students Skeptic Society? Yes___No___
8. Would you be in favor of a Junior Skeptic Magazine as a stand-alone periodical? Yes___No___
9. Would you favor a 4-hour PBS special based on Dr. Shermer's God book, How We Believe? Yes___No___
10. Would you favor a Skeptics Science Research Institute, to conduct its on own scientific research? Yes___No___
11. The Skeptics Society has published two books in its history. Assuming it would not put undue strain on finances, would you tend to favor the publication of more skeptical books? Yes___No___
12. Would you tend to favor a multimillion dollar endowment fund for the benefit of the growth and development of The Skeptics Society and the furtherance of its goals and objectives? Yes___No___
13. Have you ever been a donor to charity? Yes___No___; ever made a 3-year pledge to a charity? Yes___No___
14. If you could get a big tax break and 5%-8% interest on a major six-figure charitable remainder trust, would you be interested in hearing about how? Yes___No___
15. If the Skeptics Society went ahead with the planning and direction of a multimillion dollar endowment drive, would you be inclined to help out through your...
Time? Yes___No___
Talent? Yes___No___
Treasure? Yes___No___
16. Are you close to an officer or trustee of a philanthropic foundation or corporate giving program? Yes__No__
Please give details: