U.S. Poverty Campaigns

Weekly Update | November 17, 2015

“I work so hard to give my children the best I possibly can — everyone does. If Congress can offer tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, they can also make sure that working moms like me don’t have to choose between turning on the heat this winter and paying the rent. ”

– RESULTS Indianapolis volunteer Maxine Thomas in a November 4 op-ed in The Hill

In This Week’s Update:

• Got Two Minutes? Join the Vote to End Hunger Campaign (November Action)
• Got Ten Minutes? Make a Big Push on the EITC and CTC Next Week
• Got Sixty Minutes? Attend Vote to End Hunger Training on Thursday (co-hosted by RESULTS) (November Action)
• Join in the RESULTS $25,000 Fundraising Challenge this Month
• Quick News
• Upcoming Events

Quick Action: Urge Congress to Protect Families and Children Getting the EITC and CTC

Got Two Minutes? Join the Vote to End Hunger Campaign (November Action)

Thank you to Rev. David Beckmann and Lisa Davis for speaking on this past weekend’s RESULTS U.S. Poverty National webinar about the Vote to End Hunger Campaign. They did a great job of informing and motivating us to help make this campaign a success. Vote to End Hunger is designed to urge candidates for election next year to outline how they would deal with hunger and poverty in the U.S. and around the world. The goal is to create the political will that will force the next President and Congress to make ending hunger and poverty a national priority. RESULTS is part of the Vote to End Hunger Campaign and we urge you to learn more about the campaign and engage candidates when they are in your area.

TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to visit the Vote to End Hunger campaign website at www.votetoendhunger.org. Read more about the campaign and take the pledge to making ending hunger and poverty and expanding opportunity a top priority in the 2016 election. If you have extra time, watch the presidential candidates give their ideas for addressing poverty. If presidential and congressional candidates are speaking in your area, attend their events and ask them the VTEH question:

If elected, what will they do to end hunger, alleviate poverty, and create opportunity in the U.S. and worldwide?

See our November Action for tips on making the most of these events. Vote to End Hunger will continue to provide you resources and help you. In fact, RESULTS is co-hosting an advocacy training this week to help you prepare for candidate events (see below). Also, please do not hesitate to contact Meredith Dodson ([email protected]) or Jos Linn ([email protected]) if you have questions or need help preparing for a candidate event. And remember the presidential candidates will be having more debates next month: December 15 (Republicans) and December 19 (Democrats).

Learn more about Vote to End Hunger from our November National Webinar resources on the RESULTS website.

Got Ten Minutes? Make a Big Push on the EITC and CTC Next Week

The House and Senate will be on recess next week for the Thanksgiving holiday. Some of them may be holding public events earlier in the week. This may be the last time you get the chance to talk with them face-to-face before they make final decisions on the budget and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). We expect some action on business tax credits in December or January. Remember the message to your members of Congress is this: Congress must not make any business tax credits permanent unless they also make the expiring EITC and CTC provisions permanent as well.

The next two months will be the deciding point on whether the tax provisions are made permanent now or whether families will have to wait until 2017 to preserve the current EITC and CTC. Let’s make sure we do all we can now to ensure the former and avoid the latter. That way, whatever the outcome, we will have done our best.

TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to contact your House and Senate schedulers to set up face-to-face meetings next week. If you’re not sure what to say, see our sample meeting request. We urge you to try to meet with members of Congress next week one-on-one or at a town hall, if at all possible. If you cannot get a meeting or attend a town hall, please follow up with their tax aides – particularly Senate tax aides – to confirm they have spoken to Senate and House tax leaders about making the EITC and CTC provisions permanent. With Senate Democrats, don’t settle for them saying they “support” our position. Push them to personally talk to Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) about making the provisions permanent. These conversations are key to ensuring the EITC and CTC provisions are an integral part of any tax negotiations,. If they commit to having those conversations, set a time to follow up to see how they went.

Use our RESULTS Elected Officials page to find scheduler and aide names and contact info) and see the October Action for talking points and tips for meetings and calls. If you do get a meeting scheduled or plan to attend a town hall, please contact Meredith Dodson ([email protected]) to set up a call to get you ready.

Got Sixty Minutes? Attend Vote to End Hunger Training on Thursday (co-hosted by RESULTS) (November Action)

Building on the recent launch of the Vote to End Hunger campaign, RESULTS and other VTEH groups will be hosting an Advocacy Training this Thursday, November 19 at 2:00 pm ET. The purpose of the training is to help you effectively engage candidates on the campaign trail about making ending hunger and poverty a national priority. RESULTS Director of U.S. Poverty Campaigns Meredith Dodson will co-lead the training. On the call, you’ll learn practical ways you can help amplify our voice, discuss strategies to engage candidates during the election, and hear from coalition members about what it will take to make Vote to End Hunger a success. Join us and see how you can Vote to End Hunger!

TAKE ACTION: Sign up for the Vote to End Hunger Advocacy Training this Thursday, November 19 at 2:00 pm ET and plan to attend. Go to http://votetoendhunger.org/nov-19th-webinar-training-registration/ to register today. Learn more about Vote to End Hunger in our November National Webinar resources, including the webinar summary, slides, and recording.

Join in the RESULTS $25,000 Fundraising Challenge this Month

As announced earlier this month, longtime volunteer and donor Peter Fiekowsky put forward a challenge match for Grassroots Fundraising: If RESULTS volunteers can collectively raise over $25,000 through Friends & Family campaigns between November 1 and November 30, Peter will contribute an additional $10,000 to RESULTS.

Peter’s challenge is working. Since announcing the challenge, an additional 12 groups have joined forces with the four previously running fundraising campaigns. In addition, seven RESULTS staff members have joined in with their own Friends and Family Campaigns (for an example, see U.S. Poverty Grassroots Organizer Jos Linn’s webpage). To date, we have raised just over $5,000 toward the challenge goal of $25,000.

Thank you to everyone who has already started and pledged to start their own Friends & Family Campaign. Keep up the great work! And if you haven’t created a campaign yet, it’s not too late! Join us in this challenge. Contact to Jen DeFranco ([email protected]) or Jerusa Contee ([email protected]) for help in getting started.

And if you haven’t made your own contribution to RESULTS this year, you can do it quickly and easily right through the RESULTS website.

Quick News

Join in RESULTS Free Agents Calls Today. The RESULTS U.S. Poverty Free Agents will meet today at 1:00 pm ET and 8:30 pm ET (note later start time for the evening call). If you live in an area with no active U.S. Poverty group, join us for this monthly support call to get updated on the issues and how you can take effective action to end poverty in America. Join online at http://fuze.me/27491886 or by phone at (201) 479-4595 and enter Meeting ID: 27491886. For more information, contact Jos Linn ([email protected]).

Welcome RESULTS Chicago! Last week, RESULTS Grassroots Manager for U.S. Poverty Campaigns Jos Linn traveled to Chicago to re-start the U.S. Poverty group there. They had a very productive and informative meeting where the participants learned to advocate about the EITC and Child Tax Credit. In the end, ten new people signed up to form a newly active RESULTS Chicago group. They start their new group training on December 1. If you know people in Chicago who’d be interested in getting involved, please contact Jos at [email protected]. In the meantime, welcome back, Chicago!

RESULTS Outreach Going Well. This past weekend, RESULTS U.S. Poverty Organizer traveled to Atlanta and parts of Alabama to support and work to start new groups there. In Atlanta, she had a very good meeting with some existing and new advocates and will be holding an advocacy training there in January. Kristy has also had coalition meetings in Alabama with the hopes of starting something there in the coming months. Kristy will also be hosting events in New Orleans and Baton Rouge the first week of December. If you know people in these areas, contact Kristy to get them connected ([email protected]). Also, thank you to RESULTS Real Change Fellow Matt Cooper in Kirksville, MO for hosting a meeting at Truman State University there last week. He’s gotten some initial interest and plans to do more outreach in the coming months. Finally, the new RESULTS Kansas City and Kansas State groups will start there new group training tonight. If you’d like to participate, contact Jos Linn ASAP for details ([email protected]).  

Join RESULTS Intro Call on Friday. If you know of someone who would make a great RESULTS advocate or someone you just want to introduce RESULTS to, invite them to join in our RESULTS Introductory Call this Friday, November 20 at 1:00 pm ET. These 30-minute calls are an easy and inspiring way to learn about RESULTS and how to get involved. People can register for the call on the RESULTS website.

Congratulations to Beth Wilson. Congratulations to RESULTS Kitsap (WA) volunteer Beth Wilson for being re-elected to her second three-year term as a Grassroots Member of the RESULTS Board. Beth has been a strong leader in RESULTS for many years and we look forward to her continued leadership as a powerful voice on the Board. Thank you also to Mark Campbell and Lisa Peters for putting their names forward for election this year. We are fortunate to have such talented people willing to take on greater leadership in RESULTS.

Upcoming Events

Go to the RESULTS Events Calendar to see a full list of RESULTS events. Also, find a list of the RESULTS U.S. Poverty staff with contact information on the RESULTS website.

Congressional Recesses: House and Senate: November 21-29. Request face-to-face meetings.

RESULTS U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, November 17 at 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. Join online at: http://fuze.me/27491886; or by phone at (201) 479-4595 and enter Meeting ID: 27491886. For more information, contact Jos Linn ([email protected]).

RESULTS/Vote to End Hunger Advocacy Training, November 19 at 2:00 pm ET. Go to http://votetoendhunger.org/nov-19th-webinar-training-registration/ to register today. See more details above.

RESULTS Introductory Call, November 20, at 1:00 pm ET. If you want to learn more about RESULTS, register for an upcoming Intro Call on the RESULTS website.

Thanksgiving Holiday, November 26. All RESULTS offices are closed November 26 and 27.

RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, December 12 at 12:30 pm ET. Join the meeting online at http://fuze.me/28130766 or dial in by phone at (201) 479-4595, meeting ID: 28130766#. Listen to previous conference calls and meetings on our National Webinars page.

2016 RESULTS International Conference, June 25-28, 2016 in Washington, DC. Save the dates!

If you have a question, comment or suggestion for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please e-mail them to RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Lydia Pendley at [email protected]. You can download RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report at: https://results.org/about/annual_report/.