Prisoners Literature Project

PLP’s $2,500 matching donation drive!

November 2015  |  Published in Latest News

The Prisoners Literature Project announces a $2,500 ‘matching donation’ funding drive! 

As we approach the 2015 holiday season, the PLP is proud to announce that two donors have stepped up to provide matching for the next $2,500 of donations from the public! This generous offer will allow us to continue catching up on our backlog of requests for books we send to needy U.S. prisoners. But why is this so needed?

Well, we’re all unpaid volunteers, but average postage on a book package we send to prisoners runs more than $3.50.  We currently spend over $2,000 per month on postage — so every dollar counts! Over the last few months, we’ve ramped up our book-sending, after getting as far as 4 months behind on answering letters, and the PLP is now just six weeks behind – but now spending more postage money per month than ever.

We’ve caught up a lot, but towards the end of the year, we need to further reduce our request backlog and see how close we can get to being caught up – a tricky task, given we receive 30+ letters from U.S. prisoners every day. So we’re asking – please consider donating via PayPal/credit card to help us get these books out asap!

We’re hoping we can find more people willing to contribute $5-$10 a month or more, since recurring payments really help us, given we have new letters to answer every week. But one-off donations are also very much appreciated. About 80% of our budget goes towards postage.

We use the remaining funds to pay rent, stock mailing supplies, and buy some of the most-requested books (e.g., dictionaries, how-to-draw books, etc). All donations are tax-deductible. And as noted, the next $2,500 of donations will be matched 1:1, so you’ll really be giving twice as much as you send us!

The prisoners we give much-needed books to – providing education opportunities, solace, and inspiration for the future – will greatly appreciate your donation.

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