Dear friend,

I wanted to contact you about some exciting news. The Society of Professional Journalists has awarded POGO the national Sunshine Award for our "important contributions in the area of open government." You can learn more about this award at http://www.spj.org/news.asp?REF=900#900

The Society is honoring POGO for our investigations into the Department of Interior's failure to collect oil and gas royalties; our Federal Contractor Misconduct Database, which tracks civil, criminal, and administrative misconduct by the federal government's top contractors; and our work uncovering wasteful spending in the Air Force.

As you probably know, this work is ongoing. I will be testifying next month on the Interior Department's continued failure to accurately collect royalties from companies drilling on federal lands, and POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database continues to serve as a resource for citizens, the media, and congressional staffers. I hope that you will consider making a contribution to POGO so that we may continue our work, which is being recognized with this national award.

As you read this, I am preparing to go to Indianapolis to accept the award on behalf of the organization, as well as all of you who make our work possible. I will be live-Tweeting from the conference (as I am able). For this and other POGO updates, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/daniellebrian

Thank you,

Danielle Brian Executive Director Project On Government Oversight