I’ve always maintained that birding and nature people are the best people. However, I’ve never really tested that claim (other than leaving my bins unattended here and there) until now. Today, I turn to you for help.

You’ve know me for nearly a decade as the co-publisher of 10,000 Birds and the founder of the Nature Blog Network. Luckily, I can afford to spend so much time promoting amazing nature blogging because I own Chariot Learning, an awesome business focusing on education. Thanks to an amazing program sponsored by Chase and LivingSocial called Mission: Small Business, my company could receive a grant for $250,000. But for that to happen, we need at least 250 votes!!

As of this writing, we have about 38. Yikes!

Voting is extremely simple and absolutely free. But our business network isn’t coming through for us. My 9,000 Google+ followers aren’t coming through. My Facebook friends aren’t coming through. But I know who will… the readers of 10,000 Birds!!!

Please take 30 seconds to do this small thing today:

1. Visit the Mission: Small Business page (http://missionsmallbusiness.com/)
2. Click “Log In and Support” on the home page (you’ll log in through Facebook)
3. Enter Chariot Learning in the “Business Name” field to find us
4. Vote for us!

This generous grant of $250,000 would be utterly transformative for Chariot Learning and would open the doors for us to serve whole new populations in new and exciting ways. My only chance at the grant, though, is getting you and 249 more people to vote by June 30.

I cannot stress how much your support means to me. Please take a moment to give Chariot Learning your vote and tell your friends and family to do the same. In return, I’ll resist Corey’s avaricious demands to charge readers for 10,000 Birds for at least one more decade year month!

Written by Mike
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.