ProCon.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity that has no government affiliations of any kind. Our purpose is to provide resources for critical thinking and to educate without bias. We do not express opinions on our research projects ("issue websites").

Our mission statement is:

"Promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, primarily pro-con format."

We accomplish our mission by researching issues that we feel are controversial and important, and we work to present them in a balanced, comprehensive, straightforward, and primarily pro-con format at no charge on our websites.

	A. Macro Metrics	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	Totals
1	New Schools Using ProCon.org	-	-	-	113	153	666	932
2	Countries Using ProCon.org in Their Schools	-	-	-	-	5	20	25
3	Governments Using ProCon.org	-	-	-	3	1	2	6
4	New Media References	-	5	17	16	55	76	169
5	New Issue Sites added	8	0	1	6	4	10	29
6	Web Traffic (unique visits - compiled monthly)	-	-	-	-	2,536,017	3,826,232	6,362,249
7	Web Traffic (sessions)	835,163	1,517,611	2,182,575	3,554,575	5,447,287	6,523,545	19,729,398
8	Web Traffic (page views)	8,838,984	14,231,524	16,295,493	17,598,598	21,519,926	19,106,603	97,591,128
9	Web Traffic (hits)	-	-	22,063,420	47,136,448	131,893,048	178,496,731	379,854,819
10	Twitter Followers	-	-	-	-	-	5,916	5,916
11	Facebook Fans	-	-	-	-	-	1,065	1,065
12	Email update subscribers	-	-	-	-	-	4,656	4,656
13	Expenses (excluding in-kind)	-	$346,154	$526,862	$631,610	$680,278	$643,264	$2,828,168
14	Number of staff*	5	7	8	9	9	8	-
15	Number of donors (compiled annually)	3	8	7	14	50	68	150
	* does not include our unpaid Board or Chairman

 

B. More Highlights At-a-Glance (updated quarterly) - As of June 30, 2010, ProCon.org has:
1	Over 1,100 questions on controversial issues with over 7,800 pro, con, and not clearly pro or con statements	Our staff meetings are normally held every Tuesday. This photo is from our May 5, 2009 meeting.
2	Date and source information for all research cited
3	Over 5,500 biographies for the sources used on the sites
4	Been used by over 1,250 schools in all 50 US states and 31 countries
5	Research done or vetted by experienced professionals
6	Information for multiple age and reading levels (elementary school to university level)
7	A Spanish version of our homepage
8	Strict editorial guidelines to ensure journalistic integrity
9	Been referenced by the mainstream media over 220 times (BBC, Forbes, NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post, etc.)
10	Been archived by the Library of Congress for having "materials of historical importance to the Congress and to the American people"
11	Won the "Best Non-Profit to Work For" award in a 2008 national competition
12	Earned status as a "Valued Partner " and "Partner in Trust" by Guidestar in 2009
13	Been used by at least seven governments (Australia, New Zealand, Northern Marianas, Palestinian Territories, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States) including eight US states and six US federal agencies
14	Nine in-house staff and over 20 off-site volunteers and interns

July 23, 2010	For the first time, ProCon.org was the subject of a peer-reviewed scientific study. Max-Planck Institute for Informatics researchers published the study "Language-Model-based Pro/Con Classification of Political Text” in the Proceedings of the 33rd International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval. The paper basically concluded that pros and cons work well to classify controversial political topics.
Apr. 1, 2010	ProCon.org Surpasses One Million Monthly Sessions in March 2010 - the first time we have received over a million sessions in a month. The new record of 1,026,399 sessions marked a 90% increase in traffic over Mar. 2009 and an 88% increase for the first three months of 2010 over the first three months of 2009. We are thrilled that so many teachers, students and others are finding our free and unbiased content so useful.
Mar. 27, 2010	The San Diego Science Festival donated a double booth to ProCon.org, and we created an interactive exhibit of pros and cons on two featured topics: whether obesity is a disease and whether social networking sites are good for society. About 500-600 people participated in our interactive booth including students, teachers, scientists, parents, and others. Check out some photos from the event to see how much critical thinking took place in our booth.
Feb. 5, 2010	As of today, ProCon.org has been used by over 1,000 schools in 26 countries and all 50 US states. We are thrilled to have 176 elementary and middle schools, 435 high schools, and 398 colleges and universities using the free nonpartisan research we provide to stimulate critical thinking.
Feb. 3, 2010	Confirmed as having met the requirements for inclusion in Charity Navigator, a premiere evaluator of nonprofit organizations. Charity Navigator lists over 5,000 of the roughly 1,000,000 charities in the US.
Jan. 13, 2010	Surpassed 20,000,000 cumulative sessions since inception on ProCon.org's websites.
Nov. 2, 2009	ProCon.org needed one more state, North Dakota, to have its content referenced by schools in all 50 US states. On Nov. 2, 2009, we learned that the North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) included a link to ProCon.org from its library page to "help students in Writing and Communications classes at NDSCS, with links to useful resources related to class assignments.” ProCon.org is now used by schools in all 50 states and at least 17 countries.
Oct. 2009	ProCon.org had its first "Letter to the Editor” published in the Oct. 2009 issue of California Educator magazine – the official publication of the California Teachers Association. The letter discussed the importance of ProCon.org as an educational resource for critical thinking.
Aug. 25, 2009	Guidestar, one of the largest information services about nonprofits in the US, declared ProCon.org a "Valued Partner” and one of its "Partners in Trust” because of the amount of information about ProCon.org that we had made publicly available.
Aug. 12, 2009	Kamy Akhavan (Managing Editor of ProCon.org) gave a 90-minute presentation titled "Critical Thinking about Illegal Immigration: Media Analysis Using ProCon.org” to over 115 high school students at the closing night of the Junior Statesmen of America symposium "Los Angeles Media and Politics” on the UCLA campus. The students and JSA Symposium Program Director, Tracy Poindexter, loved the presentation as reflected in their thank you letters to ProCon.org.
July 14, 2009	ProCon.org celebrated its 5-year anniversary with a party for supporters and friends from 4-7 pm in our Santa Monica office. We also held five anniversary contests and awarded winners over $500 in cash and prizes. See photos and video from the party, find out who won the contests, and read highlights and reflections from our first five years on ProCon.org's Five Year Anniversary page.
July 14, 2009	California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell met with ProCon.org’s founder Steve Markoff. After the meeting, California’s highest elected education official Tweeted: "Just met with the founder of procon.org. It's a great resource that breaks down hot button issues with quality, sourced info… The best part about procon.org is the entire web site is free to use... no registration necessary. If you’re in ed, check it out... a quality resource for controversial issues...”
July 8, 2009	On July 8, 2009 ProCon.org content was referenced in an animated video for the first time.
Apr. 20 and 21, 2009	ProCon.org’s Managing Editor was invited to serve on two panels ("The Future of Online Debate and Dialogue” and "Collaborative Politics Online: Principles, Pitfalls and Practical Advice”) at the Politics Online national conference in Washington, DC. A video excerpt of the latter panel is available here. It was ProCon.org’s first time participating as an invited speaker at a national conference.
Mar. 20, 2009	Released the first ProCon.org email update newsletter for free to over 1,200 opt-in recipients.
Mar. 16, 2009	The Spanish language version of ProCon.org's homepage was launched in Spain at http://www.procon.org.es/ and in Argentina at http://www.procon.ar.com/.
Feb. 12, 2009	ProCon.org passes the 100 mark for number of times our sites have been referenced in the media.
Feb. 2, 2009	ProCon.org was honored to receive the "Best Non-Profit to Work For" award in a national competition. ProCon.org was one of five winners in its class of "non-profits with an operating budget of under $2.5 million." There were 15 winners total. There are roughly 1,000,000 nonprofit organizations in the United States.
Sep. 24, 2008	ProCon.org User Survey passes 1,000 responses. See the survey results.
June 30, 2008	Unveiled new design for all ProCon.org websites with over 10 new features including search function on all pages, email this page function on all pages, scrolling news, faster server, time and date stamp on all pages, and more. Also upgraded was the content management system which made adding and editing content more efficient. The revamp project took over 25 people from six companies in five cities nearly 2 years and 9,000 hours to complete. [Watch our internal video about the conversion process and new site launch.]
May 14, 2008	ProCon.org is referenced in official government legislation for the first time (that we know of). The Northern Marianas Commonwealth issued a formal legislative recommendation from the House of Representative’s Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations that cited a case summary from our aclu.procon.org website.
May 9, 2008	Referenced seven times by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) - the largest organization of social studies teachers in the United States - in their Middle Level Learning publication, their homepage, and their Social Studies Professional publication.
May 7, 2008	Surpassed 10,000,000 cumulative sessions since inception on ProCon.org's websites.
Apr. 20, 2008	The Library of Congress honored ProCon.org by requesting permission to archive three of our websites (ProCon.org, 2008 Election ProCon.org, and US Iraq ProCon.org) because The Library of Congress considered our three sites "materials of historical importance to the Congress and to the American people."
Apr. 17, 2008	ProCon.org created its first User Survey to learn more about our readers and what they thought of their experiences at ProCon.org.
Mar. 2008	National Public Radio (NPR) ran dozens of messages referencing ProCon.org and our 2008 election website.
Feb. 29, 2008	Launched an RSS feed so visitors to ProCon.org could receive free ongoing updates about ProCon.org's new content.
Dec. 12, 2007	Launched 2008 Election ProCon.org marking our first website in the realm of election politics.
Nov. 29, 2007	Created seven videos asking the 2008 presidential candidates for their views on our questions about hate crimes, the cost of higher education, mandatory civil service, aid to Darfur, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the death penalty, and medical marijuana. The videos were posted on YouTube.com as part of its Republican debate contest.
Nov. 14, 2007	Received our first online donation ($100) after setting up an on-line mechanism to receive contributions electronically.
Oct. 11, 2007	ProCon.org appeared on television for the first time. LATV, a television station based in Los Angeles, conducted an interview with Managing Editor Kamy Akhavan about medical marijuana.
Oct. 2007	The number of schools that referenced ProCon.org in their educational materials surpassed 100 for the first time, with 109 middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities having included ProCon.org in their lesson plans or other educational resources.
July 27, 2007	The Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress, referenced ProCon.org four times in its report to Congress titled "Medical Marijuana: Review and Analysis of Federal and State Policies."
Mar. 30, 2007	Received 501(c)(3) nonprofit status from the IRS 21 months after we applied for it on June 28, 2005.
Feb. 25, 2007	First time ProCon.org presents its pro and con statements in a newspaper. The Westside Chronicle, a weekly newspaper in Los Angeles, ran our pro-con presentations for five issues. The newspaper hit hard times and shut its doors by summer 2007.
Feb. 2007	Surpassed 5,000,000 cumulative sessions since inception on ProCon.org's websites.
Sep. 26, 2006	The New York Times referenced ProCon.org in its article "Supporters of A.C.L.U. Call for Ouster of Its Leaders" by Stephanie Strom.
June 22, 2006	The winner of the ProCon.org logo contest was selected out of 166 logos from 42 contestants in 8 countries.
Mar. 12, 2006	60 Minutes, the CBS weekly television news magazine, listed ProCon.org as one of only three recommended links on its website section titled "The Science of Sexual Orientation." The other two links were to specific studies on sexual orientation.
Feb. 26, 2006	First radio interview for ProCon.org took place on WLPO radio in Oglesby, Illinois. In the 23-minute interview, host John Small commented "Fascinating website. I think we can learn something. Anybody who has access to a computer can learn a little more about their world and get a little ammunition to battle the office bully over an issue but it's also just to better your brain."
Jan. 23, 2006	ProCon.org selected as a "Yahoo! Pick" The Yahoo! editors wrote: "You're guaranteed to disagree with 50% of what you read here, but you'll come away better informed and -- if the site's founders are proved out -- a better citizen, to boot."
Oct. 26, 2005	ProCon.org is declared by the State of California Franchise Tax Board as a charitable corporation (PDF 991KB) and thus exempt from state franchise or income tax under code section 2370ld.
Oct. 13, 2005	Forbes Magazine made ProCon.org the only website referenced in an article about marijuana and the brain. The article was reprinted in Yahoo! News, Drkoop.com (the former U.S. Surgeon General's website), numerous local TV news station websites (such as KLEX in Lexington, KY, KLAS in Las Vegas, and KPHO in Phoenix), and health-related sites such as Health Central, Health Finder, and Medicine Net.
Sep. 1, 2005	ProCon.org moves to 233 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 200 in Santa Monica, California.
June 6, 2005	The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) referenced ProCon.org in its article announcing the Supreme Court's controversial Gonzalez v. Raich decision. Our site appeared first among the three recommended links (ahead of the DEA and NORML).
May 2005	"Promoting Informed Citizenship" becomes the official slogan of ProCon.org. [Amended on May 18, 2007 to "Promoting education and informed citizenship." Amended again on July 7, 2009 to "Promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship."]
Feb. 2005	Surpassed 1,000,000 cumulative sessions since inception on ProCon.org's websites.
Dec. 4, 2004	Hired our first Managing Editor, Kamy Akhavan.
July 12, 2004	ProCon.org's Articles of Incorporation (PDF 991KB) are certified by the California Secretary of State, and thus ProCon.org is officially born.
Sep. 19, 1772	Benjamin Franklin commented on the practical use of pros and cons in a Sep. 19, 1772 letter to his friend Joseph Priestley: "When these difficult Cases occur, they are difficult chiefly because while we have them under Consideration all the Reasons pro and con are not present to the Mind at the same time... To get over this, my Way is, to divide half a Sheet of Paper by a Line into two Columns, writing over the one Pro, and over the other Con... And tho' the Weight of Reasons cannot be taken with the Precision of Algebraic Quantities, yet when each is thus considered separately and comparatively, and the whole lies before me, I think I can judge better, and am less likely to take a rash Step..."

Steven C. Markoff, the Chairman of ProCon.org, has been active in trying to find pros and cons of various controversial issues since 1986. He created an organization to pursue this effort, and after going through several iterations, that organization became ProCon.org on July 12, 2004. Read a detailed personal statement from Mr. Markoff about the origins and background of ProCon.org, or read the organization's history and highlights below.

Our annual calendar reports include a message from our Chairman, financial information, and details of ProCon.org's major accomplishments for the year. The 990 reports are the required filings we submit to the IRS annually.

	Year	Annual Reports	Audited Financials	990 Reports
	2009	Annual Report	Audited Financials
	2008	Annual Report	Audited Financials	990 Report
	2007	Annual Report	Audited Financials	990 Report
	2006	Annual Report		990 Report
	2005	Annual Report		990 Report
	2004	Annual Report

The biography of each Board member listed below (in alphabetical order by last name) can be viewed by clicking on his/her name.

A. John Kurtz, J.D. Phone: 208-344-6000 Email: jfk@hteh.com B. Jadwiga S.Z.-Markoff, M.D., Ph.D. Phone: 310-587-1470 Email: privacy requested C. Steven C. Markoff, Chairman & Founder Phone: 310-587-1470 Email: scmarkoff@aol.com

D. Bruce McNall Phone: 310-255-0990 Email: bruce@procon.org E. Stanley F. Shimohara, C.P.A., M.B.A., J.D. Phone: 310-477-6161 Email: sfshimohara@skmc-cpa.com

The biography of each ProCon.org researcher, the IT Manager, and the Managing Editor (presented below in alphabetical order by last name) can be viewed by clicking on his/her name.

A. Kambiz Akhavan, Managing Editor Phone: 310-587-1407 Email: kamy@procon.org B. James Bieber, Researcher Websites: ACLU, Drinking Age, Insider Trading by Congress, Obesity, Under God in the Pledge Phone: 310-451-9596 Ext. 114 Email: jim@procon.org C. Tracey DeFrancesco, Researcher Websites: 2008 Election, College Football, Medical Marijuana, Social Networking, Sports and Drugs Phone: 310-451-9596 Ext. 115 Email: tracey@procon.org D. Jeffrey Hendricks, Researcher Websites: Alternative Energy, Cell Phones, Felon Voting, Milk, Prescription Drug Ads, Vaccines Phone: 310-451-9596 Ext. 108 Email: jeffrey@procon.org

E. Steven Jacobson, Researcher Websites: Abortion, Born Gay?, Illegal Immigration, Prostitution Phone: 310-451-9596 Ext. 112 Email: steven@procon.org F. Marcus Hirn, IT Manager/Webmaster Websites: 310-451-9596 Ext. 111 Email: marcus@procon.org G. Nick Wilson, Researcher Websites: Concealed Guns, Death Penalty, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Video Game Violence, Voting Machines Phone: 310-451-9596 Ext. 113 Email: nick@procon.org H. Jodi Young, Senior Researcher Websites: 2008 Election, Big Three Auto, D.A.R.E., Euthanasia, Privatizing Social Security, US-Iraq War Phone: 310-451-9596 Ext. 110 Email: jodi@procon.org

Interns & Volunteers ProCon.org Alumni

ProCon.org, since its inception on July 12, 2004, has been primarily funded, directly and indirectly, by Steve and Jadwiga Markoff. The Markoffs' funding goals for ProCon.org have been:

1. To fund the Markoffs' vision of ProCon.org through its initial development. This goal was accomplished in 2005 when ProCon.org had built and launched six websites in the pro-con format.

2. To ensure that people cared about the content and information that ProCon.org offered. This goal was accomplished to the Markoff's satisfaction in 2007 when ProCon.org surpassed eight million website sessions for the year and had 38 total media references.

3. For ProCon.org to receive 40% third party funding. This goal should occur by December 31, 2010.

To see a complete list of individuals and organizations who have donated to ProCon.org, please visit the ProCon.org Donors page.

2004-2009 Financial Information for ProCon.org

I. 2009 Financial Summary II. 2009 vs. 2004 - 2008 Expenses: A Graphical Breakdown III. Detailed Chart of Financial Data, 2004-2009 IV. Definitions of Terms Used

I. 2009 Financial Summary In 2009 ProCon.org received total gross income from donations of $660,012 down from $776,297 in 2008. Of our $720,151 in 2009 expenses, $618,097 (85.8%) was spent on program services, $62,527 (8.7%) on management and general expenses, and $39,527 (5.5%) on fundraising expenses. ProCon.org operates with such a high percentage of its expenditures in program services for several reasons, including: we spend small amounts to yield large amounts of funds raised, our operation is remarkably efficient, and our Chairman has refused a salary since we started. II. 2009 vs. 2004 - 2008 Expenses: A Graphical Breakdown

		For the 12 Months Ending Dec. 31, 2009	% of Total	For the 12 Months Ending Dec. 31, 2008	% of Total	For the 12 Months Ending Dec. 31, 2007	% of Total	For the 12 Months Ending Dec. 31, 2006	% of Total	For the 12 Months Ending Dec. 31, 2005	% of Total	For the 6 Months Ending Dec. 31, 2004	% of Total
1. Fundraising:
	- Total Contributions (Unrestricted)	$ 660,012	100%	$ 776,297	100%	$725,245	100%	$ 516,726	100%	$ 373,120	100%	$ 86,326	100%
	- Total	$ 660,012	100%	$ 776,297	100%	$725,245	100%	$ 516,726	100%	$ 373,120	100%	$ 86,326	100%
2. Efficiency of Expenditures:
	- Program Services Expenditures*	$ 618,097	85.8%	$ 652,295	87.1%	$ 620,836	91.0%	$ 496,436	91.4%	$ 319,027	92.2%	$ 77,629	90.4%
	- Management and General Expenses**	$ 62,527	8.7%	$ 54,455	7.3%	$ 42,674	6.3%	$ 32,512	6.0%	$ 27,128	7.8%	$ 8,173	9.6%
	- Fundraising Expenses	$ 39,527	5.5%	$ 41,835	5.6%	$ 18,541	2.7%	$ 14,000	2.6%	0	0	0	0
	- Total	$ 720,151	100%	$ 748,585	100%	$ 682,051	100%	$ 542,948	100%	$ 346,155	100%	$ 85,802	100%
3. Excess <Deficit> of Operating Revenue over <under> Expenses:		$ 60,139	-	$ 27,712	-	$ 43,194	-	<$26,222>	-	$ 26,965	-	$ 525	-
4. Balance Sheet:		as of 12/31/09		as of 12/31/08		as of 12/31/07		as of 12/31/06		as of 12/31/05		as of 12/31/04
	Assets:
	- Cash and Cash Equivalents	$ 30,557	-	$ 99,443	-	$ 76,599	-	$ 17,183	-	$ 33,746	-	$ 534	-
	- Receivables	$ 6,439	-	$ 5,648	-	$ 3,200	-	$ 2,720	-	2,098	-	0	-
	- Total Assets	$ 36,996	-	$ 105,091	-	$ 79,799	-	$ 19,903	-	$ 35,844	-	$ 534	-
	Liabilities:
	- Payables and Accrued Expenses	$ 24,961	-	$ 32,917	-	$ 35,337	-	$ 18,636	-	$ 8,354	-	$ 10	-
	- Total Liabilities	$ 24,961	-	$ 32,917	-	$ 35,337	-	$ 18,636	-	$ 8,354	-	$ 10	-
	Equity:
	- Net Worth	$ 12,035	-	$ 72,174	-	$ 44,462	-	$ 1,268	-	$ 27,489	-	$ 525	-
	Total Liabilities and Net Worth	$ 36,996	-	$ 105,091	-	$ 79,799	-	$ 19,903	-	$ 35,844	-	$ 534	-

IV. Definitions of Terms Used
[Definitions provided by the Internal Revenue Service - http://www.irs.gov/instructions/i990-ez/ar02.html#d0e5239]

Program services are mainly those activities that the reporting organization was created to conduct and which, along with any activities commenced subsequently, form the basis of the organization's current exemption from tax.

Overall management expenses usually include the salaries and expenses of the chief officer of the organization and that officer's staff. General expenses include those for meetings of the board of directors or similar group; committee and staff meetings (unless held in connection with specific program services or fundraising activities); general legal services; accounting (including patient accounting and billing); general liability insurance; office management; auditing, personnel, and other centralized services; preparation, publication, and distribution of an annual report; and investment expenses.

Fundraising expenses are the total expenses incurred in soliciting contributions, gifts, grants, etc.