Global Poverty Campaigns

Weekly Update | Week of April 2, 2018

• Quote of the Week

• Earlybird Rate Available: The 2018 International Conference

• We Now Have a Senate Appropriations Deadline 

• National Grassroots Webinar on April 14, 2 pm ET: Creating an Anti-Oppression Culture

• Struggling to Write a Letter to the Editor? Grab a Pen and a Cup of Your Favorite Coffee.

• Upcoming Opportunities and Calendar Items

• Resources at Your Fingertips 

Quote of the Week

"I am passionate about serving young people due to the poverty I grew up around while in Malawi. It continues to motivate me to do better by my fellow citizens. I enjoy being part of a solution."

– Shem Ngwira, REAL Change Fellow

Earlybird Rate Available: The 2018 International Conference

"The RESULTS International Conference was an eye opener for me. I realized that anyone and everyone can be an advocate for issues that matter. I never thought I’d go to the U.S., much less Capitol Hill. But on the last day of the RESULTS International Conference, that’s exactly where I found myself. Standing in front of the Capitol dome with hundreds of other advocates, all I could think was, 'This is a central place of power. Decisions are made here. And here I am.'"– Joyce Matogo, KANCO Grassroots Manager

RESULTS International Conference 2018 is July 14-17. The earlybird rate ends May 15! Have you registered? 

• World Bank President Jim Yong Kim to Join Us! We will get to hear from international leaders like World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and local powerhouse speakers like Brittany Burnam and Yolanda Gordon of the RESULTS Experts on Poverty cohort. For more information on the schedule of speakers and workshops as it develops, check out the conference's own webpage. 

• Special "Election Track" at the Conference. The upcoming midterm elections are poised to dominate media coverage and the national conversation. What if you could build relationships with candidates early, learn how to make poverty a campaign issue, and master new skills to use at campaign events? What if you are even considering running for office yourself and want to learn the ropes? Now you can. The International Conference Election Track is here. It will include a special pre-conference session where RESULTS advocates share their experiences running for office (at both the local and national level) followed by a workshop where you’ll learn how to take the first steps towards launching your own campaign. It will also include a media workshop focused on engaging editors and reporters in the months leading up to an election, a “bird dogging” workshop where you’ll learn the most effective way to get and keep a candidate’s attention at campaign events, a high-level plenary on how to make poverty a front-and-center campaign issue, and a chance to hear from veteran journalists, former members of Congress, and those who’ve worked on political campaigns for both major parties. The Election Track is open to all conference attendees. It’s an opportunity to apply everything we know about relationship building, non-partisanship, the power of constituents to shape policy and do it all in the context of the midterms.

• Stir Up Interest on Social Media. Don't let the IC be RESULTS' best-kept secret! Share with others this great list of reasons why it's worth the investment to attend. Print and share our promotion flyer. Finally, circulate this terrific promo video on your social media channels. 

• Make Sure Your Group is Represented by Applying for Gap Funding. Apply for 2018 IC Gap Funding for U.S. advocates working on global poverty campaigns – to help make your attendance possible. We want every group represented at the conference, and we'd like that representation to include someone who's never been to the conference before. Could that person be you? 

• Consider the REAL Change Fellowship. The REAL Change Organizing and Advocacy Fellowship to Fight Poverty is open for application. This learning opportunity designed for emerging leaders aged 18-30 may be ideal for you or someone you know . . . and the fellowship kicks off at the International Conference! 

• Nominate Someone for the 2018 Cameron Duncan Media Award. RESULTS is pleased to announce that it is now accepting nominations for the 2018 Cameron Duncan Media Award. This award is given each year to a journalist or editor for outstanding work on issues related to poverty. The award is named in honor of Cameron Duncan, a former associate executive director of RESULTS who devoted his life to fighting poverty. For all the details on how to submit a nomination, go to our website. 

We Now Have a Senate Appropriations Deadline

1. The State and Foreign Operations Committee of the Senate has called for FY19 appropriations requests by April 26. This means we need to get our requests in to our own legislators well ahead of that date. Ask your senators to weigh in individually with funding level requests on our key issues: child health and nutrition; tuberculosis; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and the Global Partnership for Education. Use our appropriations action sheet and laser talk designed to help you make your requests to your senators and to enlist others into action as well. 

2. Senate Sign-on Letter on Maternal/Child Health, Gavi, and Nutrition Closes April 20. We have two key ways we weigh in on the budget/appropriations process every year: funding level requests and sign-on letters which emphasize the importance of a spending area/issue. We use the power of the sign-on letter. A sign-on letter (also called a “Dear Colleague” letter) is like a petition in Congress. Sign-on letters are circulated by champions in Congress to ask other members to join them in showing their support for an issue. We have one sign-on letter available in the Senate on the issue of maternal and child health/Gavi/nutrition, and we are in the process of getting all details on our other anticipated sign-on letters. 

3. Keep Track of Senate and House Approps Via Our Website. You have already weighed in in on the FY19 appropriations process in the House, and your work has been terrific. In fact, we broke our own records by getting more congressional signers on all the House sign-on letters than ever before, including marvelous increases in bipartisan support. Take a look at the round-up of the FY19 process in the House, including some wonderful signature numbers on the sign-on/Dear Colleague letters, and our on-going work in the Senate. (You can also read the late-breaking information on the long-awaited resolution of the FY18 appropriations process.) 

4. LettersGet LOUD Can Add Power to Your Approps Work. Take a look at this fantastic video demonstrating what #LettersGetLOUD can mean for your local group. Organize your community to write letters to Senators related to the appropriations process. See if someone would read their letter aloud, video it, and then post it on social media (particularly Twitter, with the hashtag #LettersGetLOUD). Amplify your Senate appropriations requests with the power of the community. Go to our #LettersGetLOUD page for complete support materials, including a campaign guide, tips on reaching out to your community, materials you can order to enhance your outreach/letter-writing meeting, and other helps. 

National Grassroots Webinar on April 14, 2 pm ET: Creating an Anti-Oppression Culture

RESULTS wants to play an active role in calling out and dismantling systemic forms of oppression. RESULTS realizes that if we are to achieve our mission of ending poverty, we must open our ranks to everyone, especially those experiencing oppression, and we must actively work to dismantle the built-in mechanisms of oppression. The challenge for many of us is that, if we are not part of an oppressed group, we may not recognize when oppression is occurring nor understand the experiences of those affected. Therefore, part of our anti-oppression effort must be our own personal learning. We must understand what is going on, how oppression affects others, and how we can undo the structures that perpetuate it.

Our Global Poverty Campaigns National Webinar on April 14 (as well as the U.S. Poverty Campaigns National Webinar on April 3) will focus on understanding this issue, what RESULTS is doing about it, and how to address these issues locally. We’re also planning additional trainings the evenings of April 17 and May 15 to keep this conversation going. We hope you will join us. This will be the start of a journey for some of us, and the continuation of a journey for others. Our goal is to give everyone in RESULTS an opportunity to learn about systemic oppression and how we can be allies and activists in dismantling it.

April 14 Global Poverty Campaigns National Webinar, 2 pm ET. Login: http://fuze.me/30204806. Or to join by phone only, dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 30204806. 

Upcoming Opportunities and Calendar Items 

Through April 6. Senate and House Recess. 

April 4, 8:30 pm ET. RESULTS Introductory Call. Learn more about us! Dial (712) 775-8972, passcode 761262. 

(Corrected) April 5, 1 pm ET. Letter-writing "Coffee Break." Log in to https://fuze.me/37038942, or dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 37038942. 

April 12, 1 pm ET. Letter-writing "Coffee Break." Log in to https://fuze.me/37038942, or dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 37038942.

April 14, 2 pm ET. National Webinar/Conference Call for Grassroots. Login: http://fuze.me/30204806. Or to join by phone only, dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 30204806. Focus: Embracing the values and practices of anti-oppression. 

April 16, 1 pm ET and 8 pm ET. RESULTS Global Free Agents Webinars (choose one). Login: http://fuze.me/35703902. Or to join by phone only, dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 35703902.

April 17, 9 pm ET. Dialogue: "The Invisible Knapsack." Just as fish don't see water and humans don't see air, we are often unaware of the society and culture that dictate our privileges. Please join RESULTS volunteers for a discussion of the concept of the Invisible Knapsack as explored by Peggy McIntosh. McIntosh's short article explores white privilege and asks us to consider how our skin color plays a role in our life experiences. In our discussion, we will consider our own privileges, how they impact our experiences, and how they impact our work as RESULTS volunteers. Please read this brief article prior to the discussion. Log in to http://fuze.me/33986526, or dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 33986526.

April 19, 1 pm ET. Letter-writing "Coffee Break." Log in to https://fuze.me/37038942, or dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 37038942. 

May 3, 8:30 pm ET. Spring Friends and Family Fundraising Campaign Kick-off. Log in to http://fuze.me/37000190, or dial (408) 610-1042, meeting ID 37000190. 

May 15, 9 pm ET. Dialogue: "Intersectionality." Who are you? How does who you are impact your experiences? Please join RESULTS volunteers for a reflection on the many aspects of ourselves – our age, religion, ethnicity, income, gender, and sexual orientation, for example – that impact our work as RESULTS volunteers. We will complete "cultural sketches" of ourselves to understand how our identities influence our values, decisions, behaviors, and opportunities. There is no need to prepare for the discussion – just come open to exploring your identity!  Log in to http://fuze.me/33986526, or dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 33986526.

July 14-17, 2018. RESULTS International Conference.

Resources at Your Fingertips

Subscribe to the Weekly Update

Advocacy Resources (Weekly updates, action sheets, online action alerts, and more)

Global Poverty Campaigns Background

Global Grassroots Calendar

Skills Center 

Fundraising Tools

Report 2018 Actions 

• Report a Lobby Meeting

• Report an Outreach Activity

• Report a Media Piece

115th Congress Congressional Scorecard: See global poverty actions your members of Congress have taken. 

Contact the Grassroots Board Members of the RESULTS Board. Also, you can view the most recently published minutes from Board meetings on the RESULTS website, as well as download RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report.

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