[fundraising] Revised email fundraising letter

[Jamie O'Keefe]

Sorry it has taken me so long, but here is the revised fundraising
letter.  I would appreciate it any suggestions for improvement.

We will send two versions:

a.  To people who gave in 2005, but are not sustainers..

b.  To people who gave in the past, but have not given in over a year.

Before I send this out, I need:

1.  Wendy and Ron's approval since it is written in their name.

2.  Brian review of the list (will send to him in another email) to
remove people who have already given.

Also, Merelice, would you be able to modify this text for a snail mail
version, or is there one already?

Thanks!

Jamie

Dear <first name> <last name>,

A new year, a new chance to fight for peace and justice!  We certainly
have a great deal to fight:

o  Bush, with Democratic support, invaded Iraq illegally and has now
mired us in an occupation that has killed over 100,000 people;

o  We are experiencing the negative effects of global warming now,
including the melting of the north pole ice cap and a 30% decline of
the gulf stream's flow that could significantly cool Europe;

o  Income inequality continues to increase in Massachusetts as our
economy turns out low-paying service jobs;

o  Our democracy continues to decline with the pervasive voter
disenfranchisement in Ohio and elsewhere.

However, the Green-Rainbow Party continues to fight for justice.  Your
help is needed!

In 2005, we led the March to Abolish Poverty for the X year running. 
This effort brought committed low-income activists and supporters
together throughout the commonwealth to agitate for ending poverty.

After two unsuccessful attempts to get a party member elected in
Cambridge, Luc Schuster, a native Cantabridgian and school teacher
became the first party member elected to the Cambridge School
Committee.  Additionally, Chuck Turner won reelection as a Boston City
Councilor, Bruce Menin was reelected to the Newburyport School
Committee and other members were elected for town offices.

We made advances in 2005, and with your support in 2006 we can do
better!  Here is what we have planned.

The upcoming 2006 State Election provides a great opportunity for us
to build the Green-Rainbow Party at the grassroots, advocate for our
Ten Key Values and to expand our effort to abolish poverty in
Massachusetts.

At the G-RP annual State Convention last June, party members decided
to establish a diverse committee to explore the feasibility of running
a diverse slate of candidates for the commonwealth-wide offices (US
Senate, Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of
State, Treasurer, and Auditor).  Due to the election laws, it will be
considerably easier for us to run a slate of seven candidates for the
commonwealth-wide offices, than it was to run three commonwealth-wide
candidates in 2002.  We believe that the commonwealth-wide slate and a
good group of legislative candidates will assist us to expand the
number of local chapters we have.

We will continue to advocate abolishing poverty, and will continue to
expand on our past efforts while integrating this campaign with our
2006 electoral efforts.  Make no doubt about it, abolishing poverty
and all of the attending ills it perpetuates will be a cornerstone of
the issues our candidates' advocate.

In preparation for the 2006 campaign, we have started to phone as many
of our members and supporters as we can.  We are asking for their
views, their assistance in this year and to help identify potential
candidates.

While we economize as best we can, indeed this e-mail to you saves us
fifty cents and reduces the trees we use and helps keep pollutants out
of the air we share, we do need members to volunteer their time and to
raise money to advance the party's projects.

The Green-Rainbow Party is the only party that advances the causes of
social justice, ecological sustainability, diversity, democracy and
non-violence that we all care so much about.

<If has given in the last year
Your support this year has been vital to making 2005 as successful as it was.

May we count on you to help us make 2006 even more successful?
<If has given in the last year

<If has not given in the last year
We have counted on your support in the past, and we need your help to
make 2006 a successful year for peace and justice.

Will you renew your committment to the Green-Rainbow Party?
</If has not given in the last year

To contribute to our effort, please visit:

          http://www.green-rainbow.org/contrib.html

or mail us a contribution to:

          Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts
          PO Box 440353
          Somerville, MA 02144

To volunteer, please visit:

          http://www.green-rainbow.org/volunteer.html

or call us at (978) 688-2068.

Yours in Peace,

Wendy Van Horne, Co-Chair  (978) 407-4057
Ron Francis, Co-Chair (617) 230-2835

PS: If you feel that this email was sent in error, or you no longer
support the Green-Rainbow Party, please visit the following web form
so that we can update our database to note that we should not contact
you in the future:

       http://www.green-rainbow.org/database/removePerson.html?email= ...