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   Vol.65/No.11            March 19, 2001 
 
 
Supporters meet goal in campaign to increase contributions to SWP
 
BY STUART CROME  
SEATTLE--Supporters of the Socialist Workers Party have concluded a successful campaign to raise their collective monthly contributions to the national work of the SWP. This campaign was launched at the Active Workers Conference last July with a goal of raising supporters' contributions to $250,000 per year by the end of the year. The campaign was a resounding victory. Supporters are now raising $265,896 annually or an average of $22,158 a month.

The campaign is coordinated by a steering committee centered in Seattle, which held monthly meetings to discuss how the effort was progressing. The steering committee sent out a mailing each month summarizing the gains made and passing on ideas on how to broaden out and organize the drive. The mailing included a four-month chart of contributions from each area and a graph indicating the progress of the special campaign.

Sara Gates, the organizer of the steering committee, reports the momentum from the campaign did not end with the December deadline. In a letter sent out February 28 from the steering committee, Gates wrote, "The collection of the first month of the year 2001 indicates that the momentum is continuing. We've had additional raises in several places."

This recent success marks another step in the continuous improvement in supporters' financial contributions over the past 18 months. Both the number of supporters contributing and the amount donated have risen dramatically. In May 1999, 180 supporters contributed $138,000 a year or $11,500 a month. As a result of a campaign launched at the 1999 Active Workers Conference later that year, a total of 270 supporters were contributing a total of $234,888 a year or $19,574 a month by June 2000. The total climbed to 285 supporters contributing $265,896 annually by the beginning of 2001. These figures represent a 50 percent increase in the number of participants and a 93 percent increase in the amount of money contributed over the past year and a half.

Contributions by supporters are an important component of the party's national finances. At the 1999 Active Workers Conference, SWP national secretary Jack Barnes announced that for the first time in the party's history the party would count on supporters' contributions as part of its national operating budget.

In her remarks at the Active Workers Conference last July launching the most recent campaign, Gates pointed out that the contributions make it possible for the party nationally to make the decisions based on what is politically necessary to advance its work among workers and farmers in the United States and internationally.

Contributions are collected on a monthly basis in each area where supporters reside and are sent into the SWP national office in New York. If you would like to contribute, please contact Sara Gates at sjgates@home.com.  
 
 
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