Global Weekly Update December 12, 2011
December Action: Support the Global Fund!
Recent news about the cancellation of round 11 grant proposals for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have underscored the importance of our work; the United States must be kept accountable for its philosophical and financial pledge to both the Global Fund and, more broadly, ending the AIDS pandemic.
Media is still coming in from our World AIDS Day push, and this is outstanding news, as we know the need to highlight AIDS doesn’t end just because World AIDS Day has come and gone. But if you didn’t write that World AIDS Day letter you intended to submit, take this month’s action sheet as an opportunity to write about the end of AIDS and voice your support for the Global Fund. The action sheet will give you the information and structure you need to submit a personal, powerful letter. Let’s keep the media push going, as we know it will make an impact.
Capitol Hill: Finishing 2011, Looking to Next Year
Congress’ work on the fiscal year 2012 budget appears to finally be coming to a close. The current stopgap spending measure expires December 16, so House and Senate leadership are negotiating a final budget deal for the remainder of the 2012 fiscal year (through September). If a compromise is allowed to move forward, we’re cautiously optimistic that global health and poverty funding will fare reasonably well given the extraordinary pressure on the federal budget. This is due in no small part to your tireless grassroots advocacy on behalf of priorities like the Global Fund, GAVI, the Global Partnership for Education, and bilateral health and development programs. We’ll share final spending levels when they become available, and then turn our attention the president’s fiscal year 2013 budget request.
Fundraising Gratitude
We wish to extend our deepest gratitude and congratulations to all our event fundraisers this year. You organized everything from birthday parties to celebrity dinners and inspired a whopping $214,000 in donations and monthly sponsorships! That’s more than $45,000 more than last year’s total! We’re so grateful for the dedication you have to increasing our impact and helping millions more people who need us. This money truly lets us go where other organizations don’t, and we never forget it. We cannot thank you enough as we close out 2011.
Looking ahead to next year, if you are a runner or have a January birthday, our fundraising team would love for you to take our new online fundraising tool for a spin in January! If you’d like to run a 5K or are willing to celebrate your age to inspire your friends to contribute to RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund, contact Cindy Levin to find out more.
Lastly, please consider a year-end gift to help us achieve more in 2012! Please consider making a year-end contribution to RESULTS Educational Fund, the tax-deductible 501(c)(3) arm, or RESULTS, the non-tax-deductible 501(c)(4) arm. You will empower new activists to speak out and empower people in poverty to take charge of their lives. You will help RESULTS grow here at home and have a bigger impact all over the world. Please donate now.
Looking Ahead to 2012 — Notes for the Grassroots
During this festive time of year, as we wrap up a big year and look to the year ahead, there are a few things your group might consider.
- Report your group’s activities for the year! We want to capture every media piece, meeting, and event that our fantastic grassroots groups have accomplished in 2011. You can report lobby meetings with our handy online form, and you can record all other activity on our benchmark form, also online.
- Mark the first 2012 national conference call on your calendar now! We’ll gather on Saturday, January 14 at 2 pm ET. Just gather your group and dial in to(888) 409-6709.
- While you’re making plans for the first conference call of year, why not also make plans for your 2012 group planning time and book your first meeting of the year with your legislators? Legislators spend a good stretch of time at home for holiday recess; you can take advantage of the early days of January to perhaps achieve your first face-to-face meeting of the year! Likewise, start out the year right by brainstorming and dreaming with your group about what you’re going to accomplish next year. Materials for group planning will be available soon.
- And, of course, you need to put the 2012 International Conference into your calendar! Join us for what we hope will be the most powerful conference so far (July 21–24).
- If you are an individual activist and aren’t part of a group, we are grateful that you are part of us! Have you ever thought of helping us create a group where you live? We’d love to talk with you about it. Contact us and we’ll get the conversation started!
We can beat this disease We can win this fight. We just have to keep at it, steady, persistent — today, tomorrow, every day . . .
December 23, 1 pm ET: RESULTS Office closes for the winter holidays.
January 3: RESULTS Office opens for 2012.
January 4: RESULTS Introductory Call. Register today!
January 14: Global Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. (888) 409-6709.
January 20: RESULTS Introductory Call. Register today!
July 21–24, 2012: RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC.