Global Weekly Update May 13, 2013


May 13, 2013

Child Nutrition Campaign: An Exciting Opportunity through June!

On June 8, 2013, the UK Government and Brazil will host the first-ever global nutrition pledging event to mobilize new policy and financial commitments to fight malnutrition. This event presents a key opportunity for the U.S. to deepen its commitment to nutrition and enshrine it across all U.S. development, food security, and global health efforts. If we are silent, our communities will not know about this historic opportunity, and the Administration will not likely take leadership at this pledging conference. We have a comprehensive child nutrition information page on our website with background information, tools, and more. Bookmark this page and use it throughout the month! 

Top Action: Join our Media Push Today!

As a key tactic in the campaign, our media goal is to have two-thirds of our groups generate letters to the editor (for a total of 40 printed letters), and for groups that haven’t gotten a letter printed this year to achieve that success. In addition, we want groups to get 10 op-eds or editorials published. Can we do it? We sure can with persisistence and focus!

Let’s tell our communities that we will not stand idly by as one in four children (165 million in 2011) under the age of five is stunted (meaning that chronic undernutrition has resulted in serious and often irreversible physical and cognitive damage). World Hunger Day (May 28) is fast approaching, and even Father’s Day will appear right after the pledging conference. Both are great hooks. Start writing using one of our handy tools, and then share the opportunity with a friend.

1. Got just five minutes? Use our action alert to help you write your letter to the editor.

2. Got 15 minutes? Use our longer, more comprehensive May action sheet, which includes other hook ideas, to support your letter-writing.

3. Got 30 minutes? Craft a compelling op-ed of your own, or pitch your paper’s local editorial writer or editorial board, using our new editorial packet! (Get quick support in writing your op-ed and in making your pitch to your paper through our online activist milestones.)

4. Got a couple of hours? Organize an education & action (wine & writing) meeting with your group or in your community, and engage others to join you in writing letters to the editor. Use this handy guide to build your meeting agenda. 

Need more media support? Mark May 21, 8 pm ET on your calendar for the monthly media support call, designed to offer inspiration and ideas to keep you going toward media success. Dial 218-862-1300, passcode 682494 to join this call.

Next Action: Fast and Tweet about Child Nutrition on World Hunger Day, May 28

Another angle to our campaign is our optional fasting day on World Hunger Day, May 28 and the social media flurry we hope to generate about it on Twitter, as well as traditional media, before and after World Hunger Day. We are using all sorts of tools to call for robust U.S. leadership at the June 8 pledging conference. Social media is one of those tools.

Consider signing up to fast for a full or half day in solidarity with the 165 million children who are chronically undernourished worldwide. To leverage this effort, we encourage you to use your activity as a media hook for the 40 letters to the editor and 10 op-eds/editorials we hope to generage through June. 

To further leverage this unique day, you are invited to join the mass Twitter action on World Hunger Day (May 28) to tweet about the fast. The tweets will be directed to @USAID, @WhiteHouse, and @StateDept, and the hashtag is #Nutrition4Growth. Those who can’t fast are still invited to tweet and retweet, and all are encouraged to write letters to the editors and opeds. You can even identify community leaders willing to fast, write, and tweet.

Sign up online and share this with your friends.

Funding Our Work

A Few Hours Left to GiveBig!

Today, May 15, your donation to RESULTS Educational Fund (REF) will be stretched! It's the third annual "GiveBIG" Day, which is hosted by The Seattle Foundation. Any gift made to REF today (midnight to midnight Pacific Time) via the GiveBIG website will be multiplied by a prorated portion of matching funds from various foundations and corporate sponsors. Click to donate now via our official GiveBIG donation site. If you didn't get a chance to donate to REF earlier this year, please consider contributing during today's GiveBIG challenge. Every gift helps support our mission to end the worst aspects of poverty by empowering individuals to exercise their personal and political power.

There's more! You could also win a "Golden Ticket"! Every donation makes you eligible to win an additional $1,000 for REF, a round-trip airline ticket to REF, and a $100 gift card for you to Starbucks! So your $20 gift could become $1,020, and you can take your friends out for coffee! Thank you for your continued support of our work to end poverty and create a world where everyone can thrive.

Congratulations to all our Friends & Family Fundraisers!

Thanks to dozens of volunteers fundraising nationwide, the Friends and Family campaign brought in over $15,000 to support our poverty-fighting work. We are thrilled to report that our volunteers inspired 117 new donors to give who had never donated to RESULTS before. Kudos to our contest winners who will each receive a free registration to the RESULTS International Conference! 

Winner #1: Teresa Rugg of Washington state for the most individual donors: 31 
Winner #2: Margaret Smith of Texas for highest total raised: $2431 

Thank you to all our fundraisers and donors. If you were not able to participate, but would like to do this type of fundraiser later in the year, please contact Cindy Changyit Levin, Grassroots Development Associate.

Welcome, Jennifer!

We are happy to welcome Jennifer DeFranco to our development staff as a fundraising event coach. Based in the Chicago area, she will work 1/4 time with Cindy Changyit Levin to help your fundraising needs. Jennifer has experience as an organizer for a wide variety of charity fundraising events. We look forward to tapping into her creativity and enthusiasm to bring our events to new heights!  She can be reached at [email protected].

The RESULTS International Conference: The Summer Event Not to Be Missed!

Registration. For those of you who have not yet registered, there’s still time. We have excellent speakers lined up including Congressional Gold Medal winner Prof. Muhammad Yunus, the Executive Director of UNICEF Tony Lake, writer Marianne Williamson, and many more! Register today!

REAL Change Scholarships.  Encourage young emerging leaders age 18–28 to apply for our REAL Change conference scholarship program (new, extended deadline is June 10). This scholarship empowers newer advocates to come into a cohort at the conference for extra learning and networking above what they'll experience as a full conference participant. Help us cultivate the future of RESULTS and share the application today! 

Lobby Day Reception on Capitol Hill. For the culmination of our big lobby day on July 23, we’ll once again be hosting a reception on Capitol Hill and Prof. Yunus will join as our special guest. We’d like to have as many members of Congress also attend, so please start sending your invitations. You can find a customizable invitation on our website.

Nominations for the 2013 Cameron Duncan Media Award. This award, which will be presented at the RESULTS International Conference this July in Washington, DC, is given each year to a journalist who has demonstrated outstanding reporting on issues related to poverty and hunger. While there is no requirement for the journalist to accept the award in person, we will invite, and cover all costs, for the winner to attend our conference and receive the award in person. Along with a one to two paragraph nomination letter/email, please submit two relevant clips from the past 12 months that demonstrate the journalist's dedication to our issues. Send nominations and questions to Blair Hinderliter, Director of Operations and Communications, by Friday, May 24.

Building Bipartisan Champions

Do you have a story of a successful meeting with a member of Congress you thought would be significantly opposed to our issues? By contrast, do you have a member of Congress you're working with, but you're struggling for talking points that help you gain common ground?  We'd like to talk with you!  Contact Lisa Marchal, Senior Global Grassroots Associate, for help and for ways that your stories and questions can help others at the International Conference and beyond. 

“Today we are reaffirming our commitment to global development. Specifically we are encouraged by the ambitious reforms underway at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria where both of our nations are stepping up our efforts. And, David has made it clear that the G-8 summit will be another opportunity to make progress on nutrition and food security.”

– President Obama, in joint press conference with UK Prime Minister David Cameron (May 13, 2013)

1. May 20, 8 pm ET. Next 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.

2. May 21, 8 pm ET. Media Support Call. Want to be part of the on-going support that’s available to help you reach your media goals? Then this is the call for you! Join monthly for inspiration and ideas to keep you going. Dial (218) 862-1300, passcode 682494 to join this call.

3. May 24-June 2. Congressional Recess. Schedule face-to-face meetings.

4. May 31, 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. June 8, 2 pm ET. RESULTS National Grassroots Conference Call for Global Poverty Campaigns. Dial (888) 409-6709 to join!

6. June 10. REAL Change application deadline (International Conference scholarship for young adult activists. See update for full details.) 

7. June 12, 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.

8. July 20–23. RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC. Registration is open!

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