BY NANCY ROSENSTOCK
BROOKLYN, New York - With only three weeks left in the Militant Fund drive, supporters of the socialist press are stepping up their pace of fund-raising. Shifting into high gear is essential to make our goal of $125,000 by the deadline of December 3. Two good examples are Houston and Twin Cities, which raised their goals this week by $750 and $500, respectively.
As the scoreboard indicates, we are running slightly less than a week behind schedule, having collected about $77,000 or 62 percent of the goal. Militant Fund campaigners report that one key to closing the gap is not only to collect on existing pledges but to make a wider stretch and solicit generous donations from people who like the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial but who haven't yet been asked to contribute.
The momentum from the eight-week Militant subscription campaign can now be carried over effectively into the fund drive. Many new readers are happy to contribute financially to a working class newspaper - when asked.
Ask and ye shall receive
"We discovered that new subscribers are among the most
enthusiastic about making a pledge to the Militant Fund,"
reports John Naubert, who is organizing fund-raising phone
calls in Brooklyn. "We have talked with people who have
read just a few issues of the paper and have found a new
political world opened up to them. They tell you things
like, `The Militant is a breath of fresh air' and `I love
the labor coverage.' Last Sunday, six subscribers made a
pledge right over the phone."
"We never realized the potential and there is still more money to raise," is how Jon Teitelbaum describes the efforts of campaigners in Philadelphia to make their goal of $6,000. They sent a fund mailing to 130 people, followed up with phone calls, and have raised $665 so far. One person they met with had attended the October 21 demonstration in New York City opposing the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba. He contributed $50 to the Militant Fund.
One subscriber sent a note with his $50 contribution saying, "Just a small contribution to the biggest (and best) newspaper being published today. That is meant not just as a compliment to the Militant, but as a tribute to the program it represents!"
Jack Willey, a national leader of the Young Socialists, spoke at a fund-raising rally in Philadelphia November 12. Sharing the platform with him was Jennie Nilson, an activist in the Philadelphia Cuba Support Coalition. The rally raised $620 plus $65 in new pledges. Four young people present announced they had decided to set up a new chapter of the Young Socialists after meeting with Willey.
Boston supporters, following a successful November 11 fund event, are sending out a mailing signed by six political activists to raise more money for the socialist press. One of the signers is Earl Camiré, member of AFSCME in Lawrence, Massachusetts, who wrote: "The Militant is an excellent newspaper. It needs to be in the hands of as many people as possible."
The fund-raising event in Boston featured David Cagnol, member of the Parti Quebecois at Rosemont Community College in Montreal and a leader of the campaign for a `yes' vote in the recent referendum in Canada, and Roger Annis, a member of the Communist League in Montreal, who was also part of that campaign. Fifty people attended the meeting, including several Quebecois from the Boston area. A number of participants found out about the meeting from listings in local papers.
We are starting to get more notes and reports on local fund drive experiences. Please keep sending them. Militant subscribers are eager to read about the progress of the campaign in your city and learn something from your experiences too.
At press time, there are 18 more campaigning days till December 3. As with the subscription drive, every day now counts in collecting the funds needed to make our goal of $125,000 and ensuring that the working-class voice of the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial continue.