On January 17th, we closed the Free Software Foundation (FSF)'s end of the year fundraiser and associate membership drive, bringing 368 new associate members to the FSF community.

This year's fundraiser began with a series of shareable images aiming to bring user freedom issues to the kitchen table, helping to start conversations about the impact that proprietary software has on the autonomy and privacy of our everyday lives. Your enthusiasm in sharing these has been inspiring. We also debuted the ShoeTool video, an animated short presenting a day in the life of an unfortunate elf who is duped into forking over his liberty for the sake of convenience. And we also sent out our biannual issue of the Free Software Bulletin, which had FSF staff writing on topics as diverse as ethical software licensing and online dating.

It is your support of the FSF that makes all of our work possible. Your generosity impacts us on a direct level. It doesn't just keep the lights on, but is also the source of our motivation to fight full-time for software freedom. Your support is at the heart of our work advocating for the use of copyleft and the GPL. It's also what brought seventeen new devices to the RYF program this year, and is what drives our campaigning against Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). We are deeply grateful for the new memberships and donations we have received this year, not to mention the existing members and recurring donors that have enabled us to reach this point. And not to worry, we're working hard to send you the premium gifts we offered as soon as possible!

2020 has started off strong already, with our petition calling on Microsoft to "upcycle" Windows 7 by releasing it as free software, which has reached more than 12,000 signatures in less than a week. And there is much more to come. The campaigns, tech, and licensing teams are all working on ambitious projects that we hope will drive the fight for freedom forward, especially as the FSF enters its 35th year of free software activism.

This year's LibrePlanet: "Free the Future" conference is almost upon us as well, and we're all putting our best into the planning process. LibrePlanet 2020 will see keynotes from speakers including Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle, and there are still more surprises to come. We hope to see you there.