Here is a sample letter for soliciting contributions to No Limits for Women:
Dear Friend and Supporter of women’s liberation,
I’m writing to you because I know that you care about ending sexism and I want you to have the opportunity to participate in a very important event that has the potential for widespread impact.
The United Nations is holding a Committee on the Status of Women’s (CSW) Beijing + 20 Forum in New York City in March 2015. This Forum will bring together women from around the world to develop a platform to address areas of critical concern to women worldwide. The No Limits for Women project of the Re-evaluation Counseling Community, an organization I have been part of for many years, participated at the original CSW Beijing Forum in 1995. We will again participate in this Forum.
In 1995, we brought 300 women to Beijing and conducted more than 20 workshops on a variety of topics related to ending sexism. These workshops were attended by thousands of women from around the world. Because our delegation was also international, we were able to offer translation into many languages. We also made many important contacts with many individuals and organizations from all over the world at the Beijing Forum.
We are currently planning to send a smaller international delegation of women and men leaders to the Beijing + 20 Forum in New York City. We are planning to lead workshops and support groups, and to play a supportive role to other organizations at the Conference. As always, contact with other people committed to this work will help all of us learn and improve our work. The workshops we plan to present are:
– Women and Men Forging Partnerships in the Elimination of Sexism World-Wide (women and men working together to eliminate sexism is a major focus of this Forum)
– Women and Leadership
– Women and Racism
– Women and Sexual Violence
Women who are part of the Re-evaluation Counseling Community have worked together for women’s liberation since the early 1970s. Tens of thousands of women have benefited from the women’s support groups, women’s classes, and women’s workshops that have been central to the work of Re-evaluation Counseling. No Limits for Women was created in 1990 (?) to take what we have learned about ending sexism beyond the Re-evaluation Counseling Community.
Re-evaluation Counseling (RC) is a form of peer counseling that has been developing for the past 50 years and is being used by people in more than 90 countries around the world. The premise is very simple. By using the natural gifts of healing with which we were born—crying, laughing, and shaking—while someone is actively listening with kindness and awareness, people are able to heal from past painful experiences and flourish in their present lives. Through this process I have seen people emerge from difficult personal struggles to thinking well and taking charge of their lives, their families, and the communities around them.
Our tools for eliminating sexism are taught in small classes and groups, and ongoing emotional work is required. Many members of No Limits for Women have taken these tools into advocacy organizations, schools, state offices, and churches; places where people are eager to get help with the hurts of sexism that affect all people and slow our efforts toward common goals.
Since I know you share my commitment to ending sexism and making this world a place where all people can thrive, I am asking for your help. This follow-up Conference presents yet another opportunity for us to share the work we are doing on a global scale with other organizations striving to eliminate sexism. Please contribute $100, $200, $50 or whatever you can. Your gift will be not only an investment in the spirit of these people, but in all the lives they touch. We need to raise these funds by March 6th (the day the Beijing + 20 Forum starts).
I hope you will take this opportunity to encourage and support this effort by making a donation. We can make great strides when we believe in and support each other, across all our differences.
If you have any questions please feel free to call or email me. I will be calling you in the next week to discuss this program.
Please make checks payable to The Re-evaluation Foundation—marked “No Limits for Women”—and mail to:
The Re-evaluation Foundation
19370 Firlands Way North
Shoreline, Washington 98133 USA
These contributions are tax-deductible.
With thanks and appreciation for your generous consideration,
[sign your name]
No Limits for Women
A Program of the International Re-evaluation Counseling Community and the Re-evaluation Foundation
For more information about No Limits for Women, visit the website at: https://www.nolimitsforwomen.net
For more information about Re-evaluation Counseling, visit the website at: https://www.co-counseling.org
