ProCon.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity that has no government affiliations of any kind. Our purpose is educational. 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 complicated and important and work to present them in a balanced, comprehensive, straightforward, and primarily pro-con format. Our sites are free, require no registration, and have no advertising.

Benjamin Franklin commented on the practical use of pros and cons in a Sep. 19, 1772 letter 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..."

At a glance, ProCon.org has (as of Sep. 30, 2009): over 1,000 questions on controversial issues with over 7,500 pro, con, and not clearly pro or con statements date and source information for all research cited Over 4,800 biographies for the sources used on the sites been used by over 676 schools in 49 states and 15 countries research done or vetted by experienced professionals information for multiple age and reading levels a Spanish version of our homepage strict editorial guidelines to ensure journalistic integrity been referenced by the mainstream media over 140 times (BBC, Forbes, NY Times, LA Times, etc.) been archived by the Library of Congress for having "materials of historical importance to the Congress and to the American people" won the "Best Non-Profit to Work For" award in a national competition

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 ads, 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.
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 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.

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.

2008		2007		2006
Annual Report		Annual Report		Annual Report
Audited Financials		Audited Financials		990 Report
990 Report		990 Report
2005		2004
Annual Report		Annual Report
990 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 Fax: Not Listed Email: jfk@hteh.com B. Jadwiga S.Z.-Markoff, M.D., Ph.D. Phone: 310-587-1470 Fax: Not Listed 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 Fax: 310-477-3010 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. Tracey DeFrancesco, Researcher Projects: 2008 Election, College Football, Medical Marijuana, Social Networking, Sports and Drugs Phone: 310-451-9596 Ext. 115 Email: tracey@procon.org C. Jeffrey Hendricks, Researcher Projects: Alternative Energy, Cell Phones, Felon Voting, Milk, Prescription Drug Ads Phone: 310-451-9596 Ext. 108 Email: jeffrey@procon.org D. Marcus Hirn, IT Manager/Webmaster Phone: 310-451-9596 Ext. 111 Email: marcus@procon.org

E. Monica Kline, Researcher Projects: ACLU, Born Gay, Illegal Immigration, Under God in the Pledge Phone: 310-451-9596 Ext. 114 Email: monica@procon.org F. Relic Sun, Researcher Projects: Drinking Age, Insider Trading by Congress, Obesity, Prostitution, Right to Health Care Phone: 310-451-9596 Ext. 108 Email: relic@procon.org G. Nick Wilson, Researcher Projects: 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 Projects: 2008 Election, Big Three Auto, 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.

2004-2008 Financial Information for ProCon.org

I. 2008 Financial Summary II. 2008 vs. 2004 - 2007 Expenses: A Graphical Breakdown III. Detailed Chart of Financial Data, 2004-2008 IV. Definitions of Terms Used

I. 2008 Financial Summary In 2008 ProCon.org received total gross income from donations of $776,297 up from $725,245 in 2007. Of our $748,585 in 2008 expenses, $652,295 (87.1%) was spent on program services, $54,455 (7.3%) on management and general expenses, and $41,385 (5.6%) 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. 2008 vs. 2004 - 2007 Expenses: A Graphical Breakdown

III. Detailed Chart of Financial Data, 2004 - 2008

 

		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)	$ 776,297	100%	$725,245	100%	$ 516,726	100%	$ 373,120	100%	$ 86,326	100%
	- Total	$ 776,297	100%	$725,245	100%	$ 516,726	100%	$ 373,120	100%	$ 86,326	100%
2. Efficiency of Expenditures:
	- Program Services Expenditures*	$ 652,295	87.1%	$ 620,836	91.0%	$ 496,436	91.4%	$ 319,027	92.2%	$ 77,629	90.4%
	- Management and General Expenses**	$ 54,455	7.3%	$ 42,674	6.3%	$ 32,512	6.0%	$ 27,128	7.8%	$ 8,173	9.6%
	- Fundraising Expenses	$ 41,835	5.6%	$ 18,541	2.7%	$ 14,000	2.6%	0	0	0	0
	- Total	$ 748,585	100%	$ 682,051	100%	$ 542,948	100%	$ 346,155	100%	$ 85,802	100%
3. Excess <Deficit> of Operating Revenue over <under> Expenses:		$ 27,712	-	$ 43,194	-	<$26,222>	-	$ 26,965	-	$ 525	-
4. Balance Sheet:		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	$ 99,443	-	$ 76,599	-	$ 17,183	-	$ 33,746	-	$ 534	-
	- Receivables	$ 5,648	-	$ 3,200	-	$ 2,720	-	2,098	-	0	-
	- Total Assets	$ 105,091	-	$ 79,799	-	$ 19,903	-	$ 35,844	-	$ 534	-
	Liabilities:
	- Payables and Accrued Expenses	$ 32,917	-	$ 35,337	-	$ 18,636	-	$ 8,354	-	$ 10	-
	- Total Liabilities	$ 32,917	-	$ 35,337	-	$ 18,636	-	$ 8,354	-	$ 10	-
	Equity:
	- Net Worth	$ 72,174	-	$ 44,462	-	$ 1,268	-	$ 27,489	-	$ 525	-
	Total Liabilities and Net Worth	$ 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.

Donating to ProCon.org means you are helping to provide well-researched nonpartisan information to students, teachers, elected officials, media, professionals, and the public in order to promote critical thinking on today’s important issues. With your support, we investigate hundreds of controversial issues so millions of people can make more informed decisions on the issues that affect us all.

Donate now to help support critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship. ProCon.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. All donations are tax-deductible as permitted by law.

There are several ways you can support ProCon.org:

A. Make a Donation

Please help keep ProCon.org free of charge and free of advertising. Donate as little as $5, $10, or $25 (or more) today.

We accept anonymous donations although we would prefer to have your name and email so we can thank you for the support and list you on our Donors page.

You may make your donation by credit card by clicking "Donate Now" below, or by check (payable to "ProCon.org" at 233 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 200, Santa Monica, CA 90401).

B. Make a Bequest

A bequest is the simplest way for many donors to make a significant, lasting contribution to ProCon.org’s efforts to support critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship.

Through a bequest you may leave a specific dollar amount or a percentage of the estate after provisions for family members and other beneficiaries have been made. In your will or living trust, a bequest may look like: “I give to ProCon.org, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization incorporated in the State of California, the sum of $___ (or all or percent of my residuary estate) to be used for its general purposes.”

C. Other Opportunities to Support ProCon.org

For information regarding bequests, matching gift donations or charitable contributions in other forms (stock transfer, wire transfer, etc.), please contact ProCon.org President/Chairman Steve Markoff by email at steve@procon.org or by phone at 310-587-1470.

If you have found any of ProCon.org's sites useful, or agree with our mission, please make a donation today.

We appreciate your contributions to our efforts.