Global Weekly Update January 2, 2012

Welcome to 2012! Start the Year Off with Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Group Planning, and Face-to-Face Meetings with Congress!

We are excited to begin this new year with you in advocacy for the end of poverty. Undoubtedly we will have our challenges, as we always do. But determination, enthusiasm, and creativity are hallmarks of our organization and of our grassroots advocates! Together, we will help 2012 go down in the history books as a time of great forward motion in the quest to see that all people have the opportunity to live lives of good health and promise.

Here are some important ways to get the year started:

1. Organize around the January 14 National Conference Call with Jeffrey Sachs. We’ll meet on Saturday, January 14 at 2 pm ET. Gather your group and dial into (888) 409-6709. Dr. Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University is a great friend of RESULTS and he’s quite fired up about the 10th anniversary of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, coming up on January 28. Dr. Sachs helped found the Global Fund and he’s a bit outraged that the Global Fund was forces to suspend funding of new programs until 2014 because a lack of funds. This will mean lost lives, plain and simple. We need to change this and Dr. Sachs will give us some ideas to help us pitch media and make noise.
2. Schedule 2012 Group Planning. While you’re making plans for the first conference call of year, book a date for your 2012 group planning. Group planning materials for 2012 are now online; start out the year right by brainstorming and dreaming with your group about what you’re going to accomplish in 2012.
3. Request Face to Face Meetings. Now is tim to book your first meeting of 2012 with your legislators? Also, legislators will be on recess a little while longer; you can take advantage of these early days of January perhaps to achieve your first face-to-face meeting of the year! Our 2012 campaigns overview will be available in January to further help your planning process.
4. Tell new people about RESULTS. Do you know of someone who might want to hear about RESULTS for the first time? Or are you a RESULTS advocate in need of a bit more basic information about who we are? Those wanting to be introduced to RESULTS can join our RESULTS Introductory Calls which typically happen twice a month. Existing new advocates can join our two-session New Activist Orientation. RSVP to either the Introductory Call or the New Activist Orientation, or contact Lisa Marchal to find out more. Check our on-line calendar for all the dates.

What Happened with Fiscal Year 2012 Appropriations?

During a difficult appropriations year, RESULTS grassroots activists worked hard to maintain U.S. funding levels for poverty-focused foreign aid for global health, education, and microfinance, along with Head Start and child care. Check out our latest blog entry to learn more about the final appropriations numbers for fiscal year 2012 and what they mean for our work. You did a great job in 2011 and should feel proud!

Friends and Family Campaign is Gearing Up

Happy new year from your development team! In 2012, we also look forward to the Friends and Family Campaign that will happen February 20 through March 1. During that time, we will reach out to our personal networks and invite everyone to be a part of our life-saving successes. This year, every grassroots partner will have the opportunity to have a personal on-line fundraising page! This page will allow up-to-the minute tracking of your donor responses and goal progress. (Of course, those who prefer to use paper and envelopes have our full support!) Either way, we hope to make this our most successful Friends and Family Campaign ever.

Also, in your preparation for group planning, please make space in your meetings for fundraising. We had a record-breaking year in 2011 for grassroots fundraising. We want to thank you for your outstanding work and help you keep up the momentum! Beth Wilson and Cindy Levin stand ready to help you with new tools like online ticketing and save-the-date graphics for your events. Choosing a date now for your event will give you the most time to prepare and make your fundraising event a total success.

The 2012 International Conference . . . Will You Be There?

Put the 2012 International Conference on your calendar! Join us in Washington, DC, for what we hope will be the most powerful conference so far (July 21–25), particularly because it will coincide with the International AIDS Conference. During your group planning time, consider who in your group would like to attend, and then begin crafting a way to make that possible. We are shooting for 400 attendees this year, and we are committed to having everyone there who wishes to attend. Contact your group leader, your regional coordinator, and/or RESULTS staff if you have questions about the conference and need a hand in making sure you can join us in Washington, DC, this summer.

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.

— Abraham Lincoln

January 14: National Conference Call for Global Grassroots featuring Dr. Jeffrey Sachs. 2:00 pm ET. (888) 409-6709.

January 17: House returns to Washington from holiday recess

January 20: RESULTS Introductory Call. 1:00 pm ET. Register today!

January 23: Senate returns to Washington from holiday recess

February 1: RESULTS Introductory Call. 9:00 pm ET. Register today!

February 13: First session of two-session New Activist Orientation. 9:00 pm ET. Register today!

February 17: RESULTS Introductory Call. 1:00 pm ET. Register today!

February 27: Second session of two-session New Activist Orientation. 9:00 pm ET. Register today!

July 21–24: RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC