Traffic to Procon.Org Websites As Measured In

I. Metrics at a Glance

II. Traffic

III. New Issue Websites

IV. ProCon.org for Teachers

V. Readers’ Comments

VI. ProCon.org Teacher Survey

VII. Board & Staff

VIII. Financials

IX. Select Highlights

Totals During Each Year 2015 2016 2017 (2004-2017)

1. Expenditures (with in kind) Program Services $7994,856 $917,133 $761,319 $9,147,217 Management G&A $87,409 $78,524 $55,970 $819,759 Fundraising $36,307 $33,803 $76,347 $415,643 Total: $1,118,572 $1,029,460 $893,636 $10,382,619

2. Percent Spent on Program Services 89.6% 88.9% 89.1% 88.38%

3. Traffic Users (formerly unique visitors), Compiled Monthly 23,396,504 27,873,970 25,054,421 169,550,580 Page Views 46,188,630 61,792,600 50,557,613 362,731,326 Hits 1,363,026,471 1,823,499,626 1,491,955,158 6,799,997,983

Totals During Each Year 2015 2016 2017 (2004-2017)

4. Schools Where Educators Have Used ProCon.org Elementary & Middle Schools 543 659 1,063 3,524 High Schools 567 856 532 4,692 Colleges & Universities 158 296 73 1,821 Total: 1,268 1,811 1,668 10,039

5. Newsletter Subscribers 8,559 8,273* 7,715 75,146 *63,786 inactive subscribers were removed 6. Countries with Schools That Use ProCon.org 12 5 6 93

7. US Federal & State Agencies Using ProCon.org 8 4 7 59

8. # of Questions 1,332 1,441 972** 972

9. # of Pro, Con, or Not Clearly Pro or Con Statements 13,045 13,407 8,864** 8,864

10. # of Biographies 5,120 5,209 5,235** 5,235 **redundant and outdated bios, questions, and statements were removed 5

A summary of our cumulative web traffic from 2005 to 2017:

Traffic to ProCon.org Users Pageviews Hits Websites as measured in: (aka Unique Visitors) 2017 25,054,421 50,557,613 1,491,955,158 2016 27,873,970 61,792,600 1,823,499,626 2015 23,396,504 46,188,630 1,363,026,471 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

Totals 156,199,304 335,858,550 8,278,331,731

Source: http://www.procon.org/traffic.php#II. 6

Pageviews by Website & Year (last 5 years) [for more traffic statistics please visit our Traffic page ] 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Pageviews by Year 32,274,934 39,226,731 46,188,630 61,792,600 50,557,613

Percent Increase or Decrease over 22% 18% 19% Previous Year -5% -18%

Site [Launch Date]

ProCon.org [Dec. 12, 2007] 5,496,763 6,225,252 7,663,313 9,298,080 10,527,727

2008 Election 74,836 [Dec. 12, 2007] archived 01/19/2009 50,256 47,720 62,674 38,844

2012 Election 493,365 [Oct. 24, 2011] archived 01/22/2013 351,261 365,057 357,816 132,216

2016 Election 651,974 [Nov. 3, 2015] - - 222,866 13,502,374 archived 01/21/2017

Abortion [Apr. 21, 2010] 846,436 1,038,967 1,046,049 1,203,846 1,448,242

ACLU [July 12, 2004] 251,179 244,299 324,618 294,733 361,526

Alternative Energy [Mar. 2, 2009] 299,271 394,343 540,495 474,509 518,683 7

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Animal Testing [Oct. 22, 2013 86,408 947,899 1,474,669 1,752,416 1,844,073

Big Three Auto 14,932 [Dec. 3, 2008] archived 05/15/2009 16,729 18,705 17,596 12,937

Born Gay [July 12, 2004] 258,175 283,566 428,463 407,203 514,608

Cell Phones [Sep. 24, 2009] 193,231 404,464 563,556 517,287 487,657

Churches & Taxes [Nov. 11, 2011] 72,494 93,559 124,411 129,160 120,918

Climate Change [June 15, 2010] 133,927 202,171 337,411 466,157 751,064

Clinton [Oct. 18, 2010] 67,529 68,171 96,614 170,019 107,185

College Education [Sep. 30, 2013] 64,328 307,473 517,837 602,283 641,667

College Football 82,402 [Nov. 20, 2009] archived 09/18/2012 90,054 98,755 87,126 46,921

Concealed Guns [Mar. 31, 2010] 255,380 356,242 397,735 269,942 250,854 8

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Corporate Tax Rate & Jobs [Dec. 13, 2012] 27,886 34,516 38,804 60,975 66,147

Cuba Embargo [Dec. 20, 2012] 115,281 151,643 219,219 150,271 207,059

D.A.R.E. 115,855 [Feb. 18, 2010] 82,500 108,390 142,205 142,196 archived 06/22/2017

Death Penalty [July 31, 2008] 2,738,476 2,963,184 3,500,008 3,315,636 3,430,422

Drinking Age [July 29, 2009] 1,357,435 1,665,960 1,847,107 1,978,358 1,891,116

Drones [Dec. 19, 2013] 1,457 189,187 293,561 235,366 209,608

Euthanasia [Jan. 8, 2007] 1,809,326 2,301,613 2,344,867 2,061,278 1,918,361

Felon Voting [May 1, 2007] 311,372 400,508 416,759 712,330 405,671

Gay Marriage [Sep. 16, 2010] 2,127,946 3,162,468 2,437,944 1,093,462 950,009

Gold Standard [Dec. 31, 2012] 33,939 45,555 65,592 69,957 57,227

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Golf [May 24, 2012] 65,188 81,002 106,807 107,982 114,979

Gun Control [June 19, 2015] - - 545,290 2,101938 2,222,235

Illegal Immigration [Nov. 26, 2007] 1,002,166 1,163,931 1,518,481 1,740,347 2,143,108 Insider Trading by Congress [May 30, 2008] 40,872 26,637 35,083 33,276 23,023 Israeli-Palestinian Conflict [July 12, 2004] 522,958 580,452 678,719 591,067 736,375

Local Elections [Oct. 7, 2004] - 15,225 6,574 6,748 1,435

Medical Marijuana [July 12, 2004] 5,730,508 6,803,091 5,684,092 4,645,581 4,056,265

Milk [Sep. 28, 2008] 453,441 502,126 686,403 739,004 803,739

Minimum Wage [Mar. 31, 2016] - - - 551,943 899,316

Obamacare [Sep. 2, 2010] 477,188 283,400 208,932 205,164 215,028 10

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Obesity [Dec. 28, 2009] 168,162 190,638 250,337 246,791 286,348 Prescription Drug Ads [June 8, 2009] 56,897 130,288 188,022 210,937 201,314

Prostitution [May 14, 2009] 1,529,576 1,438,332 1,381,245 1,132,796 1,026,387

Reagan [Oct. 18, 2010] 67,057 80,523 146,762 296,734 348,367 Right to Health Care [Sep. 18, 2009] 196,549 194,142 283,460 368,313 530,613 School Uniforms [Sep. 10, 2014] - 213,980 1,392,112 2,014,619 2,045,991

Social Networking [Oct. 14, 2009] 874,099 941,226 1,065,101 975,429 1,012,671

Social Security [Nov. 24, 2009] 64,581 69,734 78,246 117,989 73,871

Sports & Drugs [Dec. 29, 2008] 620,488 649,396 902,520 991,543 755,402

Standardized Tests [June 22, 2011] 520,187 605,757 895,214 773,339 717,392 11

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Tablets v. Textbooks [Nov. 20, 2012] 358,989 470,189 571,842 570,942 575,414

Teacher Tenure [Jan. 13, 2011] 103,182 124,916 119,529 103,667 112,979 Under God in the Pledge [July 12, 2004] 331,956 336,910 570,799 527,131 479,856

US-Iraq War 166,644 [July 12, 2004] archived 12/31 160,780 256,129 226,276 180,412

Vaccines for Kids [Jan. 18, 2010] 281,757 518,560 1,318,332 1,260,947 1,555,167

Vegetarianism [Apr. 21, 2011] 304,206 420,901 444,643 489,684 490,091 Video Games & Violence [Dec. 9, 2009] 899,866 1,052,598 1,196,926 1,201,461 1,136,370 Voting Machines [May 23, 2006] 55,048 49,523 52,011 108,826 58,295 WTC Muslim Center [Oct. 5, 2010] 22,088 archived 06/03 24,744 30,679 19,076 13,615

The number of schools in which an educator has used ProCon.org grew from 8,837 schools at the end of 2015 to 10,039 schools at the end of 2017 - an increase of 1,202 schools (14%). We add schools to our 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.

Those schools were from 93 different countries including (in alphabetical order): American Samoa, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, British Virgin Isles, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Guam, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Montenegro, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Yemen.

The breakdown of schools by level is as follows: 3,524 elementary and middle schools (35.1%), 4,692 high schools (46.7%), and 1,821 colleges and universities (18.1%). 13

Some of the more colorful and interesting emails, responses to our newsletters, “contact us” form submissions and other readers’ comments are provided below.

"I cannot say enough good things about ProCon.org! Ever since I was in high school, I've been a fan (and active user) of ProCon, and it's helped me tremendously. Whether I was trying to formulate a thesis or simply form an opinion, ProCon enabled me take a step back and look at any given issue from a more objective stance. If you're struggling to fully understand a perspective, or are looking for a deeper analysis on a controversial subject matter, make sure you check out this invaluable resource!" Gabbi Nov. 20, 2017

"I have a civil engineering degree and find it very difficult to decipher non-bias information backed by true empirical evidence presented by the majority of American news organizations. I am glad to support an organization who will. Thank you!" Kenneth Casados Oct. 16, 2017

"You guys are awesome. I am a PhD student at Dartmouth doing cannabis legalization research. It is really really hard to find sources of objective unbiased information about cannabis legalization. I use this website as a resource all the time so I felt the need to donate. Keep up the awesome work.” Jacob Dec. 12, 2017

"In this political climate of polarized arguments, ProCon.org provides a critical service. Their website has provided well-researched, non-partisan information, offering accurate data to support various points of view. ProCon.org is not only a valuable tool for students and teachers, it is a trusted source for anyone interested in understanding the complexity of issues such as the national anthem protest, medical marijuana, immigration, and the Israeli- Palestinian conflict." Carolina Goodman, League of Women Voters Los Angeles Committee for Youth Empowered Solutions Oct. 7, 2017

“I just stumbled on your website as I was surfing. Your site has given me hope for the future! After reading the Fox News summaries & listening to NPR - I was and have been feeling that nonpartisan information does not exist in our country. I was fearing for our democracy as news and law makers become more partisan, true democracy, our citizens and country suffer.

Thank you for providing information and data for both sides of the arguments." Karessa July 24, 2017

“I truly appreciate what ProCon is doing in creating a space for smart conversation, debate and information.” Michael Steele, former head of the national Republican Party Aug. 22, 2017

"ProCon.org has mastered the art of disseminating facts in a systematic and comprehensive way. Your progress over the years is remarkable and a testimony to the strength of a sound idea. I believe the need for the kind of service that ProCon.org offers is perhaps more needed now than ever before.” J. Carlos "Pocho" Salcedo, Correspondent/Producer, XTOTV Enlace Bolivia television station July 18, 2017

"In these days of highly polarized news venues, it is often difficult to cut through the chaff to find the kernel of truth that decides the argument. ProCon makes a good faith attempt to provide facts in an unbiased manner. It is helpful for civic minded citizens to get informed and make informed choices. Thank you." Bob Feb. 18, 2017

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 1,146 respondents between Jan. 1, 2017 and Dec. 31, 2017. Some highlights from that survey include:

99.6% of teachers using ProCon.org reported that ProCon.org improved their students' critical thinking skills.

99.8% of teachers using ProCon.org reported that their students found ProCon.org useful.

100% of respondents said they would recommend ProCon.org to teachers or librarians

It was our eighth year in a row with all indicators of success over 96%.

In 2017 ProCon.org had four full time staff members, four part-time employees, and 15 unpaid Board members. We had also had four interns and two volunteers contributing roughly 250 hours of volunteer time all together. Staff members included one Senior Researcher/Associate Editor, one Senior Researcher, one Researcher, one Associate Researcher, one School Outreach Coordinator, one IT Director, one Director of Development, and one.

Board of Directors Michael Flaherty John Kurtz , JD Founder, Inkling Entertainment Partner, Hawley Troxell Ennis & Hawley

Mike Gatto , JD Philip S. Magaram , LLB Former four-time California Senior Partner, Valenti Rose Assemblymember law firm

Jack Girardi , JD Steven C. Markoff Founding Partner, Girardi Keese ProCon.org Founder and Board law firm Chairman CEO, A-Mark Financial Corp. Eric Gutshall , MBA Jadwiga S.Z-Markoff , MD, President, Haven Realty PhD Board member emeritus ProCon.org Cofounder 18

Jeff Harris Jay Rakow , JD Former CEO, Junior Statesmen Former General Counsel, MGM Foundation

Michelle M. Herczog , ED Deb Richard Past President, National Council Vice-Chair of ProCon.org Board for the Social Studies Entrepreneur and former LPGA tour player Cynthia Hirschhorn , MA Stanley F. Shimohara , CPA, Architect; Founder of Unycyn MBA, JD Civics Arts Tax Partner, Sanders Kalvin McMillan Carter accounting firm Michael G. Klein Founder, The Klein Investment Group

Staff Kambiz "Kamy" Akhavan , Marcus Hirn , LLM MA CEO IT Director 310-587-1407 [email protected] [email protected] Tracey DeFrancesco , MPP Natalie Leppard , PhD Associate Editor & Senior Researcher Researcher [email protected] [email protected] Daniel Donayre Jeanne Ringe School Outreach Director of Development Coordinator [email protected] [email protected] Jeffrey Hendricks , MA Kate Wraith , LLM Senior Researcher Associate Researcher [email protected] [email protected]

We received charitable contributions from 370 donors in 2017, including 77 repeat donors. For our latest financials, including charts and graphs, please visit the "Financials " section of our " About Us " page.

Sep. 12 – Oct. 3, 2017

ProCon.org, the USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, and the Santa Monica Pier partnered to bring prominent experts from both sides of important issues, neutral moderators to facilitate the conversations, and beautiful venues to enjoy the free public debates. The Arthur N. Rupe Debate Series in LA brought VIPs from politics, academia, and the media world to prove that people can disagree without being disagreeable..

July 30, 2017

ProCon.org CEO Kamy Akhavan moderated a high-profile panel discussion at the prestigious Politicon conference. Panelists for " ProCon.org Presents: Building Beliefs – How We Form Our Political Views ” included Lesley Stahl (veteran 60 Minutes correspondent; one of America’s most honored and experienced broadcast journalists; former moderator of Face the Nation ), Amie Parnes (Senior White House Correspondent for The Hill ; author of New York Times #1 bestseller Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign), John Phillips (CNN political commentator; host of The Drive Home on LA’s KABC 790; Columnist for Orange County Register ), and Shermichael Singleton (CNN commentator; Republican political consultant; fired as Deputy Chief of Staff at Dept. of Housing and Urban Development for criticizing President Trump).

Apr. 16, 2017

ProCon.org was declared a Top-Rated Nonprofit by Great Nonprofits for the 7th year in a row.

Apr. 3, 2017

ProCon.org joined the nonpartisan Bridge Alliance, "a growing movement of civic action organizations working individually and together to transform the political terrain," whose members include iCivics, the US Association of Former Members of Congress, the National Institute for Civil Discourse, and the National Foundation for Women Legislators.