2014 Annual Report

Jay Rakow, CEO

Dear ProCon.org readers,

2014 was another successful year for us. Some of our major accomplishments for the year were:

1. 20.3 million unique visitors (up from 16.6 million in 2013), 1,187 new schools using ProCon.org (5,758 total), 101 new books referencing ProCon.org (371 total), 471 media mentions (1,551 total), 9 new federal and state government agencies using ProCon.org (61 total), 22,046 new email subscribers (120,771 total), and substantial increases in our various social media followers. (see I. below).
2. Two new websites: We added two new issue websites (in alphabetical order): Local Elections and School Uniforms (III. below).
3. 100% of surveyed teachers would recommend ProCon.org to other teachers and librarians: We received 1,141 responses to our teachers and librarian survey between May. 16, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2014. 98.1% 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 2014 with a staff of seven and a half full-time equivalent employees. We also had two volunteers and two interns (VIII. below).
5. Number of donors: We received charitable contributions from 238 donors in 2014 – an increase from our 176 donors in 2013 (IX. below).
6. Select additional highlights (see X. below for several more):A. ProCon.org turned 10 years old. B. Jay Rakow becomes new CEO of ProCon.org.C. ProCon.org participated in a panel at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 44th annual legislative conference.D. ProCon.org launches a Local Elections website where we covered the Local Santa Monica, California elections (School Board, College Board and City Council).

In sum, in 2014 we surpassed 80 million unique visitors, 177.7 million pageviews, 3.6 billion hits, and we have launched 52 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 Director, 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,

Jay Rakow
CEO, 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 2014:

Source: /traffic/#II

Here is a site-by-site breakdown of our traffic from 2005 to 2014 in pageviews (the last 10 years).
ProCon.org started on July 12, 2004 and had 447,645 pageviews that year.

3. Two New Issue WebsitesIn 2014 we added two new websites:

1. Local Elections:In 2014, the Santa Monica Daily Press, a local newspaper in Santa Monica, California (pop. 92,000), approached us to co-sponsor a debate featuring the candidates for the Santa Monica City Council, Board of Education, and Community College Board, and to create a website, voter information guide and candidate matching quiz for those elections modeled after our 2008 and 2012 Presidential election sites. We accepted the challenge of building and launching our site on two weeks’ notice so we could test the local election concept in a relatively small setting. The test was successful. In addition to generating positive feedback from candidates, voters and our press partners, we were able to learn a number of things about the navigability, marketing, timing and method of preparing the website that will enhance our future election websites.All candidates competing for the multiple open seats in these races completed our issues quiz, which enabled voters to see where each candidate stood on the issues. During the debates, we enabled voters to access the ProCon.org local election site on computer terminals located at the debate venue. The moderator of the debate directed a number of questions to the candidates based on their quiz answers and positions on the ProCon.org site.We launched our local election website on October 7, 2014. During the 27 day period between then and Election Day, more than 1,300 unique visitors used the website, a number equal to 5.4% of the approximately 24,000 people who voted in the election. The margins of victory in the three races were 920 for the City Council, 256 for the School Board and 157 for the College Board. With more time to prepare, more direct control by ProCon.org over the content, and funds to market the election site to voters, we are confident that we could engage a significantly greater percentage of local voters.
2. School Uniforms:On Sep. 10, 2014, we launched https://school-uniforms.procon.org/ which asks the core question “Should students have to wear school uniforms?” Our 51st website explores the pros and cons in the debate over mandatory school uniforms. Almost one in five US public schools required students to wear uniforms during the 2011-2012 school year, up from one in eight in 2003-2004. Proponents say that school uniforms make schools safer for students, create a “level playing field” that reduces socioeconomic disparities, and encourage children to focus on their studies rather than their clothes. Opponents say school uniforms infringe upon students’ right to express their individuality, have no positive effect on behavior and academic achievement, and emphasize the socioeconomic disparities they are intended to disguise.The site received 213,980 pageviews in 2014 alone.

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 98,725 email subscribers and ended 2014 with 120,771. We sent 17 email newsletters in 2014. 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 1,141 respondents between May 16, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2014. Some highlights from that survey include:
   * 98.1% of teachers using ProCon.org reported that ProCon.org improved their students’ critical thinking skills.* 99.0% 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.It was our fifth year in a row with all indicators of success over 96%. It was also our second year in a row of getting a 100% recommendation rate.

7. Media and ProCon.org ProCon.org received 471 media references in 2014, compared to 344 in 2013, a 37% increase. Our President and Managing Editor Kamy Akhavan was quoted 8 times on radio, on television, or in print publications across the country, by organizations including NBC News, Voice of America, Christian Science Monitor, and the Santa Monica Daily Press.Notable 2014 media references included USA Today, US News and World Report, Forbes, NPR, Washington Post, New York Times, Rolling Stone, TIME, BBC America, PBS, ESPN, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Education World, and Psychology Today.WIBC 93.1 FM host Pete Dunn told his listeners on Apr. 20, 2014, “If you do feel one way about an issue, it behooves you to understand the other side of an issue. That’s why I like ProCon.org. It presents both sides, it doesn’t pass judgment on either side, it just shows you pros and cons to every question they have on the site.”PBS referenced Teacher Tenure ProCon.org in a Mar. 29, 2014 article titled “Teacher Tenure Rules Are in State of Flux Across the Nation,” stating: “Pro/Con has put together a robust compendium on the issue designed for use in classrooms.”Santa Monica Daily Press referenced Local Elections ProCon.org in an Oct. 2, 2014 article titled “Candidate Matching Survey Featured at Squirm Night.” The author wrote, “Santa Monica based ProCon.org, a sponsor of the Santa Monica Daily Press’ Squirm Night, is developing an interactive survey that shows voters which candidate shares their values. The surveys are the organization’s flagship product and the Santa Monica election will be the first time the system has been applied to a local election following successful implementation in the 2008 and 2012 presidential races.”

   Times-Picayune wrote about School Uniforms ProCon.org in a Sep. 18, 2014 article titled “From ProCon.org: Are School Uniforms a Good Idea?,” stating: “The nonpartisan website ProCon.org presents the school uniforms debate this month. Along with the arguments, there are some pretty stunning stats… The ProCon mini-site is worth a read, especially if you like footnotes.”

8. Board and StaffProCon.org hired a new CEO, Jay Rakow, to replace the Founder, Board Chairman, and now former CEO Steve Markoff. We have eight unpaid Board members, including three distinguished 2014 additions, Michael Klein, Joseph Magaram, and Jay Rakow. We ended 2014 with a staff of 7.5 full-time in-house employees (same as 2013) made up of four Researchers, one IT Director, one President & Managing Editor, one new CEO (me), and a part-time Schools Outreach Coordinator. We also had two Interns and two Volunteers contribute roughly 300 total work hours during the year.Mr. Rakow previously served as President of The Lincy Foundation, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Paramount Pictures, Senior Executive Vice President of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., and Distinguished Practitioner-in-Residence at Cornell University Law School.Mr. Klein is an accomplished executive and entrepreneur with substantial experience in media and entertainment, investment banking, professional sports, venture capital, and real estate.Mr. Magaram is a Senior Partner at the law firm of Valensi Rose, PLC. He was admitted to the bar in California (1962), and is a certified specialist in taxation law and probate, estate planning, and trust law.

9. FinancialsWe received charitable contributions from 238 donors in 2014 – a 35.22% increase from our 176 donors in 2013. For our latest financials, including charts and graphs, please visit the“Financial Info” section of our “About Us” page.

10. Select Highlights