Global Weekly Update August 11, 2014
Top Action: Book a Face-to-Face Meeting with Your Rep. About GAVI Alliance
Our advocacy from now through January 2015 will focus on childhood vaccinations and supporting GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations). We have the chance to save over 5 million lives and build stronger, healthier societies with a $1 billion U.S. investment in vaccines.
Your Regional Coordinators have challenged us all to get 115 cosponsors onto the resolution by October 1 and 180 by the close of the 113th Congress in December. This number was built off the fact that you helped us get 105 legislators on a spring House letter supporting maternal and child health. If we can get those representatives onto the resolution and add 75 more cosponsors, we have our goal. This is the perfect request to take to a face-to-face meeting as we seek to have meetings with one-third of the Senate and all of the House districts we cover.
Meeting face-to-face with your legislators while they are back in home states and districts for the August recess is one of the most powerful things you can do to advocate for the end of extreme poverty. You can make cosponsorship requests at office meetings and town hall gatherings, or you could thank them for their cosponsorship if they've already put their name to the resolution.
First, read this new blogpost by Regional Coordinator Cathy Lyons-Spear, the first in a series about why we work for face-to-face meetings with our legislators and what these meetings can accomplish. Second, take a time to work with RESULTS advocate and professional coach Sunil Bhaskaran's coaching session, recorded on May 12, which you can access on demand to hone your skills in this critical area.
Then take action, using the support materials here (including the latest action sheet and a brand new outreach guide)!
- August action sheet. The new action sheet will help you make your GAVI resolution request; it includes great talking points about GAVI that will help you in your conversation with your legislators. Use and share with others at an August outreach meeting.
- Outreach guide. Gather others in your community to hear about the life-saving work of GAVI Alliance and what the 2015 replenishment conference will mean for the health and safety of millions of children around the world. Use this handy guide to help build your meeting agenda.
- Information on the resolution, including the text and growing cosponsor list
- "Dear Colleague" cover letter which offers information on who your representative can contact to sign on as well as a list of endorsing organizations
- Online action alert you can use and share to ask your representative to support the resolution
- Grasstops-building is a fun and interesting way to magnify the impact of your group. Community leaders who might care about the issue of child survival could be engaged by you or your group to co-write an op-ed, attend a face-to-face meeting with you, etc. Read up on the latest support resources we have for grasstops engagement!
- Media Training. Want to represent your group (or area, if you're a free agent) at a training weekend designed to deepen your media skills and fulfill key media goals during our GAAVI Alliance campaign? Trainings will be held September 12-14 in Seattle and September 26-28 in Houston; transportation, lodging, and meals will be provided. Interested? Contact Allison Gallaher for all the details.
- Grassroots Growth. If you are part of a RESULTS group, identify an Action Network Manager who will mobilize others. If you aren't part of a group, identify 5 other people you want to put into action regularly. Let Lisa Marchal know you are interested in mobilizing an action network.
(P.S. What actions can you take if your representative has already cosponsored H.Res. 688? There are several options. First, remember that we are also looking for senators willing to introduce a GAVI resolution in the Senate. Contact Crickett Nicovich, Lisa Marchal, or Ken Patterson for more assistance in calling your representative or senators into leadership. Second, you can go back to your representative, thank him/her for their cosponsorship on H.Res. 688, and then ask them to write a letter to President Obama asking for an increase in the maternal and child health and nutrition accounts for FY16. We are asking for $850 million for maternal/child health and $200 million for nutrition. You can request a sample letter to the President that representatives and even senators could send.)
Make Note of August 13 and 14 – Great Learning Opportunities!
1. Book Club With Sam Daley-Harris Begins August 13. Ready to be inspired? Want to get in touch with your personal power? Want to hear more about RESULTS from the beginning? Consider joining the book discussion of "Reclaiming Our Democracy" by Sam Daley-Harris, founder of RESULTS. Sam will be leading the conversation to help mark the 20th anniversary of this great book, and all are welcome. Use this as an outreach opportunity for your community! Online sign-up is now open. The discussion series will be held August 13, 20, and 27 at 9 pm ET. We hope you can come to the entire series, but don't hesitate to attend any one of the sessions. Once you sign up, you will receive e-mail confirmation with pertinent reading assignments and the dial-in information. We look forward to a vibrant conversation!
2. August 14 GAVI Alliance Webinar. In late spring, staffers Crickett Nicovich and Alison Root led an informative primer on the GAVI Alliance and our 2014 campaign. Coming up on August 14 at 9 pm ET, Crickett will lead another webinar, this time reviewing GAVI but going further to outline our targets, tools, and tactics for our advocacy work. Join the webinar online at the following URL: https://www.fuzemeeting.com/fuze/f2988286/25587759. Recordings of both webinars will be available in the coming days.
Grassroots News You Can Use
1. Fundraising Update. We will be launching our fall Friends and Family targeted campaigns again in early September, so if you are still hoping to do some fundraising, be on the lookout for our Thanksgiving Feast, Race to End Poverty, and Celebration webpages that will be brand new and user-friendly! Not sure if your group is ready to host a fundraising event? Contact Jen DeFranco, your fundraising coach,to brainstorm some options that might fit your group perfectly.
2. National Grassroots Conference Call Recording. Miss Saturday's conference call with Joan Awunyo-Akaba or GAVI Alliance? Listen to the recording and check out the call summary.
3. RESULTS is Expanding! Energy is growing in several new areas for the strengthening of our grassroots voice for the end of global poverty. RESULTS is actively seeking advocates to work with us to create groups or join newly forming groups in the following cities: Lawrence, Topeka, and Kansas City (KS); Phoenix; Athens (GA), and Auburn (AL). Do you know someone from one of these communities who is waiting to be inspired into action? Are you living in one of these communities and ready to become a RESULTS group member? If so, we want to hear from you! Get in touch with Amanda Beals, Global Health Organizer.
4. Congratulations! Advocates Vanessa Garcia and Cynthia Changyit Levin have been elected to help represent the grassroots on the RESULTS Board of Directors. Thank you in advance for your leadership!
5. REAL Change Fellows. Wonder what the REAL Change Fellows are learning and doing as their fellowship year really gains steam? Read all about it!
. . . And Some Delightful Reflections on Our Advocacy
Take a moment to read the musings of Jackie Heymann, a young leader who just completed a DC-based summer internship with RESULTS. Your passion made an impact on her, just as she and all our interns positively impact all of us. (We love our interns!)
"As we approach Aug. 18—500 days until the target date for the M[illennium] D[evelopment] G[oal]s—and as we discuss the agenda to follow in 2016, now is the time to recommit to doing everything we can to build momentum. The progress we make now will make a difference in lives around the world and lay the foundation for our shared future efforts."
-Kathy Calvin, president and CEO of the United Nations Foundation
1. Next Congressional Recesses: Now through Labor Day. Request face-to-face meetings.
2. August 13, 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.
3. August 13, 9 pm ET. Book Club Discussion Begins. Join Sam Daley-Harris to discuss his book Reclaiming Our Democracy. Sign up online.
4. August 14, 9 pm ET. "Our GAVI Alliance Campaign" webinar. Overview, targets, tactics, and more. Join at https://www.fuzemeeting.com/fuze/f2988286/25587759.
5. August 18, 8 pm ET. RESULTS Free Agents Call for Global Poverty Advocates. Dial 267-507-0370, passcode 7378587. 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. August 22, 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.
7. September 13, 2 pm ET. RESULTS National Conference Call for Global Campaigns. Learn the latest on RESULTS' work to end poverty globally. Call 888-409-6709 a few minutes before 2 pm ET to join activists from all over the country! If you cannot make the call, we post audio files and PowerPoint presentations on our conference call webpage.