P.S. from Julie

One thing that has left me feeling strange about the conference in Minneapoliswas that from all the talks, all the videos, all the personal confessions, all of the women seemed to have the same recurring complaint:that their partner at the time they had an unwanted pregnancy was unemployed and/or a Vietnam Vet and/or a drug addict and/or an alcoholic and/or abusive to the womanand if all of we as women want to become empowered and responsible, let's take responsibility for ourselves.We picked our husbands, our boyfriends, or lovers, our one night stands on a bender.Unless we were impregnated because of rape or incest, we chose to have sex with whoever the guy was.There may be a horrendous number of immature, irresponsible men around us, but we can also choose not to have sex with them. We can choose not to spend time with them. We can tell them to go away. We can choose to empower ourselves and our lives and not tolerate relationships with anyone who doesn't deserve our love or affection.

Saturday at the Conference by Julie

Saturday, June 23, 2007 NNAF Annual Conference Minneapolis

Peggy went to an all-day Fundraising Workshop with a dynamite presenter, Andy Robinson, from Vermont. I went to the first session, and learned tons. Andy has been fundraising for social change for 26 years. He said fundraisers all fall into their job accidentally, that no one grows up thinking they are going to be a fundraiser. Now you can even get a four-year degree in fundraising. Andy had worked in the past in Arizona as an escort and for Planned Parenthood. Much of what he said is what Syvie has been telling us:

How to raise money:
1. Ask them
2. Thank them
3. Ask them again
4. Thank them again

The most effective way to raise money is to look someone in the eyes and ask. This is also the scariest way. When asking friends, give them permission to say no. Time is more precious to people than money but we don’t mind asking people we know to take time to help with things. Money should be easier.

Scenario:
I’m involved with The Peggy Bowman 2nd Chance Fund. In my roll as a board member, I need to raise money. It’s awkward. I hope you can help. If you can’t help, I love you anyway. I hope you can give.”

After they have given, thank them, recognize them, find a way to get them involved, have them help you with prospects, and educate them so they can educate others.

Every time you accept a gift from someone, you have a relationship with them. More donors means more work for us. Clients should help us fundraise.

People meet with you to talk about money only when you ask them to. Our culture has a misconception about money. It is not money that is the root of all evil. The Bible says it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. We make assumptions about people and their money according to their lifestyles.

Most important qualities we need for fundraising are: Passion and being a good listener.
Don’t focus on how you feel about the issue but how the potential donor feels about the issue. Don’t assume they feel the same way that you do. Listen to their passion and connect with them.

In 2005, $260 billion was given away in the U.S. (not by the government). Almost every year, we break records for money given.

76% of all money given away is from individuals--75% of this money comes from people making less than $70,000/year. 35-40% of this is given to churches.
11% is from foundations
8% is from bequests (when you die)
5% is from corporations

Churches are a great example to us. They help their own and their communities. And they are never afraid to pass the plate and ask for money. They expect it.
70% of households give money away to 5-10 groups each year. The average $ given is $1,300-$2,000/yr.

The future of fundraising is in monthly giving and planned giving. Young people are willing to give $ monthly. Automatic credit card charges. Compare it to the price of going out to eat, going to a movie. Renewals of giving are very easy this way too. “Would you like to leave a legacy of choice and freedom?”

Best Practices for Independent Funds (taking care of your funds and protecting yourself and your resources). Sue Steketee, treasurer for the national board, puts this workshop on each year. She is an accountant in New Mexico Planned Parenthood.

The most relieving news I got from this workshop is that no one has been sued or challenged yet within NNAF.

Both Wisconsin and South Dakota say they raise lots of money nationally on the internet.
It may be a good idea for our board members to sign a confidentiality agreement. It is good for board members to ask financial questions so that the staff knows we are paying attention to the numbers. A second party should be reviewing the bank statements/financials (or audits, reviews…). Keeps everyone above board.

We should also have an established and written policy for our donors on confidentiality with them.

Be careful on the internet and even on blogs that we aren’t revealing any confidentiality.
Are board members protected from liability? One woman said she has an addition to her homeowners policy umbrella that covers all volunteer work. Each state has its own insurance laws about directors insurances.

We should all be using blind copies when sending group emails out.

Getting the Message Across: Media Spokesperson Training--how to develop a good, clear, effective message and how to get it out there.

Susan Lamontagne from New York lead this group with many years experience in TV, political advocacy, and as a campaign spokesperson.

What do you want people to remember? Make it clear and crisp. What do people want to hear you say? Why does it matter to them? How does it affect them? Are you using simple words that they know about (lots of people do not know what Hyde, Roe, EC, comprehensive, etc. means). How are we different with what we do than PP or NARAL or NOW…? Keep it simple. How does it relate to who you are speaking with? If you are on TV, lean forward a bit and smile, wear good solid colors, and wear more makeup than you are used to wearing.

We need to change the term “comprehensive sex education” to “responsible sex education” so that it shows how irresponsible the other side is. We are promoting responsibility. When abortion is legal, then you can choose for yourself what is right.

What is the WHY of your message? We care about women and families. Over 99% of all legal abortions have NO complications. Why does this issue matter?

The Hyde Amendment allows the ONLY things Medicare (health care for the poor) does not cover. It covers Viagra.

Bill Clinton had a good slogan on abortion: Safe, legal, and rare
When talking about "partial birth", talk about wanted pregnancies gone wrong.

Talk about individual women. People (including women) don’t like the word “women”. Say, “a woman involved…” Identify them with someone they know.

******At the evening banquet, I found out that NNAF raised $2.6 million in the past fiscal year, and helped 23,000 women who otherwise would not have been able to obtain an abortion.***********

The highlight of the weekend was the banquet speaker this evening: Deborah Peterson Small, who works to replace the failing drug war with alternatives based on science, compassion, public health, and human rights. A Harvard law school graduate, and a gorgeous African American woman, Deborah was incredibly inspiring.

Her mission statement is to create a healthy intolerance for unjust laws against Blacks. (something like that).

She said, “It’s amazing when you are young what you can do that you think is exciting.” Everyone laughed, recognizing the statement. People say there are women who regret having had an abortion. There are many things to regret. I regret not buying a house when interest rates were low. Regrets, however, do not make us mentally unhealthy, as the Supreme Court is now proclaiming as their excuse to make abortions illegal--because there are women who regret it later and need to be protected.

She compared the Drug War with the Abortion War:
They are both morality based
They include judgment and blaming
Abortion has to do with the idea that sex should only be done for procreation, and that drugs should only be used for functioning, not recreation. Heaven forbid should we do drugs or have sex for pleasure.

We need to give people the knowledge and support to make their own decisions.
If you are affluent and white in America, drugs are legal for you.

How can we possibly be a democracy when we live in a country that only has two parties that do not represent the majority.

It took women 100 years to get the vote and even then they had to resort to such extremes as blowing themselves up and starving themselves in prison. Margaret Sanger wanted women to have the right to freely enjoy sex without having to worry about getting pregnant.

The people who are trying to make abortion illegal are simply trying to suppress women. They don’t care about children or they would be taking care of children.

Sex and drugs help you connect with yourself and wake up, and say, NO MORE. No more war. No more treating women and minorities inferiorly. They help you to question authority.
Why do Americans use more drugs than any other culture? Because our obsession with acquiring more and more is not satisfying.

Reproductive rights are not just women’s rights. They are men’s rights too. It effects them too when they are saddled with multiple child support payments that prevent them from getting a job--criminal not to pay…It makes slavery for men behind bars and the women attached to them.

We should not be afraid to challenge and engage in discussions with evangelists. The Bible was written by men for men. If you are a Christian, you should not be paying attention to the Old Testament anyway. Jesus was a radical telling people to go against the 600 plus laws and that the only laws that are important are love and being non-judgmental. Jesus did not say anything about sex or homosexuality. The only time it came up in any of the four gospels was when the prostitute was caught. And what did he say? He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone.
Loving people is not about blame or judgment. All the prophets in the history of the world were spreading the same message of love.

One t-shirt said, “How can 59,054,087 people be so dumb?”, another said “Just say no to sex with pro-lifers” (I’ve seen this on a bumper sticker before but it sure was fun to see it on a t-shirt.)

P.S. From Peggy. I will add more pictures and notes as soon as I catch my breath!

Julie at Work Writing Blog

First Day at NNAF

Peggy and I had quite an adventure just getting here. She brought her great scooter with her and the airports were quite accommodating. When we got to the Minneapolis Airport, we went up and down seven elevators to avoid stairs and escalators, and then found a tram from the airport to just blocks from the nearby hotel. Right away at the conference, met interesting people, and just as I suspected, people have been clamoring around Peggy to meet her. She has her book for sale at the silent auction tables. We met several of the National Board members. They told us there are 11 on the board with several openings. We had lunch with two women who work at the Overland Park PP Clinic. They were happy to have recently met Sylvie and Marilyn who visited their clinic. They had me take a picture of them with Peggy. I’ve asked them if they would like to have dinner with us tonight so we can talk further. We shall see.
They told us that the National Pro-Life Convention was just held in K.C. with both Brownback and Romney attending/speaking, and Bush telecasted. They also said they are very much still dealing with Phill Kline in their area.
Interesting panel discussion about international issues with a woman who has been working in Africa (it turns out her experience as been in Ethiopia, not Kenya, Mexico City (native there, here with an interpreter), and Puerto Rico. African expert says all funding in that country going to HIV/AIDS and they are working on getting it spread out to cover B.C. The exception is South Africa where they are self-funding b.c. in their country and evidently have lots of funding there. Mexico City legalized abortion this year for the first time. The rest of the country it is supposedly illegal but many stories from pre-Roe v Wade say USA women went to Mexico to get their abortions, and my friend from Puerto Vallarta told me all the doctors there perform abortions. Nobody talks about it. She said it is because b.c. is so taboo with the country being Catholic.
Saw documentary called “Silent Choices” about African American Women in the U.S. and how they feel about abortion. She was inspired to make it because she kept hearing that abortion is a white woman’s issue. She said it took her six years to make and she has had resistance in getting it shown at film festivals, including Black FF, but there are three to show it in August, and one in September (all Black FF).
I feel mixed about it. Interviews one woman who had an abortion before Roe v. Wade, one who had two during her college years, one who is trying to figure out what to do, interviewing also some of their mothers, friends, pro-life and pro-choice. Also interviewed religious leaders pro and anti. Main new ideas I got were that more African American women have abortions than white women in the U.S. but they don’t talk about it. Resistance from Black churches. There is a perception that Black women don’t get abortions. Marcus Garvey, 19thCentury Jamaican revolutionist was against abortion because he wanted to increase the Black numbers to increase political power. Covered Margaret Sanger opening a clinic in Harlem. Rumor has it that she forced birth control on black women there but of course, it was the black community asking for it. Covered 1960s Black activists called “Nationalists” (including The Black Panthers) who although pro-choice, were trying to build up their numbers for power, and in case the B.P. were killed, they wanted to have children to pass it along. Anti-Choice minister said, “Abortion is the decimation of my community”. Theme repeated itself saying Black women don’t talk about it (abortion).
Bumper stickers for sale there: “My Goddess Gave Birth To Your God”, “Never another battered woman”, “You’re pro-life? That’s fine. Now get one and stay out of mine” “Religious Groups should stay out of politics or…be taxed.”, “You can’t beat a woman”, “Recovering Catholic”, and they gave out free tins that are for holding tampons (or pencils…) that say “I’m pro-choice…Period.”, undies that say, “The only bush I trust is mine!” and “Pro-Choice Chicks Lay Wisely.” Even jewelry with designs that include real birth control pills in them.
Saw one woman who actually did tell her story to us all, who had a brown t-shirt on with blue lettering that said, “I had an abortion”.
The next session we went to Friday before dinner was called “Speak Out” where many women stood up in front of us all and told the stories of having gone through having an abortion. Very brave, very emotional, courageous and personal. WE all felt so drained afterwards.
From 1959 to currently, these stories were moving for us all. Several were using a condom, one was the only time she had ever had sex, some were with a boyfriend who was not working/not willing to work, some boyfriends were cheating on them or beating them, several were religiously taking their birth control pills. One had an illegal abortion pre-Roe v. Wade and went back again for a second, more painful time, and then had a miscarriage two days later. So often the woman was working and her boyfriend was not. So many never told anyone they had had an abortion before because they were so afraid of being criticized. Some were straight A students Some were living with their mothers who were on subsistence. Some had tried to go on birth control but had to prove they were 18 or 21 to get it. Average cost seemed to be $600 cash. Dropped off in a parking lot and picked up by an anonymous car and blindfolded. One had tried to use knitting needles herself but stopped when it became too painful. One had afterbirth left inside her so she thought she was still pregnant months later. Two were in Little Havana in Miami and one said they never spoke English. One said she never saw the doctor because he was on the other side of the sheet. One had the anesthetic wear off in the middle of the long procedure. She is now a lawyer who represents young women who don’t want to have to tell their parents to get on birth control. Several were on their way to college.
OB Gyns were almost all men then and let you know that you were not supposed to be having pre-marital sex when you would go to them to get on birth control. (That is true--my first exam was on my college campus and he smoked a pipe the entire time). They were very judgmental. Many of them let the women know they would not give them birth control. (Pre-Planned Parenthood).
One statistic spoken about today was that if you take the birth control pill for your entire life, you can still have two unplanned pregnancies.
One woman said after she had sex the first time in 1959 that she thought of the Peggy Lee song, “Is that all there is?”.

Practice Picture

P.S.

Only PBSCF board members have access to this blog.

We will leave Wichita on Thursday, June 21st and return Sunday.