How to raise $$ for the meeting Yeah, $200 is a lot of money. And of course you need more than that: you need airfare and hotel accommodations for two nights. Airfares to Louisville are fairly inexpensive -- one of the reasons we decided to hold the meeting here. Of course you know to get your tickets way in advance so they're as cheap as possible. But yes, we're talking $600-$800 dollars. That's the bad news. And, unfortunately, since we have no funding to pay for the accommodations, supplies, staff support and everything else we'll need to make this meeting a success, we must charge this registration fee. But the good news is: $600-$800 isn't a lot for an established organization or a business that provides grants. We think that anyone really committed to this issue who wants to come should be able to come! So we've developed 1 a list of suggestions on how to get funded to come to this meeting and 2 a personal sure-fire fundraising plan Our suggestions: Get your IL center to pay your way by offering to give a workshop! After the meeting in Louisville, you'll be full of ideas, new ways of networking with other activists interested in media issues and you'll have material to put on a workshop for local activists. Propose to your local Center that they pay your way; and you, in turn, will bring back information that can help them. This suggestion works with other groups, too: Your local PVA chapter, your local Easter Seals or UCP group, etc. (Hint: go to an organization that has money!) Approach your local newspaper, radio or TV's public affairs department to see if they can underwrite your trip. Since this is a media meeting, they might see your trip as a "worthy cause." If they do have a grants program, find out if you qualify. If they say they must give their money only to non-profit groups, go back to Suggestion A: Get them to give the $$ to your IL Center -- for your trip! This suggestion also works with other community groups who give out funds. Another tack would be to hit up friends, family, local service clubs, church groups or businesses for $75 or so each. It would only take about 10 of those to pay for the trip. Stage a wheelchair wash. Write an op-ed piece on the ADA for your local paper -- and get paid for it. If worse comes to worst, beg outside the supermarket. We're sure you can scare up even better ideas. Our fundraising plan Use our own two no-fail methods of raising $$ Once you pre-register using our online form, you qualify to use one of the following fundraising plans: Sell Ragged Edge subscriptions We're not joking! That's how we're getting the money to put on this meeting! Here's the deal: A Ragged Edge subscription goes for $17.50 for an individual subscription. Organizations pay $35 for a one-year subscription. You sell the subscriptions, send us $2.50 for each one, and keep the rest of the $$ for your trip! You must use the special form that we will send you on request. For each subscription, you send us $2.50. You sell the subscription --the subscriber pays YOU --for $17.50, or $35. Then you send us $2.50; you keep the rest. Six or seven organizational subscribers gives you enough $$ for your meeting fee. You can finance your entire trip this way! But remember, You MUST be pre-registered to qualify for this offer, and you MUST send in the subscriptions on the special form, accompanied by $2.50 for each subscription. Sell Advocado Press books This deal works pretty much like the one above. The difference is that you buy our books at wholesale up front -- then you sell them and pocket the money yourself! Use this money to pay your meeting registration fee, your hotel room, your airfare -- or forget about the May Media Meeting and send yourself to Aruba for vacation! The hassle here is that you have to fork out money for books up front -- the beauty part is that you get all the money back for yourself! The books we offer you are our popular Ragged Edge anthology and our Making News book. Net $5 to $10 per sale! Sell 20 books (not a lot!) and you've gotten the $$ for your registration. Sell 20 more and you've gotten your hotel money! And so on. TIP: get a group like your IL Center to buy 5, 10, 20 copies to give as gifts, awards, consciousness-raising tools, etc. After you pre-register, IF you've checked the box that says, "send me Fundraising Materials," we will send you the forms you need. Back to the Pre-Registration Page Back to The Ragged Edge Home Page