Global Weekly Update February 24, 2014

Top Action: Global Partnership for Education Media

So many of you were part of an impressive media push in advance of the pledging conference for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Our media helped put the conference on the map and laid groundwork for U.S. leadership. In short, your media helped move the needle. So what is available to help support you?

Recent Support Webinar Recording

This spring, RESULTS volunteers will turn our attention toward this June's pledging conference for the Global Partnership for Education, the world's only multilateral partnership exclusively devoted to improving the provision of quality basic education. With 57 million primary school-aged children still out of school and 250 million children failing to learn even basic reading, writing, and numeracy skills, we are off track to achieve quality education of all

Didn't get to join our policy team last week for their webinar on the upcoming pledging conference how our basic education campaign will impact it? Don't worry! Check out the online recording of the webinar, complete with slides, on our website. 

Editorial Packet with Sample Meeting Request and Activist Milestone Help

We’re officially kicking off our media push around the Global Partnership for Education for this spring, and we have a host of tools ready to help you set up editorial board meetings and generate editorials. Here is our brand new editorial packet that you can use, alongside our top tips on securing a meeting with your editorial board and sample meeting request that you can customize! Get started today! March 8 is International Women's Day, the perfect time for your paper to write about this issue, and your editor(s) will likely be grateful to receive encouragement and solid background information now so they can prepare to write a piece for this important day. Stay tuned for more tools to help support this work throughout the month ahead.

Find a downloadable version of the editorial packet online, and read a wonderful blog entry by advocate Bill Baker of Connecticut on how to even have success publishing your own op-ed.

March 8 Conference Call

Mark your calendars for the March 8 International Women's Day national conference call when we'll be joining RESULTS U.K. and RESULTS Canada for an international webinar/video conference with Global Partnership for Education (GPE) CEO Alice Albright! The webinar will be held at the typical 2 pm ET time. Check out our online prep guide which includes both login details and a sample agenda for making the most of this outreach opportunity. This particular call/webinar could be an excellent opportunity to introduce someone new to RESULTS, as they'll get a sense of the international scope of our work, the power of our voice, and the insights of the leader of GPE in advance of our media work to support a strong U.S. pledge at this summer's GPE pledging conference! So be sure to note the date and spread the word.

Next Action: Appropriations Requests & Face-to-Face Meetings

Face-to-face meetings are core to our powerful advocacy strategy at RESULTS. To help you in this work, we have a new appropriations Action Sheet for February and corresponding backgrounders (scroll to the bottom of the webpage) that offer details on each appropriations request we're making. 

Remember that the appropriations process allows us to make a bold statement about the level of funding for our key campaigns (education, economic opportunity, health) we think will make the best difference in the world . . . and to articulate the reasons behind our requests. It's the first big push for our advocacy year, and it is vital. Appropriations is also a great opportunity for you to have face-to-face meetings with your members of Congress. Remember that we have a 2014 goal of meeting with all House members and 1/3 of the senators we cover as activists. Meet with those who represent you and make the kind of asks that will show them how serious you are about ending poverty!

• Pick the top two requests you would like the member to make to the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of Appropriations.
• Contact your foreign policy aides in DC, for both the Senate and the House, and, using this month's laser talk, ask if there is a form you must fill out to make your request. Also, ask what the request deadline is. 
• If you can, make your appropriations requests on the phone at that moment. No matter what, follow up with our one-page fact sheet-request pages via e-mail.
• Stay in touch with aide and let him/her know you would like to hear back what action your legislator has taken.
• Don't hesitate to get started and follow up regularly until you get a clear response.

Take a listen to the recording of the national conference call held this month and hear directly from RESULTS Executive Director Joanne Carter and Legislative Director John Fawcett about the impact your appropriations and face-to-face meetings make for the end of poverty. This isn't busywork; it makes a critical difference, and not many citizens would take the time to get involved at this level. It's a special opportunity.

The 2014 International Conference: Earlybird International Conference Registration, Young Adult Leaders

1. Earlybird Registration Rate. International Conference registration is open, and the earlybird rate ends April 6! Register now for the 2014 event of the year, to be held June 21-24 in Washington, DC.

2. Special Agenda Notes. Accomplished conference guests from the media world will include David Bornstein of the New York Times and Michael Gerson of the Washington Post. Check out the emerging agenda on our website.

3. Do You Know a Young Adult Leader? Calling for emerging advocates ages 18-28 to apply for the REAL Change Fellowship, an enhanced International Conference scholarship opportunity that includes a year-round advocacy training experience. Applications are due by 5 pm ET on March 21, so inquire within!

Good News! Fundraising Victories and Recognition of an Ally

1. Coast-to-coast Fundraising Fun. Thank you to our Snohomish, WA, and Oak Park, IL, groups who both held fundraising events in February! Teresa Rugg and Willie Dickerson held a joint birthday party where they invited their friends to donate and take action with them. Their Celebrations website raised $370 and they collected even more at the event. Julia Ryan invited donors to her home for a house concert. They highlighted our work on global education for girls and made sure all partners got a chance to speak. We look forward to hearing the full tallies for each group and congratulate them for their boldness! Also, if you know anyone in St. Louis, please invite them to the RESULTS St. Louis house party on Saturday, March 1 where the theme will be a celebration of Everyday Heroes and our recent global poverty successes. We are pleased to be helping many groups with their 2014 fundraising plans, including Houston, Kitsap-Bremerton, Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Bloomington, Portland, PG County, and Minneapolis. If you would like support, please contact Grassroots Development Associate Cindy Levin.

2. Our Friend Carol Nyirenda. This past weekend, RESULTS partner and friend Carol Nawina Nyrienda was honored by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as an "Unsung Hero of Compassion." Read more about this fantastic honor on our blog. Congratulations, Carol!

Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like [s]lavery and [a]partheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.

— Nelson Mandela

(For a complete calendar, see our website.)

1. Next House and Senate Recesses of 2014: St. Patrick's Day Week. Schedule face-to-face meetings.

2. February 26, 9 pm ET. Expanding RESULTS Congressional Coverage. RESULTS has a goal of expanding into new Congressional districts, and in 2014 a team of RESULTS volunteer Regional Coordinators have a goal of starting 20 new global groups from our existing expansion network, and 10 new US poverty groups. Join this webinar to discuss some of the best practices for starting new RESULTS groups and recruiting new activists. To join from your computer or mobile device, copy this link into your browser: http://fuze.me/22978863. To join the audio, call (201) 479-4595 or (855) 346-3893. If prompted, enter the meeting number 22978863, then press #.

3. February 28, 1 pm ET. RESULTS Introductory Call. Heard of RESULTS and want to know more? Join us for this 30-minute introductory call. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call. Dial (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 to join.

4. March 8, 2 pm ET. RESULTS Global Conference Call with International RESULTS Affiliates. Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) will speak to RESULTS Activists from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and other Global Partnership for Education campaign partners. Plan on bringing your entire action network and newly interested activists together for this major event, and check out our blog for great tips on how to make the most of it.

5. March 10, 8 pm ET. Action Network Management Training Call. Want some quick, practical information on how to better manage that list of interested folks who haven't quite yet made the leap to full activist? Join this call at (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 and bring your questions.

6. March 12, 9 pm ET. In-depth Education for All and GPE (Global Partnership for Education) webinar to strategize on 2014 campaign efforts to secure funding for the GPE replenishment conference in June. Login details forthcoming.

7. March 17, 8 pm ET. RESULTS Free Agents Call for Global Poverty Advocates. Dial (218) 486-1611, passcode 7378587 (RESULTS). Are you a RESULTS activist with our global poverty campaigns, living in a town with no RESULTS group? You are alone no more! Contact Lisa Marchal, Senior Global Grassroots Associate, for more information on this monthly group call.

8. March 18, 8 pm ET. Monthly Media Support Call. Dial (712) 775-7300, passcode 954747. Want to be part of the on-going support that’s available to help you reach your media goals? Then this is the call for you! Join monthly for inspiration and ideas to keep you going.

9. March 21, 5 pm ET. REAL Change Fellowship Applications Due.

10. April 9, 9 pm ET. RESULTS Introductory Call. Heard of RESULTS and want to know more? Join us for this 30-minute introductory call. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call. Dial (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 to join.

11. 2014 International Conference. Earlybird registration ends April 6!