In case you missed it, on Thursday I published a story in which I traveled to Miami and posed as a prospective homebuyer to see what real estate agents would tell me about high-risk properties. The story was part of Betting the House, a pop-up collaboration supported by Covering Climate Now, a grant-funded initiative that works with journalists and newsrooms to produce more urgent and informed climate coverage. Four independent climate journalists reported simultaneously on what the climate crisis means for housing—each from a different state, with a different angle, for a different publication. (You can learn more about how we put the collaboration together at our webinar this Thursday at 1 p.m. ET.)I want to be transparent about one aspect of that collaboration: Funding from CCN was available to support the participating journalists. I chose not to accept it.That wasn’t because I believed the funding was compromised or inappropriate. Quite the contrary! I believe nonprofit funding models are integral to the future of journalism. In fact, one of the reasons I participated in the collaboration is because I want to see more non-profit and foundation investment in climate journalism, particularly at this moment, when major news organizations are laying off climate reporters and shuttering climate desks. I hoped my participation would help the other reporters secure the funding they needed to produce their stories. (Plus I just wanted to work with everyone).But for the past seven years—and yes, it’s really been seven years this month (WTF)—I’ve made a different commitment. This publication is funded entirely by its readers, and it always will be.Subscribe nowI am uncompromising about this model not because I think other models are inherently corrupt, but because I love it. I love knowing that no one can dismiss our journalism by pointing to a corporation, foundation, or donor that pays for it. I love knowing that the loss of a single grant can never bring our work to a halt. And I love being able to offer something different to people who have lost trust in traditional media institutions: journalism accountable only to the people who read it.Being able to maintain a 100 percent reader-funded model also just makes me hopeful about the future. The fact that a publication like HEATED can survive for SEVEN YEARS because readers choose to support it means so much to me that it’s hard to express. It means people still want confrontational, voicey climate reporting. They believe it should exist, and they’re willing to help make sure it does.But friends: This model is also hard. It’s increasingly competitive, and people’s wallets are increasingly being squeezed by higher costs everywhere. In other words, it’s an extremely precarious model, which is why I don’t begrudge any journalist or institution for not pursuing it.Which brings me to the one part of this model I don’t love: I have to periodically—and also, somehow, constantly—ask the reader community for money. If you haven’t caught on yet, that’s why I’m writing this incredibly cringey email. Right now, less than 3 percent of HEATED’s readers are paid subscribers. Like… way less than 3 percent. But they fund everything we do. They pay for the Miami story. They pay incredible climate journalists to produce investigations like Alex Hannaford’s deep dive into an anti-solar influencer and Marin Scotten’s exposé of a secretly gas-funded initiative in schools. They pay Tracy Wholf to produce our podcast (New season coming very soon!). And they pay for me to New York this week for Climate Week, where I’ll talk to big audiences about some of our most important stories, like Big Oil’s ongoing attempt to achieve legal immunity against climate lawsuits. (Come see me on Tuesday!)If we could get to three percent—or hell, four percent??—we could do so much more. Five percent? Don’t even get me started. So, if you loved any of those investigations; if you’re excited for the new podcast season; if you want to see more of HEATED’s journalism out in the world; and most importantly, if you can afford it; please consider becoming a paid subscriber today. Subscribe nowAnd if you already support HEATED, thank you!! Margo sends her undying gratitude.Margo’s gratitude face.