August 10, 2012

If it Disappeared, Would you Miss the Wildlife Disease News Digest?

The Wildlife Data Integration Network (WDIN) has gone through some positive changes over the past year. As of July 1, 2012, one such change was WDIN became part of the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. In addition, WDIN became a self-governing organization solely responsible for its own financial health. This new status provides WDIN with more independence, but it has also required us to take on the role of becoming fundraisers.

We need your financial support to continue the publication of the Wildlife Disease News Digest. In a 2010 survey of Digest readers, we learned how much you appreciate the Digest and have come to depend on it to keep current on the latest developments in global wildlife disease occurrences and research developments. Other important information revealed in the survey included:
  • 87% of subscribers said they read the Digest daily to several times a week.
  • 90% of subscribers felt the selected Digest stories always or frequently matched their interests.
  • 88 % of subscribers said they would recommend the Digest to others. At the time of the survey, 83% of readers were occasionally to regularly sharing articles, and 68% of readers were already regularly or occasionally recommending the blog.
If you share the same sentiment as one fellow reader commented in the survey “I look forward to starting every morning with my cup of coffee or tea and the Wildlife Disease News Digest!” please follow this link, https://secure.supportuw.org/MultiPage/processStep1.do?seq=15228, show your support for the Digest and make a contribution that is meaningful to you.

Not including the administrative efforts it takes, on average, one staff member about 3 hours to publish one issue of the Digest. In order to fund the Digest and keep this highly valued service freely available to everyone, we need to raise $40,000 annually. Between email subscribers, RSS feed users and Twitter/Facebook followers, the Digest readership consists of over 2,700 members and that number continues to grow steadily.

How much have you come to depend on this unique source of wildlife disease information? Is the Digest worth $2 per month for an annual contribution of $24? Maybe more, maybe less? No matter the amount, any contribution is appreciated and gets us that much closer to our goal.

Please show your support and make a donation that is meaningful to you here at https://secure.supportuw.org/MultiPage/processStep1.do?seq=15228

We have enjoyed publishing the Digest since 2005 and with your donation we can continue to deliver the Wildlife Disease News Digest to you.

Kindest regards,
WDIN Team

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