Global Weekly Update March 24, 2014
World TB Day (March 24) Extends Through the Week!
1. Tonight (Tuesday, March 25), PBS FRONTLINE will broadcast a new documentary looking at the TB epidemic in Swaziland. Check your local listings, tune in, and consider joining the live conversation on Twitter during the broadcast. Keep an eye out for tweets from RESULTS (@RESULTS_Tweets), and be sure to use hashtags #WorldTBDay and #frontlinePBS.
2. On Wednesday, March 26 at 3:30 pm ET, RESULTS Executive Director Joanne Carter will be part of an online expert chat hosted by FRONTLINE. Please join! You can submit questions for Joanne and others during the chat. Weigh in on the conversation. Ask what’s working to stem the tide of TB and what more we can do as a global community. Be sure to follow along live on Wednesday, March 26 at 3:30 pm ET. You can join the chat via our website.
For a run-down of all the great activities we have going on next week, be sure to check out our website.
Top Action: RESULTS Appropriations Requests and Sign-on Letters
Appropriations Requests
President Obama has released his FY15 budget (read all about it on our blog) and congressional offices are setting deadlines for receiving appropriations requests from us. Our window of opportunity to have appropriations requests submitted to our individual legislators will likely be closed by March 30, so no more waiting! Ask your member(s) of Congress to weigh in on appropriations this week!
The appropriations process is our moment to request bold funding levels for the most effective in programs in global education, economic opportunity, health. These decisions will affect millions of people in 2015 and beyond. It is a rare opportunity to channel resources to the things that work. Act today!
- Look at our appropriations information page, complete with one-page backgrounders on each of our requests, and pick the top two requests you would like the member to make to the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of Appropriations.
- Contact your foreign policy aides in D.C., for both the Senate and the House, and, using our most recent laser talk, ask if there is a form you must fill out to make your request. Also, ask what the request deadline is.
- If you can, make your appropriations requests on the phone at that moment. No matter what, follow up with our one-page fact sheet-request pages via e-mail.
- Follow up with the with aide and let him/her know you would like to hear back about the actions your representative and senators have taken. Follow up regularly until you get a clear response.
- If you'd like more help in crafting your requests, check out our February action sheet, or contact a RESULTS staff member.
- Interested in recruiting others to advocate for smarter, more powerful foreign aid? Share our online action alerts so friends can write their own letters to their legislators or make a call.
The ideal place to make your appropriations request is in a face-to-face meetings with your members of Congress. We have a 2014 goal of meeting with all House members and 1/3 of the senators we cover as activists. Meet with those who represent you and make the kind of asks that will show them how serious you are about ending poverty!
Sign-on Letter Requests
As a traditional part of our appropriations work, RESULTS is once again requesting signatures on congressional sign-on letters. These letters are a way for members of Congress to influence each other directly and urge each other to take action. The first two bipartisan sign-on letters of the season are related to global tuberculosis (signatures due March 28) and maternal/child health and nutrition (signatures due April 1). Check our website for letter text, updates on signatories, and news of new letters that are available. Make these requests once you have taken care of the RESULTS requests and know what your member of Congress is doing regarding them.
What's Your Local Hook? New Resources to Help You Land That Global Partnership for Education Piece!
Twenty-five letters to the editor, 30 op-eds, and 150 letters to the editor? No problem! That's the amount of media we want to generate nationwide to make a real impact on the run-up to the Global Partnership for Education pledging conference in Brussels in June and to move the needle on what the U.S. will pledge.
You've been doing a great job connecting local education issues (school levies, school bonds, debates over kindergarten, etc.) with the need to get every kid into school. We value education as a building block for a good life. Why would this not be the case globally? And don't we all have a stake in creating an educated world?
The United States must pledge to do its part to help build a better educated world by committing $250 million over two years. Your media, connecting local interests to the global context and what's at stake, will help change the game on this.
So far, you have generated at least 1 editorial, 2 op-eds, and 7 letters to the editor on education for all. Great start. Let's keep going! Find a comprehensive collection of these and more resources on our website.
- *New* RESULTS Education for All Brief: Greater Impact Through Partnership
- *New* Recorded webinar featuring the CEO of the Global Partnership for Education, Alice Albright
- *Important* A tip sheet to help you make the case to your local community of "why education, why now?"
- Editorial packet with fresh hook related to Malala Yousafzai, great for pitching editorials or crafting your own op-ed or letter to the editor
- General help securing a meeting with your editorial board
- A sample meeting request you can customize
- Our March action sheet, empowering you to write a letter to the editor promoting global education
- Recorded webinar series unpacking the details of our Education for All/Global Partnership for Education campaign and strategies
International Conference Earlybirds, REAL Change Deadline Extension, and Lamppost Virtual Fundraising Challenge
1. Earlybird Registration Rate. International Conference registration is open, and the earlybird rate ends April 6! Register now for the 2014 event of the year, to be held June 21-24 in Washington, D.C. Who do you know in your action network, your group, your life who might like to be part of this year's conference? A personal invitation goes a long way! Invite them to get in on a great deal and a fantastic learning experience.
2. REAL Change Deadline Extended to April 8. Calling for emerging advocates ages 18-28 to apply for the REAL Change Fellowship, an enhanced International Conference scholarship opportunity that includes a year-round advocacy training experience. Applications are due by 5 pm ET on April 8, so inquire within!
3. Where Will Your Journey Take You? We're excited to announce our next virtual race challenge to benefit RESULTS Educational Fund by registering for a $25 medal you will earn by running, walking, biking, or doing any activity to challenge yourself anytime and anywhere. This time our fantasy-themed medal is inspired by a magical world where a lamppost in a snowy wood can lead to the beginning of an adventure. The words "Your Journey Begins With a Single Step" circle the lamppost and remind us that whether your challenge is on foot or to get to the end of poverty, you have to have the courage to take the first step! Visit the registration website for the Lamppost Virtual Challenge and decide where your journey will take you!
“Too many falsely believe TB is a disease of the past, but to truly relegate this disease to the pages of our history books, we must identify better ways to detect and treat TB and we must stop the emergence of further drug resistance.”
—Dr. John Mermin, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(For a complete calendar, see our website.)
1. Next House and Senate Recesses of 2014: Mid-April (Passover/Easter). Schedule face-to-face meetings.
2. This week. Senate briefing on TB. For more information, contact David Bryden.
3. March 25. PBS' FRONTLINE broadcasts documentary TB Silent Killer focusing on MDR-TB. Check local listings!
4. March 28, 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.
5. April 8, 5 pm ET. REAL Change Fellowship Applications Due. DEADLINE EXTENDED.
6. April 9, 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.
7. April 12, 2 pm ET. RESULTS National Grassroots Conference Call for Global Campaigns. Join the call at (888) 409-6709.
8. April 15, 8 pm ET. Monthly Media Support Call. Dial (712) 775-7300, passcode 954747. Get great tips, encouragement, and support from fellow advocates so that you can achieve powerful, effective media work.
9. April 21, 8 pm ET. RESULTS Free Agents Call for Global Poverty Advocates. Dial (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, Senior Global Grassroots Associate, for more information on this monthly group call.
10. April 25, 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.
11. June 21-24. 2014 RESULTS International Conference in Washington, D.C. Earlybird registration ends April 6!