October 12, 2009

Thank you for asking to receive our newsletter. This is our newsletter #3. See our previous newsletters: #1 , May 2008, and #2 , May 2009.

So much to tell, so many waiting to hear
The Production Fund exists to guarantee Hinduism Today's continuity and future growth. Its purpose is—no matter what wordly ups-and-downs may come—to provide funds to continue to 1) publish, 2) improve and 3) seize whatever new opportunities technology might offer.

Today, the editors are doing all they can to keep up with digital technology's powerful innovations, to train and re-train themselves, hire consultants and purchase relevant equipment and software. The Production Fund is helping significantly (see below), but there is a lot more to be done.
 • Read more about the production fund
 • Donate here      • Contact us

Production Fund news
1. Editors to attend crucial training session. With help from a Production Fund grant, our editor-in-chief and his assistant will soon spend 4 intense days at the Adobe Max conference, Los Angeles. The subject is digital publications, a revolutionary new field in video, e-books and e-magazine technology.

2. Powerful, influential articles. You may soon see more groundbreaking and influential articles such as the Indian government's takeover of Chidambaram temple, in our last issue. Such articles are expensive to create. But the editors are counting on a growing Production Fund so they may produce more of them.

3. A wealth of wisdom. Most recent website upgrade: publisher Bodhinatha's editorials, 2002-09, are now online as PDFs available to download, free. There are 32 topics in all, a treasure trove of insights and ideas for lecturers, teachers, parents and seekers—all thanks to the Production Fund that covers our website expenses.

4. Our Production Fund website has been updated so you may meet more of those great ones and their families who support our Production Fund. Each one has his own approach, vision and reason for giving. Read their inspired utterances.

5. Video production. Our editors, backed by the Production Fund, are continuing to produce videos for our own website and YouTube. Of special note is a most powerful one that presents the third in Hinduism Today's series of Hindu history lessons.
 • See the history lesson 3 video
 • Download PDFs of lesson 1, 2 or 3
 • Read about / order lessons 1, 2 or 3

6. Preparing history lesson #4. Work is in progress for the next in the series of Hindu history lessons, and the Production Fund is there, providing a good part of the funds. The Lesson covers 1857-1947, a period at once of crushing economic exploitation by the Raj, and of Hindu renaissance. It is set to appear in the April-May-June 2010 issue coming out March 1.

7. Projected growth. We are asking for help in realizing our goal to increase the Production Fund's principal by $100,000. Thus, quarterly grants for the creation of each issue will augment by $1,000. It is a modest increase, but it will significantly empower our editors. Please help us realize this goal soon. We invite you to donate online or contact us by e-mail, or at 808-634-5407.

Meet our gracious Benefactors
A Benefactor of Hinduism Today is one who has donated $1000 or more to the Production Fund—as a gift outright, or by making the fund a beneficiary in his or her estate plan.

The Vijay Pallod family
The magazine has done much for me, my family and my work. It has helped me raise my children and teach other youth. I want to help back, so the magazine can continue giving youth the tools they need to grow up proud and self-confident.
      --Vijay Pallod, Houston, Texas
More on the Pallod family

The B. P. Lathi family

Dr. Lathi established a charitable remainder trust which, when it matures in 2021, will grant $300,000 to the Hinduism Today Production Fund.
We must make sure this pure voice of dharma is heard as widely as possible. I know of no other publication like it. Here is our chance to make a difference.
      --Dr. B M Lathi
 • More on the Lathi family
 • Read why Dr. Lathi chose a charitable remainder trust.
 • Meet our other benefactors

Three good reasons why this is an excellent time to give to the Production Fund.
1. Our financial advisors tell us that, historically, down markets and slow economies have always recovered. So, gifts made now, being placed in a low market, will substantially appreciate in value when the market does come back up. The principle is already at work: during the second quarter of 2009, the value of endowment investments increased by 16%.

2. Another reason to make your gift now is, simply, that fewer people are giving. Things tend to sag. Therefore your gift becomes all the more valuable. You are enabling the Production Fund to continue its work even through difficult times.

3. Some have donated precisely because it was hard to do. They felt it would add merit—and, they said, it felt very good to do.

Please consider making your gift to the Production Fund now. As the years go by, it will prove much more powerful. You may:
 • donate here, or
 • become a benefactor here, or
 • give us a call, 808-634-5407.