Global Weekly Update November 18, 2013
Top Action: Get Editorial or an Op-ed on the Global Fund Published Locally
Final Chance Before Thanksgiving. Will You Take Action? Media now from around the nation will send a strong message to the Administration that the U.S. must pledge $5 billion over the next three years. This is the leadership it takes to make the replenishment successful, control three killer diseases, and save millions of lives.
Thirty groups/individuals will be calling editors, 41 op-eds are being worked on, and you intend to publish 79 letters to the editor. Phenomenal! That's what you committed to do, and these big commitments that will help make change happen!
North Carolina, Alaska, Florida, Utah, California, Texas, Wisconsin, Missouri . . . your media is getting published! Check out this recent blog post by our new Deputy Director of Communications Colin Smith and get inspired by the editorials, op-eds, and letters to the editor that your fellow advocates around the country have been writing and pitching. So far, our grassroots have inspired or gotten published three editorials, three op-eds, 15 letters to the editor, one news article . . . and counting. Let's not lose momentum!
Most Powerful Action. If you’ve made contact with your editor in the past, build on that relationship by asking him/her to write an editorial on the Global Fund replenishment. If you are just starting the relationship, don't hesitate. Use our online media tool to identify the editorial page editor by either calling the paper or searching their website. Start with a phone call and follow up with an e-mail. Ask them to write an editorial. Use our Global Fund editorial packet and sample pitch to guide you. Commit to initiating and building this relationship. If you aren’t successful in getting an editorial this time, starting the conversation now and building the relationship over time will eventually get you there.
Very Powerful Action. If your editor isn’t ready to write an editorial on the issue, ask him/her if they would publish an op-ed from you on the subject of the Global Fund. Use our laser talk on pitching an op-ed to make your request. RESULTS staff can support you in drafting and submitting your op-ed, and you can get some great tips from the November national grassroots conference call.
Powerful Action. Use our online tool to write a letter to the editor on the Global Fund replenishment. Personalize the letter and, if possible, reference a frontpage story or an editorial in the paper to make it relevant. You can gather inspiration for your letter from one of the Here I Am Campaign stories. To ensure one or more letters to the editor gets published, use our handy Education & Action Meeting Outline with a group of friends or community members to write a letters together.
Leverage Your Work Through Social Media. Retweet your published media on the #BeTheGeneration hashtag and post on Facebook!
Read the First Two Installments of a New Series on the U.S.'s Pledge to the Global Partnership for Education
With the Board of Directors of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) scheduled to meet November 18-19, RESULTS has released two new discussion papers chronicling the U.S. financial commitment to the GPE Fund. The papers are the first two in a three-part series reviewing the 2011 U.S. pledge to GPE and looking ahead at the role of the United States in GPE’s upcoming replenishment campaign. Read more from Education for All Campaign Manager Tony Baker on our blog.
Grassroots News Just For You
1. Introductory Calls = A Great Way to Meet RESULTS. Do you know someone who heard of RESULTS at a recent fundraiser, or through conversation with you, and is curious to know more? Invite them to a 30-minute introductory call. Our quick, casual calls are great ways to hear from other interested folks, meet a RESULTS staffer, and get basic questions answered. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for an upcoming call. Dial (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 to join.
2. Report Before 2013 Ends! We are barrelling toward 2014; have you reported all your advocacy actions and lobby meetings? Now's the time to use our handy online forms! Report 2013 advocacy actions and lobby meetings today!
3. December National Grassroots Conference Call: All Hands on Deck! Join the entire RESULTS family (U.S. poverty and global poverty advocates both) on our final national conference call of the year. The call will be held Saturday, December 14 at 2 pm ET, and it will be both a celebration of 2013 and a rally for 2014. Dial (888) 409-6709 a few minutes before 2 pm ET to join this inspiring call.
4. Reclaiming Our Democracy Tour Finishing Strong. Sam Daley-Harris, founder of RESULTS, is finishing the fall leg of his book tour marking the 20th anniversary edition of his work Reclaiming Our Democracy. He is currently stopping around the country to talk about his book and the phenomenal work YOU do. Check out the most up-to-date listing of his tour stops online, and check out a Huffington Post piece referencing RESULTS and Citizens Climate Lobby by Harry Boyte, head of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at Augsburg College. (P.S. Have you read the re-release of Sam's book? Post a review online!)
5. Grassroots Board Member Election Results. Three great candidates in a close election (Frank Gilbert, Roger Hudson, Lydia Pendley). Congratulations to Lydia Pendley for her election to a second term! As grassroots volunteers your leadership in the organization is so important—from the roles you play in your chapters, to fundraisers, to group leaders, to regional coordinators. The grassroots board members help us manage the organization at the highest level. Congratulations!
Fundraising: Counting Our Blessings
"Virtually" eating is not the same as having a delicious meal and a full stomach, but the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Virtual Thanksgiving Feast fundraising campaign will help end starvation in our country and around the world! Six of our groups have already raised over $1000 from their friends in this online mini-campaign to give during a season of sharing. Register your own fundraising page to ask your loved ones to support our domestic and global nutrition campaigns this month and help children who don't know when their next meal will be. Contact Cindy Changyit Levin, Grassroots Development Associate, if you need assistance.
As we count our blessings at RESULTS, we are thankful for Columbus and Santa Fe for their recent fundraising events. Santa Fe hosted our executive director, Dr. Joanne Carter, for 90 donors (their biggest event ever!) and even asked attendees to take action. Partners in Columbus, OH collected over $4000 and are already planning their next event. Wow!
"The Global Fund has supported work by our partners that has achieved a great deal since we started in 2002. There is a lot more to do. Our common goal — to get these three deadly diseases under control — is within reach if we continue working together."
— Dr. Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
1. November 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.
2. December 4, 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.
3. December 14, 2 pm ET. RESULTS National Grassroots Conference Call for Global Poverty Campaigns. This call will be a joint call with our fellow advocates working on domestic poverty advocacy! Dial (888) 409-6709 to join.
4. December Monthly Media Support Call, date TBD. Dial (218) 862-1300, passcode 682494 to join. 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.
5. January 7, 8 pm ET – special date. 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.