So as I said in my post earlier today, I think the time has now come to launch the new Scot Goes Pop fundraiser with a bit more 'fanfare' - because almost a week after I set it up, it's so far only reached around 18% of its target figure. And when a crowdfunder is intended for the commissioning of opinion polls, the absolute worst thing of all to do is to leave it half-finished. However, if you're one of the several dozen people who have already donated, please accept my grateful thanks and ignore the rest of this post!
The great news is that I'll be releasing the first results from the new Scot Goes Pop poll within the next two or three days, and it may well be as soon as tomorrow (Tuesday). I've already seen some of the provisional results and they look absolutely fascinating - there are four different sets of voting intention numbers, a few topical questions of interest to the whole independence movement, and a significant number of questions about GRA reform - which seek to authoritatively establish once and for all where the public stand on this thorniest of issues, and hopefully point the way towards a much-needed resolution. But as I explained in a recent blogpost, the fundraising for the poll back in the summer turned into a bit of a nightmare - for complicated reasons I was going back and forth between trying to raise funds for two different polls, and I was having to keep the funds separate. Neither set of funds really reached a sufficient level, although one came much closer than the other. To cut a very long story short, I eventually decided to break the logjam by commissioning the first poll and covering the shortfall with my own money.
However, I'd obviously prefer to only lose that money temporarily, and more importantly I also need to complete the funding for the second poll - which, if we raise enough, will be a full-scale poll about independence and related matters, to be conducted at the optimum time for maximum impact at some point over the coming weeks or months.
Why is it so important to crowdfund our own polls now and again? The reality is that if we don't, there will still be polls published and they'll still be very influential - but all of the questions will be framed by people who are hostile to independence. How frequently do you read it being stated as a fact that there is no public appetite for an independence referendum? Very often that's simply because of the way the poll question was worded, or because of the menu of options that was provided to respondents. It's extremely valuable if, at least occasionally, the questions are asked from a slightly different angle, offering us an insight into the other side of the coin as far as public opinion is concerned.
Polls are extremely expensive, but I do believe that the ones commissioned by Scot Goes Pop so far have proved to be excellent value for money. They've established again and again that there is majority support for pursuing a 'Plan B' on an independence mandate if the UK government remains intransigent. They've shown that the public think that Brexit is sufficient justification to revisit the issue of independence. They've demonstrated that the Scottish Government's handling of the pandemic has increased public confidence that an independent Scotland would be better governed than the United Kingdom. They've revealed that Scotland wants its own Olympic team - something that will have been a shock to Brit Nats who believe that "Team GB" is wildly popular throughout Our Precious Union. And of course on the majority of occasions they've also shown majority support for independence itself.
But at the end of the day, I can only continue commissioning polls if the funding is there in full. So if you'd like to ensure a future for polling commissioned by pro-independence clients, please do consider making a donation, whether large or small. I know times are very tough, but thousands of people read Scot Goes Pop every week, and if just 10% of them were to donate just £10 each, the target figure would be reached straight away and the next poll would be guaranteed.
Of course not everyone will be able to donate, for very good reasons, but there's another really important thing you can do - which is to share the fundraiser page on social media and spread the word to your family and friends. Hopefully as I release the results from the new poll over the coming days, it will be a very practical demonstration of the value and benefits of crowdfunding our own polling.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you for your continued support.
For anyone who prefers an alternative to GoFundMe, my Paypal email address is:
jkellysta@yahoo.co.uk
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