Fundraising Letter Template

Let’s Do This! Raise the Funds Needed to #RiseUpOctober!

October 10, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

 

Here is a letter that should be used to reach out very broadly right now to raise the funds needed to make Rise Up October do what it needs to do.  Use this page, or the Word file at right, to send to people you know and people you have heard of that should be contributing, and tell them to send it to others as well.

 

Dear Friend,

I am writing to ask for your financial support for a historic event: #RiseUpOctober, October 22-24 to STOP Police Terror—Which Side Are You On?

You've seen it more times than you can count: A Black or Latino person, at any time, just walking down the street or driving to work or standing in front of a hotel or even in their home, has their life snuffed out for no reason whatsoever... video after video of police murdering unarmed people—people with their hands up, people running away, people gasping for air... being stomped, choked, tased, shot, and beaten to death. Day after day this happens. Time after time the police walk free.  

This deadly reality was forced into the light of day through the mass resistance that took place in the last year and a half.  The authorities responded on the one hand with repression, and on the other with promises of reforms; symbolic steps here and there were taken.  At this point, we face a crossroads: either the resistance will be repressed or derailed, with the horrors intensifying... or people will come forth in much greater numbers and determination and change the terms of how all of society looks at this and acts on it.

This is what Rise Up October is aiming to accomplish: October 22-24 in New York City thousands and thousands will pour into the streets in different ways, insisting to the world and the country: THIS MUST STOP!   October 22 in Times Square, NYC, parents and relatives of those slain by police telling their stories and giving out their cry for justice in a reading of the names of those murdered.  October 23: mass, nonviolent civil disobedience to “shut down Rikers Island,” the massive prison complex that sits right in the middle of New York.  October 24: all this coming together as thousands and thousands pour through New York, demanding that police murder must stop.  Taken together, these will draw a sharp line in all of society: WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON??  This will re-seize the political initiative and again put the outrage of relentless, unpunished, illegitimate police murder and abuse center stage in the social life of this country.

Initiated by Carl Dix and Cornel West, joined by an Advisory Board including Eve Ensler, Jamal Joseph, Gina Belafonte, Rev. Stephen Phelps, Arturo O'Farrill, other voices of prominence from all walks of life and by more than 70 families of victims of police murder, and many others, this effort needs your support.

But right now, to do any of this, we urgently need your financial support.  We need your financial support for publicity and materials to spread the word.  We need your financial support to bring the families of those murdered by police to New York.  We need your financial support to finance organizing.  Again, this outrage cannot be swept under the rug and your financial support will ensure that it won’t be.

Those with few funds have given generously.  Alicia Kirkman, the mother of Angelo Miller who was killed by Cleveland police in 2007, is selling hot dogs and chips to raise funds. She said, “Rise Up October!... means a lot to me. It’s never happened in our lifetimes. All together: WE ARE NOT TAKING THIS KILLING AND MASS INCARCERATION! We are not tolerating it anymore. We do it in our cities, but never altogether like this... all the relatives of people murdered by police nationwide... I can’t rest until this happens.” Other families of the thousands of stolen lives from across the country are also raising funds to travel to NY doing bake sales and barbecues... all on a mission so that no one else ever has to experience the pain and loss of losing their loved ones under the color of authority.   A Mexican immigrant laborer in LA donated nearly $1000 to send families to New York.  Surely YOU can donate generously to make these three days as powerful as they need to be.

And after you donate, tell others why you're giving and ask them to do the same. We are in the midst of a $100,000 crowdfunding campaign—go to igg.me/at/RiseUpOctober or RiseUpOctober.org (or you can mail a check to the address below).

We face a decisive moment, a crossroads, where terms are being set as to what is legitimate, what will be tolerated and what will be opposed. Lives are at stake. Be part of determining the outcome.

How do you answer Alicia Kirkman and the thousands of others who have lost their loved ones to murder by police: which side are you on?

I look forward to talking with you about this soon.

All my best,

 

 

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