Sunday – November 29, 2020
Hi friends! For those who are new here, this might sound like an unusual idea or request – it’s really an opportunity for the hardcore friends and fans of the Lead Safe Mama website and work to help with an end-of-year contribution in exchange for a “perk” that will help them share about the issue of Childhood Lead Poisoning in their IRL interactions with friends, community and family.
As you may realize Lead Safe Mama, LLC is not a non-profit, it is a “small business” (an LLC). The work we do here is very much work that should be funded in the non-profit model AND the work we do here IS funded (to a significant degree) in a similar way (without the tax deductions!)
- Readers on the site direct and inform what is tested and report on here.
- Readers also direct (and choose) other topics that are written about. on the blog.
- Readers on the site (and on social media) also contribute to help cover the cost of the work reported and shared here.
- The Lead Safe Mama team does the work and our friends, fans and followers help to cover the cost.
We left the actual “non-profit” designation behind more than 4 years ago now when it became obvious that being a non-profit left the work open to the random unwarranted attacks by industry, industry-influenced government agencies and others – attacks that have been suffered against this advocacy work starting in 2016 (actually the attacks against this work started as far back as 2011.) The small business model works well, yet – because this work is founded on an open partnership with our readers – we are also treating it with the same level of transparency and accountability as if we were still associated with a non-profit.
Costs of this work are covered through a few channels.
The costs of doing the work reported on the Lead Safe Mama blog (the information that we make accessible for free to anyone in the world – including the independent consumer goods testing reported here) is covered by the following channels:
- SHARING POSTS: When you share the posts from this blog we can earn 1 or 2 cents in advertising income for each page-view. This is amazing because it spreads the information to all the corners of the earth (literally) AND it helps cover the costs of the work. In 2019 advertising contract income made up about 50% of Lead Safe Mama, LLC’s income (nearly $60,000!)
- CONSULTING: Families, Businesses, and public agencies (Health Departments and nonprofits) hire Lead Safe Mama, LLC for consulting as well. This can include private consultations, public events, and advising companies on things like non-toxic strategies and product development. This covered about 40% of Lead Safe Mama’s income in 2019. This includes phone consultations and in-person consultations.
- CONTRIBUTIONS: About 10% of Lead Safe Mama’s income comes from gifts (contributions) from people like you. Since we are not a nonprofit these gifts are not tax deductible – they are just like if you gave a birthday gift of cash to a friend. Each gift (through all methods: PayPal, Venmo, Cash, Zelle, etc.) is accounted for as Lead Safe Mama income when we file our taxes for the year.
In 2019 Lead Safe Mama gross income was about $120,000 (we’ll have an exact total soon – as we just hired a new bookkeeper to wrap up both 2019 and 2020!) Preliminary numbers showed that Lead Safe Mama expenses in 2019 were about $119,500, because of costs related to the legal battles defending against the unfounded attacks on our work. This means our “gross profit” for 2019 was somewhere in the neighborhood of $500! 🙂
Prior to CoViD-19 taking over the Internet we anticipated that 2020 was going to be the first year that we posted a reasonable profit (primarily due to projected advertising income for the year) – a profit that would have been enough to cover all expenses (including reasonable salaries and contracts for everyone who helps us and works with us, and would have helped to pay down some of the costs related to the legal battles of the past 4+ years). Had 2020 gone that way, it would have made it possible to have a solid foundation for moving forward.
A “dip” for 2020
Unfortunately, with CoViD-19 things took a dip and we’re still playing catch up. As of the moment of posting this we’re about $11,000 shy of matching the advertising income total from 2019 and could use your help making up this shortfall. There are two ways you could help with this.
- You could share some of the most popular posts on your social media pages over the next 5 weeks. Here are some good ones to choose from (click the link, and use the “Facebook” share button at the very bottom of each post OR copy the link and paste it on your social media pages!) IF every one of my readers shared just one post, we would easily raise more than $11,000.
- OR you could make a small contribution in support of this work. $25 would be excellent. If each person on the Lead Safe Mama mailing list who has not yet contributed this year gave just $25 in support of this work we would not only make up the potential shortfall for 2020, but we could also raise enough to get current with several of the outstanding costs related to the legal battle. Here’s the “chip in” link with all the different ways you could contribute (Zelle, PayPal, Venmo, GoFundMe, etc.)
Continue reading below the image.
The “fun” part… my gift to you!
And here’s the “fun” part… Do you see the business card shaped image here on this blog post? I just had 1,000 of these cards printed up! I am going to send a handful to every single person who has contributed or hired me this year, so that you have something TANGIBLE you can give to IRL friends, family and others who have questions. Keep a couple in your wallet and if Lead comes up in the conversation- hand that person a card. If you go somewhere with a public bulletin board (like a cafe, library or laundromat), pin a card or two to the bulletin board (at least two would be great – so someone could take one to be reminded to look up their dishes when they get home.) It’s a simple form of guerrilla advocacy that can get this idea and these images in front of people who might not otherwise see them. Together we are changing the world and this is just one more step in that direction.
“But Tamara, people are rarely poisoned by their dishes! These cards are silly.”
Actually – yes, people are rarely poisoned by their dishes. It does happen, but it is rare. The reason the image of dishes (and bringing up the concern for Lead in dishes) is effective is because it encourages people to start thinking about Lead in their homes and environment. Considering whether or not their dishes might have Lead usually inspires people to think twice about all their personal possessions, heirlooms and the consumer goods they buy. It starts them on a path of inquiry that, more often than not, leads them to getting their children (or their home… or their soil) tested for Lead… and that’s the journey we want to inspire in people… the path we want to lead them down. It works – which is why more than 1.5 million people (in more than 200 countries) have read this blog in the past 12 months alone! Pretty much everyone has dishes (in some form!), so the concern for Lead-in-dishes resonates with everyone.
Quick ways to give:
While the best way to support this work is to share a post on your social media pages (that is much preferred to a financial contribution actually because that shares information to help more people!)… IF you are in a position to make a financial contribution in support of the work this holiday season, Venmo (@TamaraERubin) or Zelle (503-702-2708) are our preferred method to receive gifts (because they are fee-free!), but here are two quick PayPal buttons if that is easier for you!
Gift $25
Gift some other amount in support of this work.
As always, thank you for reading and for sharing my posts. And a HUGE thank you to everyone who has contributed in support of the work this year (and in the past four years!) or hired me. Please let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them personally (since I have kids underfoot and no childcare with the pandemic this may take a while! Sorry about any delays!) [To find out more about hiring me, click here.]
Have a great holiday season.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Dear Tamara,
You were highly recommended as the person who knows much about lead in dishes!
I desperately tried to search the website for this brand my son just got for me. When we opened them, the serving bowl had a powdery white coating that was seen on the fingers.
I can’t seem to find it on your website.
On the box it says Tabletops Gallery Timeless Design since 1983.
They are solid white and design name is Mosaico.
Any chance you had these tested and on your safe or unsafe list?
Thank you so much!