* Build basic organizational infrastructure, things necessary to keep SDS running (i.e. the National Convention or website)
* Projects that build SDS
* Projects that have implications for SDS nationally, not just locally
* Projects that are regional or multi-chapter also get priority
* Projects that are nationally endorsed (like the Accessible Education campaign)
* Projects that are high-profile/media-worthy/big mobilizations

In December and January, we voted to fund four exciting projects:

Welcoming Kits for new chapters
The Welcoming Committee received funding to begin sending out Welcome Kits to new chapters. The  kits will include an Accessible Education campaign organizing guide, sign-up sheets, sample flyers and posters, a tabling guide, copies of the news bulletin, a facilitation guide, and sds pins and stickers!

A new website!
The SDS website is outdated and ugly. The new national Website Working Group is giving it a re-design and switching to a new server.

Travel stipends to the New Years Retreat in Athens, OH
Athens SDS hosted the second annual SDS New Years retreat on Jan 3-4. Travel stipends were made available to better enable SDSers outside the midwest and northeast to attend and help set national SDS’ priorities and goals for 2009.

Assistance to Tacoma SDS for an action on the 6th anniversary of the war in Iraq
Tacoma SDS is holding a huge Demonstrate! protest on the 6th anniversary of the war in Iraq. This event is just part of their work to build SDS in the northwest.

If you would like more information about the Fundraising Working Group and applying for funds, check out our blog at: http://sdsfundraising.wordpress.com/.

We’re writing to you with some exciting news: after paying for the 2008 National Convention, Action Camp, and RNC costs, SDS has some extra money! The Fundraising group has been hard at work, as have SDSers across the country who raised money for national SDS projects. And now, for the first time we can offer national bodies the chance to request funds for their projects.

Some quick Q & A’s:

Who can apply for money?
Any official SDS body. This includes caucuses, auxiliaries, working groups, national campaigns, chapters and other parts of the structure, like the NWC.

How do I apply?
There is an application available at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XQTueH8H61QaxNuEqG6ByQ_3d_3d

The application asks some basic questions about you, the group you’re requesting on behalf of, and the project the money is for. Requests will be prioritized based on:
* Basic organizational infrastructure, things necessary to keep SDS running (i.e. the National Convention or website)
* Projects that build SDS
* Projects that have implications for SDS nationally, not just locally
* Projects that are regional or multi-chapter also get priority
* Projects that are nationally endorsed (like the Accessible Education campaign)
* Projects that are high-profile/media-worthy/big mobilizations

How much can I apply for?
We have extra money, but it’s still less than $2000, though we are launching a holiday fundraising drive in the next few days. So for now, please keep your requests to less than $500, so there is enough to go around. If you really need more than that, provide an explanation on the application and we will consider it.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the fundraising working group at sdsfundraising@gmail.com

Thanks!
SDS Fundraising Working Group

It’s here! An SDS Fundraising Guide with:
1) a special instructional section just for SDSers, and
2) a booklet to show the public with information about our victories, our upcoming projects, info about how to donate, and hot pictures of SDSers doing cool actions and kicking butt!

You can read and download the fundraising guide by right-clicking here and choosing “Save Link As…”
It is a PDF file and requires Adobe Acrobat to view, you can download Adobe Acrobat for free here.

If you would like a printed copy of the booklet mailed to you the old-fashioned way, e-mail us at sdsfundraising@gmail.com.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=h_2fEQ2rJdQKCXvkheH8IFhg_3d_3d

But the best way to exercise democratic control over our budget is to join the fundraising committee and help us with this critical project:

http://groups.google.com/group/sds-fundraising

Hey fellow SDSers. Please read this entire email, it is very important to
our organization!

In two short years, SDS has become one of the largest and fastest growing
student led organizations, with over 120 active and dynamite chapters.
Heroic thanks to everyone who organizes with us and makes it possible!

Last summer (2007) was a turning point for us. We had our first Action Camp
and our second National Convention, two critical events that involved
hundreds of SDSers and strongly shaped the work that happened during this
year. As summer rolls around again, we are bringing back our biggest hits,
but we need your help.

This summer, the National Convention and the Action Camps will again bring
about 300 SDSer’s together for training, movement building, and friendship.
That means we need to provide for food, mentors, and housing. Most
importantly, we need funds to make sure that SDSers from working class
backgrounds or far-away regions are able to come and participate. That’s
right – we need money to make democracy work!

To meet this need, we started the Fundraising Working Group!

We are asking SDSer’s to make fundraising commitments to help our
organization grow.

Everyone can get involved by making a chapter commitment, and a personal
commitment to fundraise for SDS! The money we put into our convention and
action camps (and other projects) directly empowers and trains chapter
organizers from around the nation. Here’s how to get involved in some of
SDS’s most important work -

At the chapter level:

We are asking that each chapter commit to raising $100 this summer. (With
over 120 chapters, that’s $12,000 dollars if everyone does their part!) You
can do this by holding an easy benefit show or party, a community yard sale
or bake sale, asking each member to commit $10, or any combination of
things. These are also great opportunities to build and publicize your
chapter!

We need you (yes, you, right now) to RSVP to
mailto:sdsfundrais…@gmail.com<sdsfundrais…@gmail.com>and tell us
that you’ll bring this up at your next chapter meeting! Please
get in contact with us NOW (cmon, click that email link already) so we know
you’re planning to talk to your chapter. Then we can follow up with you and
see if your chapter can commit to fundraising for this summer!

This is how we build a strong, democratic organization, so we really
appreciate your help. We need this work to grow and keep up with the new
chapters that join every day!

As a member of SDS:

We are asking each of our members to raise $100 – $300 (or however much they
can) from their parents, relatives, or friends if it is appropriate for your
family’s financial situation. Please ask your parents to support the work
you care about. If you MIGHT be interested raising money from your parents
or relatives, please RSVP (right now!) to sdsfundrais…@gmail.com!
We will send you a “how-to” packet that will prepare you to ask for money
(we know it’s not easy)! It will include a fancy letter and presentation
with snazzy photographs of our incredible 2-year history, to demonstrate
what a wonderful organization we are and to show your parents that the money
will be well spent.

Besides, this isn’t about getting your parents to support SDS’s progressive
politics, it’s about showing their love and support for their children’s
interests. And there’s no reason to feel hesitant or embarrassed! This is
how we build multi-generational commitment and wide community involvement in
SDS. If you are financially able, please consider asking your parents to
use their resources to help support you and this empowering organization.

If you might be interested in asking your parents for money, please RSVP
*right now* to sdsfundrais…@gmail.com. We will send you a full packet of
information that will make your request super easy! Trust us, your folks
will love it and be really proud of you.

So, those are the two ways that you can help us build this key part of SDS.
Please step up and take leadership, by asking your chapter to raise $100+ at
the next meeting, and by asking your family to support your interests with
$100- $300.

Please RSVP to sdsfundrais…@gmail.com *right now* so we can support you
and make this work as easy as possible! Or email us with any questions!

To donate money to SDS, you can go to the website – www.newsds.org and click
on the “Make a Donation” button, or you can make a donation by mail – send
checks to

SDS
741 Morton St NW
Washington DC, 20010

To join this awesome, productive, drama-free working group and help build a
strong national organization, join us at:
http://groups.google.com/group/sds-fundraising?hl=en

<3

The SDS Fundraising Working Group

In just two years, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) has become
one of the largest student led organizations in the U.S., with over
120 active chapters in high schools and colleges all over the country.
Last summer was a turning point, with the first SDS Action Camp and
the second National Convention which involved hundreds of SDSers and
strongly shaped the work that happened during this year. Having
attended the conference, and the one the prior year as well, I can
attest to the seriousness, industry, and creativity these young people
bring to their labors. They have not only the passion and energy
broader activism in the U.S. needs, they also bring insights and even
wisdom – even at so young an age.

As summer arrives again, SDS is planning another Action Camp, their
third National Convention, and actions at the RNC and DNC.  The
National Convention and the Action Camps will again bring about 300
SDSer’s together for training, movement building, and friendship. They
need our help to provide food, mentors, and housing, and perhaps most
importantly, assistance to make sure that SDSers from working class
backgrounds or far-away regions are able to participate.

SDS has been winning campaigns and organizing successful actions all
year – SDS chapters in the Northwest helped organize the Port
Militarization Resistance to block US military shipments to Iraq in
Olympia, Washington; Virginia Commonwealth University SDS won their
campaign to get a sexual assault resource center on their campus;
Harvard SDS won higher wages for their campus security guards through
a dramatic hunger strike; Brown SDS won a substantial increase in
financial aid and the smallest tuition increases the school had seen
in a quarter century and DC SDS organized the largest single action in
the country on the 5th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq.

These are just a few of a vast array of indicators that SDS has grown
tremendously this year.  But the hard work of organizing is what
sustains SD and it has costs. For example, Lancaster SDS, a high
school chapter, has built a presence in 6 area high schools and
epitomizes the successful slow approach of community building and
organizing.  Chapters around the country are organizing around issues
including opposition to the war in Iraq, environmental justice and
sustainability, gentrification in their communities, and building
student power on campuses.  More, in the coming year, SDS is hoping to
organize a national campaign around accessible education and student
debt elimination, and continue working to build a strong, vibrant
student movement.

SDS – meaning young people in motion – is precisely what has been
missing from activism in the U.S. for a long time – yet now its back
to stay, or it can be, that is, if it is sufficiently supported.

So please, I urge you to donate as generously as you can to support
the exciting work of Students for a Democratic Society. They need the
help – and we all need them.

note that all donations are tax deductible through SDS’ fiscal
sponsor, the Alliance for Community Trainers (ACT).  Also, you can
make a donation online by going to www.newsds.org, or you can send
donations to:

SDS
741 Morton St NW
Washington DC, 20010

please make your checks payable to ACT and write “SDS” in the memo line.

You can get more information by emailing sdsfundraising@gmail.com

I want to thank you in advance for supporting SDS – we all need what
they have to give!

Michael Albert