Global Weekly Update June 11, 2012
Child Survival Call to Action Meeting This Week. Make Your Media Pitch Today!
Did you know that there are still 7.6 million children every year who don’t reach their fifth birthday? There is a plan to change this. We can end preventable child deaths, and you can help.
June 14 and 15, the U.S., India, Ethiopia, and UNICEF are convening world leaders for a two-day Child Survival Call to Action meeting in Washington, D.C. The goal of the meeting will be to create a roadmap for ending preventable child deaths in our lifetime. Leading up to the Call to Action meeting, the convenors want to engage the public and others through their “Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday” campaign.
Before and after the June Call to Action meeting, we need to to let the media, our communities, and our members of Congress know that ending preventable child deaths is now possible. Thanks to your hard work, we already have 3 editorials out of our goal of twelve. Check out the latest pieces inspired or published by our grassroots on our blog. Keep checking back with the blog, as we’ll update it as your media hits roll in.
Here’s what to do next:
1. Before the June 14-15 Call to Action meeting in Washington, D.C., use our editorial packet, titled “Saving the Other Half: How the World Can End Preventable Child Deaths,” and the companion May laser talk to pitch the idea of an editorial to your local paper.
2. After the June 14-15 Call to Action meeting, we will refresh our editorial packet to reflect outcomes and promises made. You can then use the June laser talk to pitch the idea of a child survival editorial highlighting this critically important meeting and its impact.
3. Share and use the June action sheet to get letters to the editor published and to find tips on amplifying your media success by sharing your pieces and other national press through social media. Remember that when letters and relevant articles are published, it is smart to share them with the RESULTS office (if you have written them), on Twitter and Facebook, and with your members of Congress.
Once that work is done, enroll even more of your community through two fun actions:
1. Invite someone interested in our issues to check out USAID’s “Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday” campaign online where they can post their age-five photo! This site is a fun, creative way to share the importance of child survival advocacy with family and friends. Have you considered asking your member of Congress to post his or her picture? They can join other senators, representatives, and other notables!
2. Organize a child survival conversation. Start by inviting friends and colleagues to tune in for part of the webcast of the Child Survival Call to Action meeting being held June 14 and 15. (The information for accessing the webcast has not yet been issued. Check with your group leader and/or RESULTS staff on Wednesday for those details.) Then gather for coffee or at your RESULTS group’s next meeting to discuss. Or fire off a letter to the editor in response to what you heard and encourage your friends to do the same!
RESULTS is one of few organizations bringing attention to this issue through the media, so our media work is critical. Let us know if you need support making this request. Find your media contact information here. You can also listen to a recent child survival media brainstorming call or listen to the June national grassroots conference call on global poverty featuring Caryl M. Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, if you want more good information and ideas.
International Conference News: Nominate a Journalist for the Cameron Duncan Award!
Whether you’re an experienced advocate or new to advocacy, there are conference sessions for you. From developing media skills to challenges you might face when when lobbying, you’ll learn it at the International Conference. Register before rates increase on June 15!
1. It’s time once again to submit nominations for the Cameron Duncan Media Award. This award, which will be presented at the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund International Conference in Washington, D.C., is given each year to a journalist who has demonstrated outstanding reporting of issues related to poverty and hunger. While there is no requirement for the journalist to accept the award in person, we will try our best to get the winner here to D.C. for the International Conference. Along with a nomination of one or two paragraphs in a letter or e-mail, please submit relevant clips fromt he past 12 months that demonstrate the journalist’s dedication to our issues. If you have any questions, please contact Blair Hinderliter, Communications Manager.
2. Customizable letters are now available so you can begin inviting your members of Congress to our spectacular conference reception!
3. Need a roommate? Want to ask advice from previous attendees? Anxious to chat with other folks who are coming to DC? Check out our International Conference discusson thread on the My RESULTS forum.
4. You can begin scheduling your Lobby Day meetings and letting us know the details online! Find guidance on setting up your meetings here.
5. Use our IC preparation checklist, as well as our official conference hashtag, #RESULTSConf (search for it on Twitter), to keep track of and contribute to the buzz before, during, and after the conference!
6. Check out our RESULTS blog for a great entry on money-saving tips for the conference.
7. Help someone else get to a future International Conference by donating any amount to the Karen McQuillan Fund.
Grassroots News You Can Use
1. There are new online forms for reporting your 2012 lobby meetings and other advocacy actions. Let us know what amazing actions you are taking!
2. We are happy to announce a new addition to our International Conference activities in which you can participate even from home! It is a 5K fundraising fun run for RESULTS runners and walkers! We invite all of our grassroots to join us by running, walking, or cheering for our athletes participating in the Crystal City Twilighter 5K Race. The Twilighter Race – hosted by the D.C. Pacers running club – will take place near our conference hotel immediately after our Kickoff Meeting on Saturday, July 21. We hope that some of you – our grassroots – will come together with staffers Jen Maurer, Cindy Levin, Blair Hinderliter, and Beth Wilson to take this physical and fundraising challenge. We’ll be participating at various paces from walking to running like the wind. We’re creating an online fundraising webpage where you can invite everyone to donate to your race, even if you’re only able to be with us in spirit during the International Conference. This is a great way to help your group reach your 2012 fundraising goals. Who knows? It might help with your 2012 fitness goals as well!
3. Speaking of fundraising, thank you to the the RESULTS who are actively working on fundraising events this year! Our gratitude goes out to Anchorage, Asheville, Atlanta, Austin, Bernardsville, Bremerton, Chicago, Columbus, D.C., Denver, Houston, Seattle, Tacoma, Santa Fe, and Sitka partners. From house parties to large dinners, these events will help generate donations for our organizations and put RESULTS in the public eye in our groups’ local communities. Remember, that a fundraiser can also help you with your outreach goals, too! Contact Cindy Levin for support in putting together your own event this year.
“Imagine a world where every child, no matter where she or he is born, gets a shot at life and the opportunity to celebrate a fifth birthday.”
-Kathy Calvin, CEO of the UN Foundation, from USAID’s “Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday” website
June 15: RESULTS Introductory Call. 1 pm ET. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call.
June 18: RESULTS Free Agents call. 8 pm ET. Dial (218) 486-1611, passcode 7378587 (RESULTS) to join. 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 support call.
July 11: RESULTS Introductory Call. 9 pm ET. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call.
July 14: National grassroots conference call for global campaigns. 2 pm ET. Dial (888) 409-6709 a few minutes before the call. Join us for a fantastic call featuring Stephen Lewis, co-founder and co-director of AIDS-Free World and former UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. (Check out our conference call archive, too!)
July 21–24: RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC
August 6 and 20: New Activist Orientation. Dial in to (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 at 9 pm ET on August 6 and 20 to get more details on how RESULTS works and how to bring your powerful advocacy work to life. For more information, contact us.
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