Give me a chance to explain

We're short of where we need to be

Friends -

In just a moment, I am going to ask you to make a contribution to our campaign. I hope you'll give me a chance to explain why this request — especially today — is so important.

Here is the truth: one week from today we close the books on our first, full FEC fundraising deadline of the campaign.

Shortly after, we'll report publicly how much money we've raised and how many contributions our campaign has received.

And right now, we're a bit short of where we need to be to hit our goals. That's important, because news reports show some of the candidates in this race are raising huge amounts of money.

Now, we raise our money differently than those campaigns. I don't go around attending fancy high-dollar fundraisers hustling rich folks for money. Instead, almost all of our donations come from people chipping in what they can afford, mostly in response to emails like this one. I'm very proud of that fact.

But it also means from time to time, we have to ask:

Can you please make a $3 contribution to our campaign ahead of our critical FEC fundraising deadline? Help us close the gap so we don't come up short.

The strength of our campaign is the people who power our movement. Not me. Us. That is the political revolution. And everyone is going to be looking to see what numbers we report, so your contribution means a lot to our efforts.

Thank for you chipping in today.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

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