Dear Co-Counselor,
United to End Racism is currently fundraising to sustain and expand UER efforts to reach people with our work to end racism. Our next major effort will be sending a delegation of fifteen Co-Counselors to the Fifth Annual Conference on White Privilege, in Pella, Iowa, April 27 to May 1, 2004. UER will be presenting workshops and leading support groups on topics such as "Healing from the Damage Done by Racism," "The Role of Young People in Ending Racism," "The Role of White People in Ending Racism," "Internalized Racism," and "Our Experiences in Doing Healing Work within the Prison System."
We will use this as another opportunity to reach outside the RC Community with the work of UER and RC and to move the RC Communities forward in our work on ending racism.
Our last major fundraising project (to send a UER delegation to the World Conference Against Racism in Durban in 2001) was very successful. We raised enough money to send 55 RCers to Durban and seed new RC communities in eight countries. Our goal is to continue going public with UER and RC and to reach more people with our theory and tools of eliminating racism, as we raise money to participate in this US conference and follow up on the contacts we will make there. (UER has already received a foundation grant that will fund the majority of our efforts at this conference, but additional fundraising is needed for follow-up work with contacts we make at the conference.)
Some of the key fundraising/going public activities that were successful last time:
The majority of the money raised for the WCAR was through direct solicitation.
- Write a personal letter to friends and family describing our project. Please check our sample letters, which are similar to one successfully used to raise money for Durban. You can write the same people who contributed the last time, as well as new people, and talk about the success of the UER project at the WCAR and the follow-up workshops in South Africa and South America (see Diane Shisk's report on those workshops in the October 2002 Present Time). You can include UER pamphlets, handouts, audio cassettes or videotapes in your letter to past (and future) donors. Talk about our activities (workshops, listening projects, etc.) that have been focused on the Middle East, and the role racism and anti-Jewish oppression play in that conflict.
- Hold wide world UER events where the basic theory and practice of RC and our work on eliminating racism are introduced. Examples of some of these activities include:
- day-long going public workshops (or series of workshops) or evening gather-ins on different topics: eliminating racism, internalized oppression, the role of white people, etc., including an introduction to RC, panels, demonstrations, mini sessions (see the videotape Reaching New People with Our Work to End Racism for examples of how UER delegates conducted wide-world workshops on ending racism in Durban)
- a conference on ending racism sponsored by one or more RC communities (possibly in collaboration with other wide-world organizations working to end racism)
- listening projects, tables at wide-world events: rallies, marches, etc. (a going public, not fundraising activity)
- concerts by local musicians who are committed to this project and who would donate their performances to UER, and where information about UER and it's activities is presented
- informal in-home dinners or house parties for friends serving food, or potlucks where people bring dishes that reflect their cultural heritage.
- block parties (similar to house parties), family nights, game nights, talent shows, cultural-sharing, etc, and use them as an opportunity to communicate about UER and RC theory
At all these events you can include talk about UER and RC, do mini sessions, have cultural heritage sharing, and UER, sell pamphlets, audio/video tapes, posters, pins, and the new UER t-shirts.
You will need to figure out how much money to charge in order to cover basic expenses of running the event and to raise money for UER. We recommend that you set a flat fee or use a sliding scale, with a minimum amount high enough to cover costs and raise money.
Fundraising activities have been most successful when they are carried out by a group of Co-Counselors that formed for that purposed, with a designated leader and specifically defined goals and strategies, and who use the group to discharge on their own distresses about money, going public with RC, work on racism, building personal relationships, as well as on directly soliciting money.
These going public/fundraising activities will go better if we remember to keep the focus on building personal relationships. Also remember to work on our money distresses in sessions, support groups, workshops; and work on any embarrassments or other feelings that get in the way of our presenting RC/UER theory in a relaxed, confident, natural way.
Fundraising activities NOT TO ENGAGE IN:
- Asking RC leaders to donate their fees, or increasing the cost of any RC event with part of the proceeds going to fundraising (any RC Community member is, of course, welcome to donate to UER)
- Auctions of services donated by Co-Counselors, where tickets are sold within the RC community
- Selling t-shirts or other items at RC classes or workshops, other than the UER items produced for the WCAR
List of UER materials and their prices:
We have these UER materials to sell:
- PAMPHLETS:
Working Together To End Racism, ($2)
United to End Racism and the United Nations World Conference Against Racism: Durban, South Africa, August 2001 ($3) - AUDIO CASSETTE:
The Role of White People in Ending Racism, by Tim Jackins ($10) - VIDEOTAPES, available in NTSC, PAL, or SECAM (L) format. ($25 each):
United to End Racism in Durban
Reaching New People with our Work to End Racism
The Role of White People in Ending Racism
The Ending of Racism - POSTERS:
Chicano Liberation, multicolor six-figure design, Asian Peoples ($10) (these can be viewed on the web site) - UER pins ($10.50)
- T-SHIRTS in L, XL, XXL sizes (limited quantities; sorry, no more S or M available) with the same multicolor six-figure design we had on the original batch, but this time the full text of the WCAR poster is also on the shirt ($15)
*You can buy printed materials (pamphlets, posters) at the same discount as for RC literature: 20% for 10 or more of the same item; 40% for 20 or more. Checks for pamphlets, audio cassettes, and videotapes should be made out to Rational Island Publishers; checks for posters, pins, and t-shirts should be made out to the Re-evaluation Foundation.
We have distributors for different sections of the country to make it easier to get the materials. They will have a supply of all of the materials and will work to make sure that UER materials are available at all major workshops. If you are organizing a workshop or if you want to sell these materials in your community, you can contact the appropriate person. It's cheapest to hand deliver rather than ship the materials to an organizer, so if someone from the distributor's city is going to a workshop in another part of the region, they should contact the distributor and bring a supply of materials to that workshop.
DISTRIBUTORS
East Coast
Keith Miller
2923 Hannah Ave.
Norristown, PA 19401
610-292-9064
Keithmiller384@aol.com
Mid West
Marty Rosenheck
9243 Springfield Ave.
Evanston, IL
847-677-5992
mrosenheck@enteract.com
West Coast
Ellie Putnam
Re-evaluation Counseling Community Resources, Inc.
719 Second Ave. North
Seattle, WA 98144
Ellieput@w-link.net
206-284-0311 (or 206-328-5006)
Chris Selig
1189 Treat St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
415-648-2018
cselig@uclink4.berkeley.edu
Scott Ross
185 Douglane Ave.
San Jose, CA 95117
408-296-6181
sross@mount.com
Check the UER web site at: www.rc.org/UER frequently for new information.
I encourage you to write up your fundraising successes and post them on the UER list. I'd like to hear any ideas, questions, or comments you have about going public or fundraising.
Love,
Ellie Putnam
Ellieput@w-link.net
206-284-0311 (or 206-328-5006)