Global Weekly Update August 6, 2012

Top Group Building Action: Invite People to Join You for the National Conference Call

Invite friends to join you for the RESULTS Global National Conference Call this Saturday, August 11 at 2 pm ET. The theme of the call will be on building relationships with decision makers. Elli Sparks of the Citizen Climate Lobby will share how different relationship models can help us better approach our decision makers and editorial writers. We’ll also hear from many of our grassroots advocates about the RESULTS International Conference that took place in Washington DC in late July. We’ll also hear about the progress RESULTS is making on expanding its reach and impact from Executive Director Joanne Carter and Board Chair Scott Leckman. This will be a great call for experienced advocates and new comers alike. Bring your group together and dial in to 888 409-6709. Ask for the RESULTS call.

Top Legislative Action: Ask Your Rep. to Sign the GPE Letter to Sec. Clinton

On Tuesday, July 24, at the RESULTS International Conference in DC, many of our advocates requested that their representatives sign on to Jan Schakowsky’s letter to Secretary of State Clinton on the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). The letter asks the Secretary Clinton to commit $125 million of the U.S. global education investment to GPE. This is not additional money, only a request that the U.S. allocate a larger portion of our global education dollars to GPE. This letter will remain open through August — make it happen!

Take Action in 5 minutes: Call your representative’s office and use the following EPIC laser talk to make your request to whoever answers the phone. You can find the name of your Rep. here, and use the Capitol Switchboard number to make your call: (202) 224-3121.

• Engage: I’m calling to make a request for of the representative. Can you see that he/she gets it? I’m calling because 61 million children around the globe lack the opportunity to go to school — no reading, writing, arithmetic. This number has been the same since 2008.
• Problem: It’s great that the US invests in global education, but we should be investing more of these dollars ensuring that all children receive a quality basic education.
• Inform: One way we could do this would be to invest more in the Global Partnership for Education, or GPE. GPE aims to get 25 million kids in school over the next three years, and train 600,000 new teachers. GPE is an effective organization.
• Call to Action: Representative Jan Schakowsky is circulating a sign-on letter to Secretary of State Clinton requesting that the U.S. use $125 million of our global education investment (last year it was $800 million) for GPE. Will the Rep. sign on to this letter? I can send you a copy of the letter if you like.

Take Action in 15 minutes: Read our August Global Monthly Action and then call and ask for the foreign policy aide in your Rep’s office and have the same conversation.

Get Many to Take Action in 1 hour: Bring friends together and use the August Global Monthly Action as a tool to help others learn about GPE and make phone calls or write letters.

International Conference: Follow Up, or It’s Like You Were Never There

Follow Up, Follow Up! One of the keys to successful advocacy is persistence. Please follow up on your meetings with Congress — reiterate requests and get commitments, provide information you promised, send thank you notes. Following up will insure that your requests get the attention they need and will deepen your relationships with decision makers. Be sure to report your meetings on our on line lobby report form and your other actions on our advocacy reporting form.

Other Important Follow Up Items and Opportunities for August:

• Report your lobby meetings. It is critical that we know about your meetings during the IC. We use this information to support you with your members in the future, and our overall numbers are very important to donors, granting organizations, and partners — it is an indicator of our power. This information is also then available in the future for your reference. Please take time to fill out our on-line lobby report form, or send us copies the forms you fill out by hand. This would also be a great time to report any meetings you did earlier in the year, but may not have reported. Here is the link to the on line form: http://tinyurl.com/2012LobbyReportForm. Here is a link to see which meetings have already been reported: http://tinyurl.com/RESULTSLobbyReportData
• Write a letter to the editor. Us our on line action to send a letter to your local paper about the International Conference. Let people know that participating in our democracy really does matter.
• Schedule in-district, face-to-face meetings with members of Congress. Most members of Congress are in district/state to see constituents in August, so take advantage of this. Request meetings in their offices and attend public events that will be happening during this election cycle. Also try to meet candidates who are not yet in office. They are hungry to talk to potential constituents.
• Schedule a casual outreach event to share about your experience at the IC. Highlight the progress we are making on child survival, HIV/AIDS, malaria, education, and let people know how our voices matter. Get them to take action and ask them to consider joining you.Consider using the August 11 National Conference Call.
• Invite new people to our upcoming trainings. We have on more Introduction to RESULTS call scheduled this month on August 17 at 1 pm, and we have a New Activist Orientation (the training takes place over several weeks including 2 training calls. Training starts on August 6 with the second call on August 20 at 9 pm ET: Dial in to (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. If someone would still like to join the 8/20 call, please have them contact Ken Patterson so they can catch up.
• Send a note to your donor network. Now is the time to let donors know about the International Conference and the approximately 300 meetings held with congressional offices. Thank them for their support and encouragement and let them know that their support helped RESULTS take our message of hope and action to Congress. Send them an email with some pictures and give them an opportunity to contribute to our ongoing work atour results.org donation page. Here’s a Sample post-IC thank you to donors from RESULTS Chicago.

Connect with Other RESULTS Groups on Facebook

A number of groups have set up Facebook pages as a result of traing they received at the RESULTS International conference, others have been around for a while. Go to their page and “like” them so you can be connected. Here are some you might want to connect with:

RESULTS Omaha, RESULTS Tampa Bay, RESULTS Washington (of course), RESULTS Chicago, RESULTS Asheville

I believe every child on this Earth should have access to a basic education, so that they can reach their potential. I believe every child should receive the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients they need so they can reach their physical and intellectual potential. I believe if there is a life-saving treatment out there, and is available at low-cost, then no one should have to die in vain because they don’t have pocket change to buy it for themselves or their children. I also believe as someone who is not rich or in any position of esteem or power, that I have the power to do something about all these things. What I have is a voice, and I can use that voice to create lasting change to create a more just society. RESULTS helps me use that voice to make serious requests of my elected officials, so that they can in turn act on my behalf and make real change happen.

—Katy Windchill’s statement about why she volunteers and works for RESULTS

• Global National Conference Call, Saturday August 11: Make plans now to be on the August 11 Global National Conference Call. Be sure to join us at 2 pm at (888) 409-6709.
• Introduction to RESULTS Calls on August 17 at 1 pm, Sept. 5 at 9 pm, Sept. 21 at 1 pm: Join us, or send people who are interested in learning more about RESULTS to our Introduction to RESULTS call. The call is 30 minutes and gives participants the information and inspiration they need to take the next step in joining us. Have them sign up here.
• New Activist Orientation on August 6 & 20: New Activist Orientation is to prepare those ready to become RESULTS advocates. Training takes several weeks and includes the two calls. Between calls new activists will receive support to learn about the issues and take action. Contact Ken Patterson at [email protected] to join. We will even take people who missed the 8/6 call.