Global Weekly Update August 25, 2014

Top Action: Meet Face-to-Face with Your Rep. About Child Vaccines

The What: Our advocacy from now through January 2015 will focus on childhood vaccinations and supporting Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance (formerly GAVI Alliance). H.Res. 688 is a new resolution in the House focusing on vaccines and Gavi, it is open for cosponsors, and it needs your congressperson's support!

The Why: We have the chance to save over 5 million lives and build stronger, healthier societies with a $1 billion U.S. investment in vaccines.

The How: We are currently gathering cosponsors for this critical resolution supporting global vaccines and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance.  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. Meeting face-to-face with your legislators while they are back in home states and districts for the August recess, and also when they're home for recess later this fall, is one of the most powerful things you can do to advocate for the end of extreme poverty.

If you are new to our Gavi campaign:

• 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

If you are a slightly more experienced vaccine advocate:

• 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.
• Mark your calendars for the Saturday, September 13 National Grassroots Conference Call focusing on our continuing Gavi advocacy. Dial (888) 409-6709 a few minutes before the 2 pm ET start time to join.

If your vaccine advocacy is well underway:

• 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.
• Read up on the latest support resources we have for grasstops engagement, courtesy of Teresa Rugg.
• 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. We have some great resources online to help you.

For anyone:

• Comprehensive Gavi campaign support page which includes recordings of our 2014 webinars on Gavi and our support strategy
• 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 influencing your member of Congress.
• What's possible when we meet face-to-face with Congress? Read our latest blogpost on the subject, "Advocacy is Like Jazz."

My Rep. is Already an H.Res. 688 Cosponsor. What Other Actions Can I Take?

What can you do next if your representative has already cosponsored H.Res. 688? There are several great options.

• Remember that we are also looking for senators willing to help 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.
• You can go back to your representative, thank him/her for their cosponsorship on H.Res. 688 and ask who else in the House we should approach about cosponsorship.
• You can also ask your representative 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 President Obama that representatives and even senators could send.

Answers to Your Questions

1. How Do I Tweet? RESULTS advocates have expressed a renewed interest in learning about using Twitter to amplify our media work. Many RESULTS activists are already using Twitter for their advocacy and media work, but we wanted to offer those interested a chance to learn how to jump on board. Twitter can enable you to reach out frequently and easily to each other, thus increasing our ability to generate ideas for print media. We can use Twitter to strengthen our community through regular sharing of media successes, hooks, related news stories, etc.; these can be tweeted or re-tweeted with links to sources. There will be no media support call this month; instead we’re inviting anyone interested in getting started on Twitter to take an online tutorial.

2. How Do I Join the RESULTS Listserv? The RESULTS listserv is an extra resource that is available to you beyond the regular communication you're accustomed to from RESULTS (Weekly Updates, monthly action sheets, action alerts, etc.). If you'd like to engage in additional informal conversation with the RESULTS community, you can sign up! Just send an e-mail to [email protected] with "subscribe" in the subject line.

3. Where is RESULTS Growing Next? A RESULTS outreach event is happening in Tucson on September 11 at the University of Arizona, 6:00-7:30 pm. to  A RESULTS Phoenix is group start will take place on September 13, 2:30-4:30 pm. And, at the University of Georgia, active recruitement for a global poverty group is taking place.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. What is Friends & Family? The Friends & Family campaign is one of the easiest, and least labor intensive ways to raise funds to support RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund. The new-and-improved Friends & Family pages will be up and ready September 1, so start planning your team challenges and campaign ideas NOW so you can get a jumpstart on your 2014 fundraising before the busy holiday season hits!  However, if you prefer to wait until the holiday time to take advantage of the giving spirit, we will again be hosting our Virtual Thanksgiving Feast! Just let Jen DeFranco, Fundraising Events Associate, know if you are planning to participate so we can help get your pages set up to take donations in advance.

5. What's New for Microfinance? Check out all the exciting details about the 17th annual Microcredit Summit happening in Mexico next month.

"Working with partners, I’m optimistic that together we will one day live in a world free of vaccine-preventable diseases."

-Dr. Trevor Mundel, president of Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

1. Next Congressional Recesses: Now through Labor Day. Request face-to-face meetings.

2. August 27, 9 pm ET. Book Club Discussion Continues. Join Sam Daley-Harris to discuss his book Reclaiming Our Democracy. Sign up online.

3. September 10, 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. 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.

5. September 15, 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. September 17, 9 pm ET. Growing Your RESULTS Group Support Call. Dial in to (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262.

7. September 19, 9 pm ET. Building and Maintaining Your Action Network. Dial in to (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. Time spent cultivating folks who have shown interest in RESULTS and your group is time invested well. On this 30-minute call, get some quick tips on how to engage these visitors to become more deeply enrolled in the work of RESULTS!

8. September 26, 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.