Breaking It Down and Raising Sights

July 11, 2013 | BA Everywhere | revcom.us

I was talking with some friends about how important it is to meet the goals of this BA Everywhere Summer 2013 Indiegogo fundraising campaign. Some of us had read “All Out to Raise Funds for the BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS! Bob Avakian Live Summer Van Tours” and “Filling the Greatest Need Facing Humanity: The World Emancipating Urgency of BA Everywhere!” I’d really recommend that people read those two pieces because you get a sense of what tremendous need there is in the world right now for this campaign to succeed, and you get a living sense of the big impact it could have.

We need to raise another $10,000 by the end of July 15. I was thinking more about what this would actually look like. What kind of process do we need to meet this goal, and how can we break it down in a concrete way? I came up with some ideas that would be useful to share, some steps to make a big final push and raise the needed funds.

First, I thought, how could this $10,000 be broken down in terms of what everyone is throwing in nationally. Well, if you think about the fact that there are four van tours going out this summer from four major cities, if each of these cities raised $2,500 each the campaign goal would be met. Breaking down a big number like that into smaller pieces that everyone is throwing in toward together would make it look much more concrete. $2,500 in four major cities – isn’t that something we can do? This is possible!

Let’s break it down even more. So if each city needs to raise $2,500 – how do we do this?

Ok – so let’s say for the first $500 we raise this through doing mass work – going out to the neighborhoods, the parks, the shopping areas, out in front of cafes or museums – getting everywhere where people gather and boldly promoting BA and what he’s all about. And through doing all this mass work, we collect donations from everyone who is engaging and appreciating BA and wants to see more work like this done all summer long. And let’s make sure we invite a lot of people to come out and join in these outings! For example, think about everyone who has seen a clip from BA Speaks: Revolution — Nothing Less! Bob Avakian Live. These people have all been introduced to the most radical revolutionary leader on the planet. All these people already have a taste of what it means to know about BA and even as they are learning more, they can be a dynamic factor in throwing in to all this. $500 through mass work – we can do that! This is possible!

Great, so $500 down, $2,000 more to go. One thing we know is that when people are out getting BA known to the masses, this work often really inspires people who are more middle class. They want to see BA connecting with the masses, and they are encouraged when they see new people and masses connecting with this leader. Let’s use that dynamic to raise funds! Let’s line up people who want to match what we raise on the streets. In each city, don’t we know a few wealthier individuals who have learned about BA? Maybe they’ve seen part of the film, or read some of BAsics, or maybe they really like the Indiegogo campaign video, and they love seeing how people connect with BA in different ways. Let’s approach these people now and get them lined up to match what is raised on the streets doing mass work over the weekend. Maybe there is one person who will match dollar for dollar, or maybe there are two people – either matching the funds together, or each contributing one dollar for every two that are raised on the streets. $500 through matching donations – we can do that! This is possible!

Ok so that’s the first $1,000, and $1,500 more to go. This next $500 – aren’t there some young professionals we know who have gotten introduced to BA and like what he’s about? Don’t we know five of these young professionals who would each contribute $100? That seems like something we should be able to do – think about everyone who has read some of BAsics and has engaged with the quotes in that book. Think about all the people who would connect with the quote BAsics 1:13, “No more generations of our youth…” and would want to see that quote and that sentiment projected out into the world. There are young people right now who are looking for something meaningful to be part of and something that can give people hope – these young professionals will fund this campaign – and so now we’ve raised another $500! We can do this!

Ok, with these efforts we would be more than half way to our goal in each big city and have $1,000 left to raise. This is where everyone should really be thinking about those middle-class individuals who have connected with BA, whether it was just recently, or even at any point in the last 10 years or earlier! Who are the people we know that have bought BAsics or the Revolution — Nothing Less! DVD? Who are the people that supported the BAsics Bus Tour last year, who pitched in with food or housing, or who made financial donations? Who are the people that helped to fund the April 11, 2011, “On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics: A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World” event and upcoming film? Who are the people who have attended one of several dialogues between Carl Dix, a follower of BA and national leader against mass incarceration, and Cornel West, a prominent author and intellectual, someone who greatly appreciates BA and the role that he plays? We need to reach these middle-class people and ask them to donate $250 to this campaign. Don’t we know four middle-class people in each city who would do this? Haven’t we met these people who have connected or engaged BA in any variety of ways that would want to see this campaign be a success? Let’s make a lot of phone calls to all these people, send e-mails and follow up. Maybe some people would want to host house parties, BBQs or other gatherings to invite and meet with potential donors. Four $250 donations from these middle-class people, and then we’ve done it! $2,500 in each major city launching a Revolution — Nothing Less! van tour, and that’s not even counting the thousands that can be raised across the country. We can do this! It is possible!

Of course, this is just some thinking on different ways of breaking down this goal of $10,000 and not an exact prescription for what people should do. But it is a very real possibility that we can raise these funds. By thinking concretely of what our goals should be, and how we can break things down to finish raising this money, we can make this campaign a success!

Everyone who has ever read any of BA’s work, or watched part of the film Revolution — Nothing Less! or engaged BA in other ways can throw into this campaign and be an important part of helping it succeed. And everyone who really wants to see the radical possibility of a whole other world being discussed and debated throughout society can also play a crucial role in raising these funds. And from reading all the statements of support for the Campaign that have been written so far — from Matthew Shipp, Dennis Loo and the person who is volunteering with the BA Everywhere committee — and by watching the Indiegogo campaign video, you see that a lot of different kinds of people truly connect with BA and want to see his voice amplified throughout society. So we have a lot going for us! And all of this makes raising that $10,000 a very real possibility, but we all have to be on a collective mission to do this. So, let’s go!