Global Weekly Update May 19, 2014

Top Action: ONE MORE DAY. Get Your Rep. to Sign the Global Partnership for Education Letter!

LETTER CLOSES MAY 21! Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) has initiated a letter to President Obama asking for a U.S. pledge of $250 million over two years to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). This pledge can be made at this June’s Global Partership for Education pledging conference, and Congress is using its voice now to urge the Administration to be ambitious in its pledge. GPE needs the U.S. contribution to support its plan to get 29 million additional children in school over 4 years.

Thanks to you, we've matched the 59 signers we secured on a similar letter in 2012. Now we want to exceed that. Watch your progress on our website and see if your representative is on board. If he/she has signed, be sure to submit a letter to the editor to express thanks for that leadership! (Look for writing tips below.) Events in the news have brought the issue of basic education, particularly for girls, to the forefront. We can take a stand today. 

Find your member of Congress, and then call and ask to speak to the foreign policy aide. Here's what you might say, "I'm calling to ask the representative to stand behind an effective force for access to basic quality education worldwide, the Global Partnership for Education. A letter to the president is circulating in the House which calls on the Administration to invest more of our global education dollars in the Global Partnership for Education and ultimately get an additional 29 million kids in school over the next 4 years.  I can send you a copy of the letter if you don't have it. The letter closes on May 21. Can I count on the representative's support?"

For more inspiration, read the latest in an on-going blog series highlighting eight reasons why we must support the Global Partnership. This latest installment examines declining basic education funding. 

Next Action: Generate Media on the Global Partnership for Education

The kidnapping of Nigerian school girls has been all over the news. Unfortunately, access to basic education is a key character in this continuing crisis, and while it is easy to feel helpless in the face of this tragedy, we realize we can do something. We can take a stand for basic education so that education for all is a foregone conclusion. Grab pen and paper . . . take a hold of your laptop . . . get writing! 

We have an audacious, yet reachable goal of 25 editorials, 30 op-eds, and 125 letters to the editor on the Global Partnership for Education, and while we're still making our list and checking it twice, we believe so far you've gotten at least 7 editorials, 10 op-eds, 40 letters to the editor, 7 features, and 3 radio spots. WONDERFUL! Keep going!

1. Pitch an Editorial. Contact the editor of a newspaper and ask them to write an editorial on the current crisis in education and the opportunity we have to right things in June at the pledging conference for the Global Partnership for Education. Use our media toolkit to prepare for and make your pitch. 

2. Create an Op-ed. Channel your passion on this issue into an op-ed that you write alone or with a community leader or educator. Use our editorial packet and May Action Sheet as resources.

3. Write a Letter to the Editor and Engage Others to Write, Too. Use our May Action sheet to write a letter to the editor and/or to engage a group of people in writing letters to the editor during an Education & Action meeting. There are almost unlimited writing hooks in papers on education: Malala Yousafzai, the Nigeria crisis, teacher salaries, Common Core, charter schools, education budgets, etc. 

Check out our blog for inspiration, as it features your media. 

Resources!

Find a collection of our support resources on our website.

• Updated editorial packet, with new pitch angles and hooks to help you persuade your local writer or newspaper to cover GPE!
• Recording of the May Global National Conference Call on the Global Partnership for Education featuring Sarah Brown
• Our May action sheet, give you a fresh chance to write an op-ed or letter to the editor on GPE!
• Girl Rising. If you would like to plan an Education for All outreach meeting, RESULTS has access to a limited number of DVD copies of the important global education film Girl Rising. Request your copy from Lisa Marchal while supplies last.
• RESULTS Report: Greater Impact Through Parntership: 8 Reasons to Invest in the Global Partnership for Education
• More helpful GPE videos 
• A tip sheet to help you make the case to your local community of "why education, why now?"
• General help securing a meeting with your editorial board
• A sample meeting request you can customize

International Conference

We hope we'll see you in DC this June! It will be an incredible time of learning, connecting, and making an impact. Check out the details on our website.  

1. Preparation Checklist! Want to get ready for the conference? Can't attend this year but want to be part of the action from home? This checklist is what you need!

2. Lobby Day Meetings on Tuesday, June 24. Now is the time to book your Lobby Day meetings on Capitol Hill! It's going to be a powerful day as we descend on the Hill to make our case for the end of extreme poverty. Coming with others from your state? Get in touch with your fellow advocate attendees and work together to secure face-to-face meetings for that day with your senators. Coming solo or for the first time? Get in touch with Lisa Marchal, Senior Global Grassroots Associate, for assistance with your Lobby Day bookings. And check out our best advice on securing a meeting. Can't attend the conference this year? Why not secure a face-to-face during August recess or make plans to dial via conference call into meetings being held by your fellow advocates on Tuesday, June 24?

IMPORTANT: Then, don't forget to report your meeting bookings. Let us know the details in our online form. 

3. Lobby Day Preparation. Once you have your Lobby Day meetings booked, schedule a group lobby prep session! The legislative handbook, a great primer on our issues, will be available next week, and that will be of use to you as well.  Want to take advantage of this one-on-one coaching in advance of the big Lobby Day on Tuesday, June 24? We can schedule Lobby Day prep calls at various times during the first two weeks of June. First, check with your group to see how you best want to gather for a meeting. (Also, consider if you will be holding some meetings with U.S. poverty advocates or, in the case of the Senate, with other groups in your state). Once your group is ready to request a time slot, e-mail Crickett Nicovich, Global Policy Associate, with the following information:

• Two preferred time slots for the meeting
• Who will be joining the call
• Preferred method of connecting for the call (Skype, direct line, etc.)
• Members of Congress with whom you'll be meeting and some relevant background on those members

And if you're coming to the conference on your own for the first time, please contact Lisa Marchal, Senior Global Grassroot Associate, if you could use a hand! 

4. Lobby Day Reception. Watch this space for sample invitation templates for the June 24 evening reception; next week, you'll have what you need to invite your Members of Congress. 

5. Submit Photos! We are collecting photos from your groups and communities to put into a slide show during the International Conference. Please e-mail your photos to our office. For those who will not be with us in DC, be with us in spirit! Put a message about how YOU are helping end poverty or what you wish to see us accomplish on paper and include it in your photo. 

6. Ask Questions! Do you have a question you'd like to submit to one of our main conference speakers? Submit your question online!

7. Agenda. Check out agenda updates online. 

Grassroots News You Can Use

1. Grassroots Board Member Nominations. We are seeking nominations of RESULTS activists who would be strong candidates for two RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund (REF) Grassroots Board Member positions available starting in September 2014. Nominations are due by Sunday, June 15. Our current Grassroots Board Members (Heide Craig, Ginnie Vogts, Beth Wilson and Lydia Pendley) provide an important bridge between the grassroots network, board, and organization. They help connect us with what makes RESULTS/REF so unique and successful: our passionate and active grassroots members. Candidates for the Grassroots Board Members must be engaged actively in RESULTS and can be nominated by others or can be self-nominated. Please e-mail your questions or your nomination to Jack McLaughlin or call 202-783-4800 x152. 

2. Reports of All Sorts. We're almost into the middle of the year, and we need to keep track of all of your phenomenal advocacy work. Take 20 minutes to update your lobbying reporting and your reporting of all your other advocacy actions this year (media, outreach, etc.). Reporting now means an accurate picture of our accomplishments later!

3. Want to Try a Blog Guest Spot? Have a great advocacy success story? Learned some lobbying lessons you want to share? We invite YOU to consider being a guest blogger! Contact Lisa Marchal about what it would take to shape your story into a blogpost for the RESULTS blog. 

4. Invite Donors to Give During the International Conference, Congrats and Good Luck to Fundraising Groups! The upcoming International Conference is a great way to let our donors know about one of our most exciting activities of the year and invite them to be a part of it! Now is the time to create an online Friends & Family fundraising page for your group. You can hold a social media fundraising campaign while you are lobbying by giving your donors facebook updates and always providing the link with the pictures you're sending back from DC. Your allies at home will feel like part of the fun and their donations to REF or RESULTS will actually help pay for our activities there! Do your donors need little extra incentive to see you push yourself or maybe wear a silly costume? Register for our Everyday Hero Virtual Dash to run/walk in DC or at home, create a fundraising page, and ask your friends to donate in honor of your physical challenge. However you'd like to inspire your donors, you can begin today!

Thank you to RESULTS Anchorage for their fundraiser last week. Good luck to Missoula, MT, on May 29, Kitsap, WA, on July 10,  and the Tacoma and Olympia groups doing a joint fundraiser in Washington state on July 10. Click on the links for more information, and please share this info if you know anyone in those areas to invite to these inspiring events!
 

"Why are fanatics so terrified of girls’ education? Because there’s no force more powerful to transform a society. The greatest threat to extremism isn’t drones firing missiles, but girls reading books."

—Nicholas Kristof

For a complete calendar, see our website.

1. Next House and Senate Recesses of 2014: Senate is on recess Memorial Day week. Schedule face-to-face meetings.

2. May 30, 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.

3. June 11, 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.

4. June 14, 2 pm ET. RESULTS National Grassroots Conference Call for Global Campaigns. Join the call at (888) 409-6709.

5. June 16, 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.

6. June 17, 8 pm ET. Monthly Media Support Call. Dial (712) 775-7300, passcode 954747. Get great tips, encouragement, and support from fellow advocates so that you can achieve powerful, effective media work.

7. June 21-24. 2014 RESULTS International Conference in Washington, D.C.