Global Weekly Update March 18, 2013
Top Action: Appropriations Deadlines are Approaching!
April 15 is more than Tax Day; it’s the deadline for appropriations requests to reach the House’s Appropriations Committee. This means that the deadlines our members of Congress have to receive our requests is earlier than that. Each office has their own deadline, so the moral of the story is, the early bird gets the worm!
With all the talk of spending cuts and sequester, there is great risk to the most vulnerable. This is why RESULTS engages our representatives and senators in the appropriations process, the annual cycle when spending decision are made. We ask our members of Congress them to write and speak to key congressional colleagues who will be making these decisions. In the House, Reps. Kay Granger (R-TX) and Nita Lowey (D-NY) head the subcommittee making foreign aid spending decisions. In the Senate, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC) head that subcommittee.
We need to act now to get our spending preferences to our members of Congress for fiscal year 2014.
Here’s what you can do next:
Write Your Own Letter. Use our February–March Action Sheet or fast online action to write a letter to your representative and senators. Personal letters rank very high in terms of influence. You can hand write and deliver via the mail or dropping it by the local office, or you can type up and submit via their website, or to one of the aides. You can find contact information for your members of Congress here.
Call and E-mail Capitol Hill: Send our appropriations requests to the foreign policy aides of your representative and senators via e-mail, then follow up with a call. You can find their names here (look under the staff tab once you find your member of Congress). Follow up with them via e-mail and phone each week until you are able to have a conversation with them.
If you want guidance or coaching in making these critical requests, contact Ken Patterson, Global Grassroots Manager, or Lisa Marchal, Senior Global Grassroots Associate.
World TB Day Media — Make an Impact on March 24!
This week is the week to make your World TB Day media mark!
First, read the 2013 World TB Day editorial packet, and plan to make your pitch on Wednesday! Your work to get TB on to the editorial page of your local paper will support our efforts for robust funding to fight the tuberculosis scourge—funding that includes robust support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Remember to not be discouraged if your paper doesn’t print an editorial on this first pitch. You could respond by suggesting that you would happily submit an op-ed as a local reader/advocate/leader. You are relationship-building by making the pitch in the first place; and you can build on that as our tuberculosis work reaches a crescendo with the approach of the fall Global Fund replenishment. The world is talking about TB; help your newspaper do the same.
Second, share our World TB Day letter to the editor action with your group’s action network, with someone who’s curious about RESULTS, or with someone to which you’d like to introduce RESULTS. Amplify your voice by enrolling others to speak out as well!
You could also write a letter to the editor in response to a recent editorial in the New York Times about HIV and the child in Mississippi who has been considered "functionally" cured of the virus. (Wouldn’t it be cool to get something printed in The New York Times?) It’s a great chance to emphasize the need to aggressively step up funding for treatment and to have the United States be a leadership funder for the Global Fund.
Third, make a call right now to invite your senator to the Thursday, March 21 TB Day briefing on Capitol Hill.
Voices of Tuberculosis Survivors
Thursday, March 21, 2013, 11:00 am–12:30 pm
Senate Visitors Center Room 212, U.S. Capitol
Lunch will be served
RSVP to [email protected]
Co-sponsored by RESULTS, American Thoracic Society, PSI, Management Sciences for Health, and Treatment Action Group
International Conference, Friends & Family Fundraising, and More
2013 RESULTS International Conference.
Registration is open and the earlybird rate is available through April 15! Join us for a spectacular event in Washington, DC, July 20–23. You can also getan application for REAL Change, a scholarship opportunity for young emerging leaders. Join hundreds of your closest friends as we learn, celebrate, and advocate. What could be better?
House Party Success, Plus Friends & Family Fundraising Campaign.
Congratulations to RESULTS Salt Lake City, which held a special events with Professor Muhammad Yunus, raising over $90,000! We extend a special thank you to our board chairman, Dr. Scott Leckman, who continues to strengthen his personal relationship with Dr. Yunus to keep him engaged with RESULTS!
This week starts our preparation for the Friends and Family letter-writing campaign launching April 1 when we'll send requests to people we know, asking them join in our mission by giving donations. Friends & Family Toolkits have been sent to group leaders by U.S. mail. Please let your group leader know by March 22 if you will participate. For more details, visit our website or contact Cindy Levin, Grassroots Fundraising Associate with questions or to receive materials via e-mail. We hope you'll join us in this wonderful way to share RESULTS and help us to our goal of raising $35,000 this year.
Friends & Family Support Call Schedule:
Wednesday, March 20, 9 pm ET, Letter-writing Training Call: Dial (641) 715-3200, code 628221#
Tuesday, March 26, 9 pm ET, Online Tool Webinar: (775) 996-3560, code 796141, https://www.fuzemeeting.com/fuze/f2988286/18965095
Thursday, March 28, 1:30 pm ET, Fundraising with Social Media: (775) 996-3560, code 796141, https://www.fuzemeeting.com/fuze/f2988286/18919967
Saturday, March 30 12 pm ET, Online Tool Webinar: (775) 996-3560, code 796141, https://www.fuzemeeting.com/fuze/f2988286/18919875
TB is the child of poverty — and also its parent and provider.
— Archbishop Desmond Tutu
- March 20, 9 pm ET. Friends & Family Letter-writing Training. Dial (641) 715-3200, passcode 628221# to join this helpful call. If you're planning on participating in the Friends & Family fundraising campaign this year, this call will be a big help!
- March 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.
- March 24. World TB Day. Generate some media with the new 2013 World TB Day editorial packet!
- April 13, 2 pm ET. RESULTS National Grassroots Conference Call for Global Poverty Campaigns. Dial (888) 409-6709 to join
- April 17. Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for Dr. Muhammad Yunus.
- July 20–23. RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC. Dr. Muhammad Yunus and author/speaker Marianne Williamson are already set to join us. Registration is open and the earlybird rate is good through April 15!