2013 Annual Report

Steven C. Markoff, Chairman

Dear ProCon.org readers,

2013 was another successful year for us. Some of our major accomplishments for the year were:

1. 16.6 million unique visitors (up from 15.7 million in 2012), 1,011 new schools using ProCon.org (4,571 total), 68 new books referencing ProCon.org (270 total), 344 media mentions (1,080 total), 9 new federal and state government agencies using ProCon.org (52 total), 19,109 new email subscribers (98,725 total), and substantial increases in our various social media followers (see I. below).
2. Three new websites: We added three new issue websites (in alphabetical order): Animal Testing, College Education, and Drones (III. below).
3. 100% of surveyed teachers would recommend ProCon.org to other teachers and librarians: We received 1,420 responses to our teachers and librarian survey between Jan. 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2013. 97.1% of teachers responding to our survey and who use ProCon.org (admittedly a self-selecting group) reported an improvement in their students critical thinking skills. 100% of surveyed teachers said they would recommend ProCon.org to other teachers and librarians (VI. below).
4. Staff, Volunteers, and Interns: Our organization began and ended 2013 with a staff of seven full-time equivalent employees. We also had two volunteers and two interns (VIII. below).
5. Number of donors: We received charitable contributions from 176 donors in 2013 – an increase from our 169 donors in 2012 (IX. below).
6. Select additional highlights (see X. below for several more):A. Guidestar, the nation’s largest charity evaluation organization awarded ProCon.org the Gold Participant recognition, its highest honor.

   B. ProCon.org and the March of Dimes Canada held two celebrity golf tournaments to raise money for our nonprofit organizations.

   C. Pivot, a television network from Participant Media, selected ProCon.org as its exclusive alliance to promote critical thinking by providing research around the social issues explored in the new TV series Raising McCain, a documentary-style reality program featuring Meghan McCain, the daughter of US Senator John McCain.

In sum, in 2013 we surpassed 60 million unique visitors, 138.5 million pageviews, 2.7 billion hits, and we have launched 50 pro-con websites since we started in 2004.

Thank you for your continued interest in the information we supply, and thanks to our talented researchers, IT Manager, President/Managing Editor, Board Members, interns, and volunteers.

Thanks as well to our expert sources, the media who referenced us, the tens of thousands of times teachers have used our content in the classroom, and to the millions of ProCon.org readers who helped our organization become so popular. And a big thanks to all our supporters for your helping us continue our work

Sincerely,

Steven C. Markoff
Chairman, ProCon.org

1. Metrics at a glance
2. Traffic
3. Three New Issue Websites
4. ProCon.org for Teachers
5. Email Updates & Reader Responses

6. ProCon.org Teacher Survey
7. Media and ProCon.org
8. Board and Staff
9. Financials
10. Select Highlights

1. Metrics at a glance

2. Traffic

Here’s a summary of our cumulative web traffic from 2004 to 2013:

Source: /traffic/#II..

3. Three New Issue WebsitesIn 2013 we added three new websites, listed below in the order in which they became publicly available:

1. College Education: On Sep. 30, 2013, ProCon.org launched the website College Education ProCon.org to explore the question “Is a College Education Worth It?” The site received 64,328 pageviews in 2013.Proponents of college education say that college is worth it because college graduates have higher employment rates, bigger salaries, and more work benefits than high school graduates. They say college graduates also have better interpersonal skills, live longer, have healthier children, and have proven their ability to achieve a major milestone. Opponents of college education say that college is not worth it because the debt from college loans is too high and delays graduates from saving for retirement, buying a house, or getting married. They say many successful people never graduated from college and that many jobs, especially trades jobs, do not require college degrees.
2. Animal Testing: On Oct. 22, 2013 we launched the website Animal Testing ProCon.org to explore the core question “Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing?” The site received 86,408 pageviews in 2013.

   An estimated 26 million animals are used every year in the United States for scientific and commercial testing. Proponents say that animal testing has enabled the development of many life-saving treatments for both humans and animals and that there is no alternative method for researching a complete living organism. Opponents of animal testing say that it is cruel and inhumane to experiment on animals and that animals are so different from human beings that it often yields irrelevant results.

3. Drones: On Dec. 19, 2013, we launched the website Drones ProCon.org to explore the question “Should the United States Continue Its Use of Drone Strikes Abroad?” The site received 1,457 pageviews in 2013.
   Proponents say that drones have decimated terrorist networks abroad via precise strikes with minimum civilian casualties. They contend that drones are relatively inexpensive weapons, are used under proper government oversight, and that their use helps prevent “boots on the ground” combat and makes America safer. Opponents say that drone strikes create more terrorists than they kill. They contend that drone strikes kill large numbers of civilians, violate international law, lack sufficient congressional oversight, violate the sovereignty of other nations, and make the horrors of war appear as innocuous as a video game.

4.  ProCon.org for TeachersProCon.org expanded the list of schools where an educator uses or has used ProCon.org from 3,560 schools at the end of 2012 to 4,571 schools at the end of 2013 – an increase of 1,011 schools (28.4%). We add schools to this list when we see that an educator (not a student) from that school has referenced ProCon.org online, usually in a lesson plan, suggested resources list, social media reference to our content, published work, or as a response to our two-minute ProCon.org teacher/librarian survey.We include a PDF of the lesson plan, when available, so that other educators can get ideas and draw inspiration from each other.Those schools were from 65 different countries including (in alphabetical order): Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belize, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vietnam, and Yemen.

   The breakdown of schools by level is as follows: 1,053 elementary and middle schools (23%), 2,356 high schools (51.6%), and 1,162 colleges and universities (25.4%).

   In 2014, we will continue to make our extensive resources available to teachers, librarians, administrators, and other educators. We believe that most of the approximate 100,000 schools in America would love ProCon.org if only they knew about it. We would appreciate it if you would tell all the teachers, librarians, administrators, other educators, and students you know about us and our work.

5. Email Updates & Reader Responses We started the year with 79,616 email subscribers and ended 2013 with 98,725. We sent 22 email newsletters in 2013. Some of the more colorful and interesting emails, responses to our newsletters, and “contact us” form submissions are provided below.

6. ProCon.org Teacher Survey We ran a ProCon.org Teacher Survey to receive input from teachers and librarians so we could understand how they use ProCon.org and to learn their views on whether or not using ProCon.org improves their students’ critical thinking skills. The survey had 1,420 respondents between Jan. 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2013. Some highlights from that survey include:
   * 97.1% of teachers using ProCon.org reported that ProCon.org improved their students’ critical thinking skills.

   * 98.6% of teachers using ProCon.org reported that their students found ProCon.org useful.

   * 100% of respondents said they would recommend ProCon.org to teachers and librarians.

    

7. Media and ProCon.org ProCon.org received 344 media references in 2013 compared to 285 in 2012. Our President and Managing Editor Kamy Akhavan was interviewed 17 times on radio, on television, or in print publications across the country, by organizations including ABC News, Fox Business, and Voice of America.Notable 2013 media references included The Atlantic, Business Insider, CNN, Deadpsin, Forbes, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, New York Times, NPR, PBS, Psychology Today, Reuters, TIME, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.

   The New York Times recommended Video Games ProCon.org in a Feb. 13, 2013 lesson plan written by Jennifer Cutraro, Alison Fromme, and Michael Gonchar titled “Collateral Damage? Researching a Connection Between Video Games and Violence.” The article was part of the newspaper’s section called “The Learning Network.” The authors wrote, “Students might want to start by combing through Times reporting on the link between video games and violence, or by consulting ProCon.org for its collection of arguments supporting both sides of the issue.”

   Forbes raved about Gold Standard ProCon.org in an Apr. 29, 2013 article by Ralph Benko titled “The Great Gold Debate Continues, and It’s Serious.” Mr. Benko wrote extensively about ProCon.org, saying in part, “ProCon.org is a resource for the engaged citizen seeking out both sides of issues… Wikipedia, watch your back: ProCon.org is sneaking up on you… ProCon.org recently opened up an impressively presented section on the renewed gold standard debate… ProCon.org may be the most impressive resource of its kind…”

   Minyanville, an Emmy Award-winning business and financial news website, praised Health Care Reform ProCon.org in a July 26, 2013 article by Diane Bullock titled “How Does Obamacare Work? 11 Questions, 11 Unbiased Answers.” The article featured an interview with ProCon.org President Kamy Akhavan. Ms. Bullock wrote, “When Minyanville was searching for an unbiased take on this labyrinth of a law, we turned to an organization with only one dog in the health-care fight: the truth. ProCon.org is an award-winning nonprofit charity that operates with the explicit purpose of helping the public make informed decisions about complex social issues. For its 15.7 million readers, ProCon.org pores through volumes of legislation (in Obamacare’s case, 900 pages worth) and weighs — in equal measure — the pros and cons from experts on both sides of the political aisle.”

8. Board and StaffOur organization has five unpaid Board members, including me the Chairman/CEO. We ended 2013 with a staff of seven full-time in-house employees (one fewer person than we had at the end of 2012) made up of five Researchers, one IT Manager/Webmaster, one President & Managing Editor, and a part-time Schools Outreach Coordinator. We also had two Volunteers and two Interns contribute roughly 150 total work hours during the year.

9. FinancialsWe received charitable contributions from 176 donors in 2013 – a 4.1% increase from our 169 donors in 2012. For our latest financials, including charts and graphs, please visit the “Financial Info” section of our “About Us” page.

10. Select Highlights

Ralph Benko, former Deputy General Counsel for the Reagan Administration

Howard Berman, former Member of the US House of Representatives (D-CA)

Theodora Capaldo, President of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS)

Karen Cator, CEO of Digital Promise and former Director of the Office of Education Technology at the US Department of Education

Christopher Eisgruber, Provost of Princeton University

Scott Gilliam, Director of Training for D.A.R.E. America

Sarah Barringer Gordon, Professor of Constitutional Law & Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania

Ruchira Gupta, Founder and President of Apne Aap Women Worldwide

Erwin J. Haeberle, Founder and Director of the Archive for Sexology

Paul A. Heise, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Lebanon Valley College

Tom Holder, Founder of Speaking of Research

Charles Kadlec, Member of the Economic Advisory Board of the American Principles Project

Andrew Knight, Veterinarian and Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics

Kay Lazar, Health Reporter for The Boston Globe

Nathan Lewis, Principal of Kiku Capital Management LLC

James Livingston, Professor of History at Rutgers University

Joel C. Lombardi, Assistant Attorney for the New York State Department of Health Bureau of House Counsel

Jan Lundberg, Founder of the Lundberg Survey

Michael Mazerov, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Doug McVay, Director of Research at Common Sense for Drug Policy

National Association of Elementary School Principals

Rebecca L. Pearson, Assistant Professor in the Health Education Program Physical Education at Central Washington University

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

David W. Purcell, Deputy Director for Behavioral and Social Science in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dario Ringach, Professor of Neurobiology and Psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles

Michael H. Schwartz
, Visiting Professor in Energy and the Environment
at Princeton University

Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University

Matthew Vadum, Senior Editor at Capital Research Center

Tom Vander Ark, CEO/Partner of Getting Smart and former Executive Director of Education at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Cathy Young, Contributing Editor at Reason magazine and Reason.com