Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): La campaña de invierno pide que donemos mantas, y cada donación cuenta. - The winter campaign asks us to donate blankets, and each donation counts.

In Spanish, after verbs that express wishes, requests, suggestions, or demands, you normally use que + subjunctive. Pedir (to ask/request) is one of those verbs:

La campaña de invierno pide que donemos mantas.
→ The winter campaign asks (that) we donate blankets.

If you said:

La campaña de invierno pide que donamos mantas. – This would be wrong in standard Spanish.

So the pattern is:

pedir que + [subjunctive]
pide que donemos
pide que ayudéis
piden que colaboremos, etc.

Why do we need que after pide? Can we say pide donemos mantas?

No, you can’t omit que here. The verb pedir uses the structure:

pedir que + subjunctive

The que introduces a subordinate clause (what is being requested). Without que, the sentence is ungrammatical:

✅ La campaña de invierno pide que donemos mantas.
❌ La campaña de invierno pide donemos mantas.

Compare with other similar verbs:

Quiero que vengas. (I want you to come.)
Recomiendan que estudiemos más. (They recommend that we study more.)

Who is the subject of donemos? Is it “we”? Where is us in the Spanish sentence?

Yes, donemos has an implicit subject: nosotros (we).

Spanish often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person:

donemos → 1st person plural (we)

So the full idea is:

La campaña de invierno pide [que nosotros donemos mantas].
→ The winter campaign asks that we donate blankets.

The English “us” in “asks us to donate” is not directly translated as a pronoun here; it’s just understood by the verb form donemos.

Is donemos here a command like “Let’s donate”? How is that different?

The form donemos can be:

Present subjunctive of donar, or
First-person plural imperative (“Let’s donate”).

In this sentence it’s functioning as subjunctive after pedir que, not as a direct command.

La campaña de invierno pide que donemos mantas.
→ Reported request: the campaign asks that we donate.

A direct “Let’s donate blankets” would be:

Donemos mantas.
→ Now donemos is working as the nosotros imperative.

So:

With another verb + que, it’s subjunctive.
Standing alone at the start of a sentence, it’s usually “let’s …”.

Why is it pide and not está pidiendo?

Spanish uses the simple present much more frequently than English for:

general statements,
ongoing campaigns, projects, or habits.

La campaña de invierno pide… naturally covers the idea that this is what the campaign is currently doing / generally does.

You could say está pidiendo, but it sounds more like you’re focusing on the action right at this exact moment, as if you were describing something unfolding live. For a slogan-like, general statement about a campaign, pide is the normal choice.

What exactly does campaña de invierno mean? Why use de here?

Campaña de invierno literally is “campaign of winter”, i.e. a winter campaign.

Spanish very often uses de + noun to express what in English is a noun used as an adjective:

campaña de invierno → winter campaign
campaña de verano → summer campaign
ropa de invierno → winter clothes
programa de radio → radio program

So de invierno identifies the type/theme of the campaign, not possession or origin. It’s the normal way to say “winter campaign” in Spanish.

Could you say campaña invernal instead of campaña de invierno?

Yes, campaña invernal is grammatically correct and means essentially the same thing: winter campaign.

The difference is style and frequency:

campaña de invierno – very common, neutral, everyday.
campaña invernal – a bit more formal, written, or “elevated” in tone.

In normal conversation or simple texts, campaña de invierno is more typical.

Why is there no article before mantas? Why not unas mantas?

In Spanish, when you talk about an indefinite, non-specific quantity of something as the direct object, it’s common to use a bare plural (no article):

donemos mantas → donate blankets (some blankets)
compré libros → I bought books
necesitamos voluntarios → we need volunteers

You could say unas mantas, but that slightly emphasizes “some particular blankets” or a limited number. Here the idea is more general: any blankets, as many as possible. So mantas without article is natural and typical.

Could we say La campaña de invierno pide mantas instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, but the meaning changes:

La campaña de invierno pide mantas.
→ The winter campaign asks for blankets.

Here, mantas is the direct object of pide.

La campaña de invierno pide que donemos mantas.
→ The winter campaign asks that we donate blankets.

Here, what is being requested is a whole action: que donemos mantas.

Both are correct, but:

pide mantas focuses on the thing requested.
pide que donemos mantas focuses on our action of donating.

In cada donación cuenta, what does cuenta mean? Is it “counts” or “tells”?

Here cuenta comes from contar in the sense of:

to count / to matter / to make a difference

So cada donación cuenta means “each donation counts / each donation matters.”

Contar can also mean “to tell (a story),” but in that meaning it’s usually followed by what is told:

contar una historia, contar un secreto.

In this sentence there is no object after cuenta, so the meaning is “to count / to be significant.”

Why is donación feminine in cada donación?

Nouns ending in -ción in Spanish are almost always feminine:

la donación
la nación
la información
la organización

So donación is feminine, and if you used an article or adjective it would agree:

la donación, una donación, donación importante, donación pequeña.

Here cada works with both masculine and feminine, so you just say cada donación.

Why is there a comma before y? Isn’t that often omitted in Spanish?

Spanish usually does not put a comma before y when it joins two clauses:

Llegó pronto y se fue tarde.

However, a comma is allowed when:

the clauses are quite separate in meaning,
there’s a slight pause in speech,
or the writer wants extra emphasis.

In this sentence, the comma emphasizes the two ideas:

The campaign asks us to donate blankets,
and each donation counts.

You could also write it without the comma:

La campaña de invierno pide que donemos mantas y cada donación cuenta.

Both versions are acceptable; the comma just marks a stronger pause.

Is mantas the usual word for “blankets” in Spain? Are there regional differences?

Yes, in Spain the common word is manta (plural mantas).

Other Spanish-speaking regions may use additional or different words:

cobija – common in many Latin American countries
frazada – used in parts of Latin America and the Southern Cone

In Spain, for this sentence, mantas is the natural, standard choice.