Difficult Times Are Better With Friends

Dear Friends and Supporters –

We hope you’re well and safe in the current deluge of uncertainty about the future and stress of the present. No matter what your situation, we hope you are finding support and taking gentle care of yourself. We find difficult times are better with friends.

Like you may be, our 3-person staff is braving waves of anxiety and intense emotions while trying to focus on the things we can accomplish one day at a time.  

We’re grateful to support girls’ emotional, social, and intellectual growth and development with NMG. Your girl’s development is continuing even while the world struggles with COVID-19, social injustice, and more. We’ll do everything we can to be here for her and you during lockdowns, school and camp closures, work from home and everything else that happens going forward.

We’re working hard on a path forward for NMG magazine in this perilous time. Of course, like most small businesses, we’re financially vulnerable right now.

We understand the challenges. We’ve crunched the numbers and believe NMG can make it through. We’re hopeful that, with your help, we will. 

We’re proud that readers say that our magazine and Girls Online Community give them comfort, hope, and belonging. Our members bond with and support each other. And in the process, they continue to learn much about themselves and others. Especially now.

Crucially, we are dedicated to supporting girls’ self-expression in connection with themselves and others.  And we’ll maintain our pledge to never accept ads in our print or online media.

The good news is that our small-but-mighty staff, our printer, the post office and our awesome volunteers keep working to reduce the financial pressures that would keep us from serving girls. 

Here is what we’ve done so far:

• Changed to publishing NMG quarterly instead of every other month; this trims printing and postage costs, so the magazine can remain in print.
• Increased the content in each issue; our quarterly issue has 48 pages (vs. 32 pages we had before)–so girls get the same amount of ad-free pages every year. 
• Mailed our first quarterly issue–the Summer 2020 We Are All Beautiful mag. 
• Created a new 2-month trial membership for only $5 in our moderated Girls Online Community. This lets more girls and families try out its vibrant mix of support, creative self-expression, inclusion, fun, and mutual member respect.
• Applied for federal, state and other small business support.
• Mobilized more volunteer moderators to handle the huge increase of activity in our Girls Online Community since lockdowns began and schools closed.

We invite you to join our community conversation in the days and weeks to come. Tell us what you think of our plans. Tell us what else you’d like to see us do to support girls, parents, and allies.

Please reach out to us here on the NMG blog, on Instagram or on Facebook. We value you every day as part of our community of girls, parents and allies supporting each other. 

Most of all, we write today in solidarity with what you’re experiencing and to remind you that we’re here for you and your girls. Please accept an inexhaustible supply of virtual hugs from everyone at NMG for you and everyone you love. 

Nancy Gruver, Founder