2014 Annual Report - ProCon.org

Jay Rakow, CEO

Dear ProCon.org readers,

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

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).
Two new websites: We added two new issue websites (in alphabetical order): Local Elections and School Uniforms (III. below).
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).
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).
Number of donors: We received charitable contributions from 238 donors in 2014 – an increase from our 176 donors in 2013 (IX. below).
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

TABLE OF CONTENTS
	Metrics at a glance Traffic Three New Issue Websites ProCon.org for Teachers Email Updates & Reader Responses	ProCon.org Teacher Survey Media and ProCon.org Board and Staff Financials Select Highlights

Metrics at a glance

During Each Year	2012	2013	2014	Totals (2004-2014)
1. Expenditures (w/in kind)
– Program Services	$749,519	$742,619	$798,755	$5,821,614
– Management G & A	$89,264	$75,712	$74,891	$543,402
– Fundraising	$24,351	$67,452	$17,740	$269,186
Total:	$863,133	$885,784	$891,386	$6,634,202

2. % Spent on Program Services	86.8%	83.8%	89.6%	87.8%

3. Traffic
– Users (Formerly Unique Visitors – compiled monthly)	15,775,324	16,626,661	20,314,432	80,316,160
– Page views	33,795,697	32,242,555	39,226,731	177,767,352
– Hits	774,615,748	700,705,450	874,434,769	3,613,471,886

4. New Media Mentions of ProCon.org	285	344	471	1,551

5. New Published Books Referencing ProCon.org	88	68	101	371

6. Newly Added Schools Where Educators Use or Have Used ProCon.org
– Elementary & Middle Schools	304	297	476	1,529
– High Schools	675	535	555	2,911
– Colleges/Universities	331	179	156	1,318
Total:	1,310	1,011	1,187	5,758

7. New Email Subscribers	21,795	19,109	22,046	120,771

8. New YouTube views	63,700	79,400	190,704	334,704
		2013
9. New Foreign Countries Where Educators Use ProCon.org	9	12	8	73

10. New US Federal & State Agencies using ProCon.org	7	9	9	61

11. # of New Questions	5	5	33	1,295

12. # of New Sourced Statements in Response to Our Questions	100	58	306	12,571

13. New Biographies of People Quoted in Response to Our Questions	100	48	362	7,109

Traffic

Here’s a summary of our cumulative web traffic from 2004 to 2014:

Traffic to ProCon.org websites as measured in (click term to see definition):	Users (aka Unique Visitors)	Pageviews	Hits
2014	20,314,432	39,226,731	874,434,769
2013	16,626,661	32,274,934	700,705,450
2012	15,775,324	33,795,697	774,615,748
2011	9,832,598	20,749,501	524,574,855
2010	6,060,232	16,904,113	304,898,256
2009	3,826,232	13,669,681	178,496,731
2008	3,188,526	10,881,409	131,893,048
2007	2,084,004	5,521,470	47,136,448
2006	1,278,530	2,547,745	22,063,420
2005	887,870	1,748,426	41,031,751
2004	441,751	447,645	13,621,410
TOTALS	80,316,160	177,767,352	3,613,471,886

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.

		2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
PAGEVIEWS BY YEAR		1,748,426	2,547,745	5,521,470	10,881,409	13,669,681	16,904,113	20,749,501	33,795,697	32,274,934	39,226,731
% Increase (or decrease) Over Previous Year		291%	46%	117%	97%	26%	24%	23%	63%	-5%	22%
Parent Site [launch date]

	ProCon.org [July 12, 2004]	472,018	56,642	1,107,921	1,695,119	2,034,143	2,809,316	3,507,853	5,105,572	5,496,763	6,225,252
Issue Sites [launch date]

1.	2008 Election [Dec. 12, 2007]	–	–	20,315	910,332	193,717 archived 01/19	191,358	182,690	228,867	74,836	50,256
2.	2012 Election [Oct. 24, 2011]	–	–	–	–	–	–	248,629	5,331,100	493,365 archived 01/22	351,261
3.	Abortion [Apr. 21, 2010]	–	–	–	–	–	63,319	226,530	574,602	846,436	1,038,967
4.	ACLU [July 12, 2004]	90,561	130,408	212,565	325,224	390,269	339,712	288,212	303,789	251,179	244,299
5.	Alternative Energy [Mar. 2, 2009]	–	–	–	–	173,747	182,049	271,545	332,588	299,271	394,343
6.	Animal Testing [Oct. 22, 2013]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	86,408	947,899
7.	Big Three Auto [Dec. 3, 2008]	–	–	–	10,157	52,895 archived 05/15	29,055	26,133	25,733	14,932	16,729
8.	Born Gay [July, 12, 2004]	99,277	142,959	222,547	340,498	408,597	353,859	312,450	348,667	258,175	283,566
9.	Cell Phones [Sep. 24, 2009]	–	–	–	–	21,260	68,368	113,005	146,884	193,231	404,464
10.	Churches and Taxes [Nov. 11, 2011]	–	–	–	–	–	–	5,576	51,687	72,494	93,559
11.	Climate Change [June 15, 2010]	–	–	–	–	–	18,815	56,322	122,047	133,927	202,171
12.	Clinton [Oct. 18, 2010]	–	–	–	–	–	4,711	18,699	61,841	67,529	68,171
13.	College Education [Sep. 30, 2013]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	64,328	307,473
14.	College Football [Nov. 20, 2009]	–	–	–	–	4,478	41,347	80,563	103,876 archived 09/18	82,402	90,054
15.	Concealed Guns [Mar. 31, 2010]	–	–	–	–	–	38,141	117,652	218,651	255,380	356,242
16.	Corporate Tax Rate & Jobs [Dec. 13, 2012]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,697	27,886	34,516
17.	Cuba Embargo [Dec. 20, 2012]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	998	115,281	151,643
18.	D.A.R.E [Feb. 18, 2010]	–	–	–	–	–	44,366	57,979	70,396	82,500	108,390
19.	Death Penalty [July 31, 2008]	–	–	–	438,078	1,178,926	1,365,900	1,704,208	2,310,308	2,738,476	2,963,184
20.	Drinking Age [July 29, 2009]	–	–	–	–	84,827	483,982	771,514	1,071,745	1,357,435	1,665,960
21.	Drones [Dec. 19, 2013]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,457	189,187
22.	Euthanasia [Jan 8, 2007]	–	–	830,859	1,271,215	1,525,458	1,397,340	1,380,648	1,544,794	1,809,326	2,301,613
23.	Felon Voting [May 1, 2007]	–	–	63,815	158,087	189,704	204,472	202,554	518,273	311,372	400,508
24.	Gay Marriage [Sep. 16, 2010]	–	–	–	–	–	36,629	291,234	1,076,112	2,127,946	3,162,468
25.	Gold Standard [Dec. 31, 2012]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	236	33,939	45,555
26.	Golf [May 24, 2012]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	24,666	65,188	81,002
27.	Obamacare / Health Care Laws [Sep. 2, 2010]	–	–	–	–	–	91,026	302,673	587,052	477,188	283,400
28.	Illegal Immigration [Nov. 26, 2007]	–	–	95,650	692,070	830,484	950,537	896,779	1,016,722	1,002,166	1,163,931
29.	Insider Trading by Congress [May 30, 2008]	–	–	–	32,299	61,929	53,433	77,890	100,066	40,872	26,637
30.	Israeli – Palestinian Conflict [July 12, 2004]	216,370	311,573	507,864	777,032	932,438	729,807	784,798	803,719	522,958	580,452
31.	Local Elections [Oct 7, 2014]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	15,225
32.	Medical Marijuana [July 12, 2004]	668,999	963,359	1,570,275	2,402,520	2,883,024	4,104,726	4,158,569	5,409,859	5,730,508	6,803,091
33.	Milk [Sep. 28, 2008]	–	–	–	121,413	382,535	375,385	406,819	496,169	453,441	502,126
34.	Obesity [Dec. 28, 2009]	–	–	–	–	408	63,524	104,427	151,426	168,162	190,638
35.	Prescription Drug Ads [June 8, 2009]	–	–	–	–	15,560	37,261	54,551	54,291	56,897	130,288
36.	Prostitution [May 14, 2007]	–	–	353,217	906,705	1,088,046	1,185,051	1,409,034	1,679,769	1,529,576	1,438,332
37.	Reagan [Oct. 18, 2010]	–	–	–	–	–	6,068	29,149	68,657	67,057	80,523
38.	Right to Health Care [Sep. 18, 2009]	–	–	–	–	34,689	114,971	176,006	264,979	196,549	194,142
39.	School Uniforms [Sep. 10, 2014]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	213,980
40.	Social Networking [Oct. 14, 2009]	–	–	–	–	19,431	148,761	495,421	702,026	874,099	941,226
41.	Social Security [Nov. 24, 2009]	–	–	–	–	2,132	49,980	92,181	89,199	64,581	69,734
42.	Sports and Drugs [Dec. 29, 2008]	–	–	–	1,085	263,841	293,119	383,612	564,958	620,488	649,396
43.	Standardized Tests [June 22, 2011]	–	–	–	–	–	–	68,608	332,923	520,187	605,757
44.	Tablets vs. Textbooks [Nov. 20, 2012]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	38,217	358,989	470,189
45.	Teacher Tenure [Jan. 13, 2011]	–	–	–	–	–	–	86,964	121,075	103,182	124,916
46.	Under God in the Pledge [July 12, 2004]	72,526	104,437	170,233	260,456	312,547	264,531	303,217	386,136	331,956	336,910
47.	US – Iraq War [July 12, 2004]	111,593	160,694	261,931	400,754	480,905	409,807	357,851 archived 12/31	287,326	166,644	160,780
48.	Vaccines for Kids [Jan. 18, 2010]	–	–	–	–	–	46,508	101,814	209,177	281,757	518,560
49.	Vegetarianism [Apr. 21, 2011]	–	–	–	–	–	–	63,990	193,050	304,206	420,901
50.	Video Games and Violence [Dec. 9, 2009]	–	–	–	–	–	148,878	348,160	527,988	899,866	1,052,598
51.	Voting Machines [May 23, 2006]	–	30,011	64,182	77,018	60,074	57,271	51,114	70,469	55,048	49,523
52.	WTC Muslim Center [Oct. 5, 2010]	–	–	–	–	–	27,212	34,843	32,051	22,088 archived 06/03	24,744
PAGEVIEWS BY YEAR		1,748,426	2,547,745	5,521,470	10,881,409	13,669,681	16,904,113	20,749,501	33,795,697	32,274,934	39,226,731
% Increase (or decrease) Over Previous Year		291%	46%	117%	97%	26%	24%	23%	63%	-5%	22%
		2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014

Two New Issue Websites
In 2014 we added two new websites:

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.
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.

ProCon.org for Teachers
ProCon.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.

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.

PRO ProCon.org

CON ProCon.org

“Organizations such as yours are vital to the health of our democracy.”
Bill McClellan, Dec. 22, 2014
“I continue to use ProCon.org as a source for conversation starters in the classroom on issues that then turn to critical compositions, thought papers, or other activities. I also use the information to get students to begin building persuasive campaigns to convince others to take their side on an important issue. This helps lead students through concepts such as initiatives, petitions, and campaigns The tool is exceptionally useful for students who are college-bound.”
Cory Colby, Government Instructor at Willis High School (Willis, TX), Dec. 17, 2014
“Hi, I just want to say i absolutely love your website and the countless hours you have put in this website. I consider this website one of the few golden nuggets on the internet. I was in need of a topic when I stumbled upon this site and now its in my bookmark. Keep up the good work.”
Angus, Oct. 23, 2014
“We use it for our Socratic seminars during AVID classes and for supplemental materials during our persuasive writing activities. The kids have to choose a side, then research and see if they stayed the same because of their research.”
Kristy Koch, English teacher at Reardan Middle School (Reardan, WA) Sep. 8th, 2014
“In light of the e-mails and phone calls I’ve received from students, I can say that ProCon.org is indeed effective as an introduction to critical thinking on controversial public issues.”
J. Patrick Mullins, PhD, Associate Professor of History at Marymount University (Arlington, VA), Aug. 18, 2014
“The NY Common Core Regents requires an argumentative essay from 5 texts with support and citation. ProCon.Org is perfect for my students to practice this type of writing. I also use it with my AP Language & Composition course.”
Gloria Ackman, English teacher at West Canada Valley High School (Newport, NY), Aug. 4, 2014

“I really enjoy reading the articles, they are very insightful!! They keep me up with current events!! And as an older student (49) I find them very helpful in writing papers for my classes!!”
Sandra Castellano, July 30, 2014
“I’ve been using your site in regards to getting to know state by state legislation for medical marijuana. It’s fantastic. Keep up the great work!”
Andrea B. Goldman, CFA, Esq., July 30, 2014
“I like procon.org because it has good information on it. It is detailed and it just tells it like it is without all the name calling or distortion that others put on it. It just leaves the decisions up to the person reading it. It has no bias or agenda just the bare facts. I like how it is formatted as well; it makes it easier to read. I like how the site is set up with easy to find references for it. It is very easy to navigate as well.”
Laura, July 18, 2014
“I have been aware of ProCon for a number of years. It is so good to rely on unbiased information offered relevant to important issues of the day. We need MORE expansion of ProCon!”
Burton Danet, PhD., Rejuvenated Facilitator, Clinical Psychologist (retired), Founder, The ABC4All Legacy, July 18, 2014
“More fact-based public discourse is vital to our democracy and ProCon.org is helping to lead the way.”
Vance Peterson, July 1, 2014
“I have greatly enjoyed casually reading this website. It has certainly changed my opinion on several topics and forced me to consider both sides. For this I’d like to say thank you to this website.”
Brandon, Mar. 14, 2014
“Oh my goodness, I didn’t know you all existed! I worked at the RAND Corporation and I thought that was the only place that could objectively analyze and present different perspectives of sensitive issues.”
Lynne Wainfan, PhD, Professor at California State University at Long Beach, Feb. 20, 2014
“ProCon.org provides an informative view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one of the world’s longest standing conflicts. The site objectively exposes the massive variations of opinion, narrative and fact, to give your readers the best ‘big picture’ understanding of the conflict and its potential solutions.”
Michael Weiss, author of The Bomb on the Rock and former IDF spokesman, Feb. 4, 2014
“I used ProCon.org in my classroom to help teach law students oral advocacy skills. My students carefully review ProCon’s excellent topical pages and make three minute oral presentations on one side of a current event. This helps prime students for success in the oral advocacy portion of my Legal Skills course.”
Jason Potter, Lecturer at the University of Massachusetts School of Law (Dartmouth, MA), Jan. 5, 2014

“I recently heard your promotional spots on NPR, and was excited to check out the procon.org website. I am sorely disappointed. By using statements by TV personalities, Sarah Palin and congressional representatives who lack specific expertise, this makes a mockery of critical thinking.”
Karen, Dec. 1, 2014

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.

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.”

Board and Staff
ProCon.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.

Financials
We 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.

Select Highlights


Oct. 8, 2014	For the first time, ProCon.org decided to bring its unique brand of voter education to local elections, starting with Santa Monica, California. The Local Elections website from ProCon.org gathers opinions from candidates for the Santa Monica City Council, School Board, and College Board on many important community issues. Visitors were able to read about each candidate, click on an issue to read candidate position statements, and take the candidate matching quiz to see which candidate best matched their views. 5,025 people visited the Local Elections website to help them decide which candidates to support. The margins of victory in the three races covered by ProCon.org were 586 votes (City Council), 264 votes (School Board), and 633 (College Board). The Local Elections website was created as part of a collaboration with the Santa Monica Daily Press.
Sep. 26, 2014	ProCon.org participated in a panel at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 44th annual legislative conference. Kamy Akhavan represented ProCon.org on the 6-person panel to discuss “Teacher Tenure: Education or Politics?” The panel was hosted by the American Federation of Teachers.
Sep. 15, 2014	Jay Rakow succeeds Steve Markoff to become new CEO of ProCon.org. 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.
July 28, 2014	ProCon.org presented its 6th annual critical thinking seminar to high school students attending the Junior Statesmen of America’s “2014 Gene Burd Institute on L.A. Media and Politics” at UCLA. Also, for the 6th year in a row, the ProCon.org seminar was selected by the students as their favorite presentation of the week-long workshop.
July 12, 2014	Happy 10th anniversary, ProCon.org! Our little operation that started on July 12, 2004 with six topics and big aspirations has become America’s leading provider of free pro and con research on controversial issues with 50 topics and more in development. Thank you to the more than 70 million people who have visited ProCon.org over the last 10 years and helped us promote critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship. See our 10th anniversary page for more.
June 17, 2014	Phil Magaram and Michael Klein are officially voted onto the ProCon.org Board of Directors. Their impressive backgrounds and extensive experience add to the strength of our organization. Welcome aboard.
June 2, 2014	ProCon.org was nominated for the 2014 Los Angeles Business Journal Nonprofit & Corporate Citizenship Awards in two categories, Nonprofit Organization of the Year (Small) and Nonprofit Team of the Year. Thank you for the kind recognition.
May 8, 2014	Educators in over 5,000 schools have used ProCon.org. Our free resources have been used by teachers, librarians, and administrators in all 50 states and 66 countries (the latest was Egypt). The breakdown is 1,229 elementary and middle schools (24.6%), 2,547 high schools (50.9%), and 1,226 colleges and universities (24.5%). THANK YOU to the educators, our partners in promoting critical thinking, who helped us reach this milestone achievement.