9/9/97
Dear DRCNet Supporter:
Three weeks ago, I posted to this list, asking our subscribers to help us grow the organization by getting the word out about the DRCNet rapid response team and how to join. (See http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1997/8-17-1.html.)
During that time, the rapid response list has grown by 250 people! Thanks to your help, we are solidly on track to reaching our goal of 4000 subscribers by year's end. (Current numbers are close to 2900.) Of course, we can never have too many subscribers, so please be encouraged to keep the effort going.
Today, however, I am writing you to tell you about some of our other goals and needs. In a report to one of our major funders, we laid out some of our goals for 1997. One of these goals was the doubling of our e-mail list from 2000 to 4000. But another key goal was the doubling of our paying membership from 400 to 800. This means that we need 400 people who have never donated to the organization to start donating soon. Our ability to achieve our stated goals may well influence how generous this funder will be to us in the future. And many funders, both individual and foundation, use the number of paying members as one yardstick of an organization's effectiveness. This means that IF YOU'VE NEVER BEFORE CONTRIBUTED FINANCIALLY TO DRCNET, YOU HAVE A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE reaching beyond the scope of your own donation. Even $10 virtual memberships count, so please take a moment to write a check, phone in a credit card donation or wire it through our secure web form at http://www.drcnet.org/drcreg.html.
The other need I am writing to tell you about is DRCNet's ongoing need for financial support from its members. While grants and major gifts make up most of our operating funds, support from rank-and-file members is a critical portion of our total budget. Though we are better off financially than perhaps any time in our history, WE ONLY HAVE ENOUGH MONEY IN THE BANK TO LAST US THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF OCTOBER.
In the past we've appealed to our members in times of imminent crisis. (See The Sky is Falling I and II at http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1997/1-14-2.html and http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1997/4-17-3.html.) Today I am asking you to help us avoid getting to that point. While we are optimistic that more grants and major gifts will come in during the fall and winter, we have no way of knowing when or how much. And again, the motivation of our members to contribute to the organization is one yardstick that funders use to judge our effectiveness. Your support is critical to helping us keep up the momentum in the uphill struggle to end the war on drugs.
And I believe that momentum is demonstrated by our recent output. Some of DRCNet's recent achievements:
We have also incorporated, forming the Drug Reform Coordination Network, Inc. and the DRCNet Foundation, Inc., and we have submitted an application for 501(c)(3) charitable status for the DRCNet Foundation to the Internal Revenue Service. (The DRCNet Foundation is not accepting donations yet, pending receipt of an advance ruling from the IRS.) We are also fast-tracking our search for our own office space, as our host of the last two years, the Drug Policy Foundation, is expanding its number of staff and can no longer spare the fairly large amount of space into which we have grown with our recent spate of new volunteers. Which is yet another reason why donations are so critical right now.
And there are even more things we're working on that I can't tell you about yet, but which are likely to make a splash when they happen.
In short, we're getting things done at breakneck speed and are taking the organization to a higher level; but we need your help to be able to sustain it all through the end of the year. If you haven't donated before, or if you have donated, but not in awhile, please consider taking a moment to invest in a better world.
If you've already given what you intend to give this year, we thank you for your support. If you would like to donate, but truly can't afford to right now, not even $5 or $10, then please just take a moment to e-mail us at [email protected] to let us know that you appreciate our work; and please be assured that we value your participation and want you to stay on our list anyway.
Checks and money orders can be sent to us at the following address: DRCNet, 4455 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite B-500, Washington, DC 20008. Please be sure to include your address if you would like to receive The Activist Guide newsletter in print ($25 or greater donation). Credit card donations can be made via our secure web form at http://www.drcnet.org/drcreg.html, or can be submitted by fax to (202) 362-0032, or phoned in to (202) 362-0030.
Please note that contributions to DRCNet are not tax- deductible. (There is a way to support us with tax- deductible dollars, but it's very important that you first read the details at http://www.drcnet.org/dpfdrcnet.html.)
If you are reading this last paragraph, I thank you for your time and patience. But I urge you not to have too much patience for our government's immoral drug policies. In the end, it is you, the members, who will make us part of the solution.
Yours for peace and justice,
David Borden
Executive Director
Drug Reform Coordination Network
http://www.drcnet.org
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