Fund-raising for the Campaign—A Revolutionary Challenge with Societal Impact

Here are two ideas that came up at the recent conference on the campaign "The Revolution We Need… The Leadership We Have" that we want to announce immediately. There were many good ideas to be synthesized into more of an overall plan that were worked with at the workshops and will be further developed and integrated into the campaign. A very important and overarching point was the importance of there being a culture of fund-raising—in everything that we do—including passing the hat on every street corner we are saturating and at every event and meeting we hold. The conference in New York City raised thousands of dollars as a powerful closing to the conference. Determined to raise the funds for the first massive printing of the statement, the fund-raising at the conference indicated the collective strength of what we accomplished that weekend. It was an indication that we came out of this roaring and ready to really put this campaign into a higher gear! As one participant put it, this showed that people are serious—and that we ARE going to do this.

So we are excited to announce that we are going full steam ahead with one of the ideas that really began to take shape at the fund-raising workshop in NYC. An all-day web-a-thon to raise money for the campaign. This will be a nationwide all-day event (at least 16 hours, when you consider the advantage of time differences)—to combine phone banking with a full day of web programming on the campaign.

On Sunday, June 20, everyone will need to clear their calendar for a concentrated nationwide feat to really raise big money. Begin assembling your e-lists and phone lists now—we should by the end of the first ten-day saturation have many more names and numbers to work with. Revolutionaries need to be serious and professional about compiling these every day and getting them into the appropriate set of lists—so that no one who says they want to be contacted is lost, forgotten and their potential squandered. This is another key element of reporting. Begin organizing now, where you will be collectively and individually phone banking, so that everyone is hooked in and momentum can build throughout the day.

There will be, in connection with the webcast, special programming for people to listen to and take part in: special reports from Revolution newspaper reporters from the catastrophe in the Gulf, an important speech on the environment by Raymond Lotta, a recent speech by Alan Goodman on the massacre of internationals bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza by the Zionist State of Israel, developments in Arizona including reports from youth going to Arizona for the summer to stop the fascist laws scheduled to go into effect on July 29, Sunsara Taylor, a report from Carl Dix on the U.S. Social Forum and putting revolution on the map in Detroit—with a major saturation to take place in the city as a whole and at the U.S. Social Forum—and more.

The webcast will also have coverage of the impact of getting the statement out there and pictures of the graphic image of Bob Avakian going up around the country. In fact, one of the things we will be fund-raising for that Sunday will be to put this up on billboards and as huge murals on walls that we are able to get with permission or rent in Detroit and New Orleans and Arizona.

If there are YouTube videos of people wearing the image of Bob Avakian shirt or displaying the poster—and those same people testifying as to why they are doing so—be sure that these are being sent into Revolution newspaper so that some of the best of these can be played that day—no matter where you are, in a major city or small town or an outlying area of the revolution—you can be part of this—it will be a nationwide collective event. If you would like to film a special report of key advances in the saturation from the city where you are—you can film these and send them in also.

This web-a-thon will actually begin on Sunday afternoon, June 13—where especially people who have volunteered to work on fund-raising will do an initial broadcast—with coordinated phone banking—to begin raising funds as soon as possible and to also get some necessary experience in doing this before the really big all-day event. This is important in its own right and is crucial as a building block.

We will need hundreds of people phone banking on June 20—there will be a basic template or script so that people who have never done this can jump right in—and so that people they call can call or email ten of their friends. One of the favorite approaches that someone came up with at the East Coast conference was "Hi, this is the revolution calling—we're calling you because we have a whole better way to run society and you need to be part of the movement for revolution... We are raising $_____ today to put this revolution on the map."

A supplemental idea that came up in the fund-raising workshop for the July 4th picnics—organize a walk or run, or both, that morning, or that weekend, where people sponsor you by the mile. People who register will get the image T-shirt before the walk—and people can walk/run in them together advertising the campaign as they go, through busy parks or waterfronts or through neighborhoods. Do it on the weekend of the 4th—and/or do it again later in the summer.

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