Global Weekly Update January 14, 2013
Top Action: Commit to Meeting Face-to-Face with Your Legislators in 2013
Look at the January 2013 action sheet, companion laser talk, and sample meeting request letter. These tools are designed to help you land face-to-face meetings with your members of Congress early in the year. According to research conducted by the Congressional Management Foundation, meeting face-to-face with constituents is the most effect way to influence our members of Congress. Meeting early in the year will help establish a relationship at the beginning of the 113th Congress (which lasts through December 2014). Building relationships with our members of Congress is what allows us request actions and call them into leadership. Make a request today, and then contact Ken Patterson or Lisa Marchal to support you on following up on your request and forming a solid agenda for the meeting. Our goal in 2013 is to meet with every member of Congress for which we have constituent advocates!
For the latest on the budget situation in Congress and our 2013 global campaigns, check out the following:
- Blog on the fiscal cliff from Senior Policy Associate Allison Grossman
- Recording of the January Global Conference Call with guest speaker Jeffrey Sachs
Why we meet with members of Congress:
Purpose: To deepen our relationships with them; educate them about our issue areas; inspire them about the difference they can make in the world, and request actions, thinking, and commitments that will move them up the Champion Scale.
Intended Outcomes: (as described by Regional Coordinator, Peter Fiekowsky):
- Build a warm, loving, empowering relationship between the RESULTS group and each of the Reps
- Educate them about RESULTS (new Reps. in particular) and provide them with an overview of our campaigns for 2013.
- Give them a chance to talk about themselves. Allow them to create and/or declare an area where they will be leaders in Congress for our issue areas.
- Give them a chance to promise one or two actions for us, and set up a support structure (typically follow up calls w/staffers).
Huge Training Opportunity Tonight (1/15): How to Research Your Member of Congress!
Don’t miss this call! Tonight, January 15 at 9 pm ET, we’ll help you learn how to research your member of Congress. Dial (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. Do you have a new member of Congress? Want to learn more about your existing member of Congress? Join veteran advocate and Regional Coordinator, Allison Gallaher, for an informative call that will help you make the most of your advocacy year by giving you some top research tips and tools. You will have many “ah hah” moments on this call!
“I’m Amazed at How Powerful it is to do Planning.”
This declaration came from one of our veteran advocates after his group completed their 2013 plan for effective advocacy this year.
The 2013 Group Planning materials are now available online on our group resource page. Our Global Campaign Summary and Calendar will be coming soon. Review the materials, check out the inspiring goals for 2013 on the forms, and set a time for your group to gather in January to create a plan to generate politic will in 2013. Have each member fill out the Individual Planning Form before the meeting.
If you are a solo advocate (not part of a group), grab a copy of the Individual Planning Form and be part of the process as well. The form What an inspiring way to begin a brand new year! Questions? Contact Lisa Marchal, Global Grassroots Associate.
Building the Grassroots
Grassroots Board Voting
We have 4 candidates for the open Grassroots Board seat. Please vote for one of the candidates by Feb. 7. Candidates are: Rob Marshall of Atlanta, Mary Albertson of Detroit, Beth Wilson of Gig Harbor in Washington State, and Frank Gilbert of Louisville. Please consider their statements and bios and vote.
Fundraising
Annual Appeal Outcome. Thank you for everyone who donated to our annual end-of-year campaign or helped us promote it over social media. You helped us exceed our goal of $30,000. For 2012, more envelopes came in for the annual campaign than any time in the last 5 years. Way to go!
DC Fundraiser This Week! Our Washington DC RESULTS partners are holding a game night fundraiser at the Board Room on Wednesday, January 16 6-8PM. Please help them promote it with their website where donors can also give online.
Thank you, Beth! Thank you to Beth Wilson, volunteer leader in the Bremerton–Kitsap group, is leaving her current role on the RESULTS staff fundraising team. She has managed a number of West Coast fundraisers for us along with a full-time job and her RESULTS advocacy work. Beth is moving out of this development role though staying as a volunteer leader! Thanks to Beth for her dedication; she coached groups with understanding, patience, and inspiration.
World TB Day Mini-Grants
We will be offering World TB Day Mini-Grants once again this year. Applications will be available soon, but now is the time for your group to discuss whether you’d like to apply. World TB Day is Sunday, March 24.
“When we collectively make love our bottom line–making humanitarian values rather than short-term economics the organizing principle of human civilization–then the situation will miraculously change. According to economist Jeffrey Sachs, one hundred billion dollars (one-seventh of the annual military defense budget of the United States) could eradicate deep poverty within ten years. For those interested in creating the political will to end the worst ravages of hunger and poverty, visit www.results.org. May love prevail among us all.”
-Marianne Williamson, from the preface of her new book, The Law of Divine Compensation: On Work, Money, and Miracles
1. January 14, 8 pm ET: RESULTS Free Agents call for global poverty advocates. (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 for more information on this monthly group call.
2. January 15, 9 pm ET: Researching Your Member of Congress. Dial (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. Have a new member of Congress? Want to learn more about your existing member of Congress? Join veteran advocate and regional coordinator Allison Gallaher for an informative call that will help you make the most of your advocacy year but giving you some top research tips and tools.
3. January 25, 1 pm ET. RESULTS Introductory Call. Please RSVP for the call so we can welcome you. Dial-in number: (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262
4. January 29. Webinar on Establishing Relationships with Members of Congress. Stay tuned for more information.
5. February 9, 2 pm ET. RESULTS National Grassroots Conference Call for Global Poverty Campaigns featuring Dr. Jeffrey Sachs. Dial (888) 409-6709 to join.
6. February 13, 9 pm ET. RESULTS Website Tour. Dial (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 to join this informative call.
7. July 20–23, 2013: RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC. Dr. Muhammad Yunus and author/speaker Marianne Williamson are already set to join us. Mark your calendar now!