Connie H.'s Membership Drive

Following in Their Footsteps

Our current Membership Drive is critical to the Peace and Environment Resource Centre for us to continue to carry on our projects and programs. To succeed we simply need a strong belief in the cause we're supporting and an enduring faith in the goodness of people.

Still, I wish we could have it both ways: funds rolling in without having to ask...even a healthy environment without cutting our consumption — but that's not how the world is put together.

During the 1980's and 1990's, thousands of nonprofits were forced to severely curtail their services or close their doors because the institutional funding they were so heavily reliant on ceased to be available.

I know that 70% of the PERC's budget came from a single grant that we eventually lost about 10 years ago — yet the PERC continued to build and improve its programs and services!

I know that during the same period the average Canadian environment group lost 40% of its membership and revenue — yet at PERC our membership increased!

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any. - Alice Walker

How was this possible? It was possible thanks to the incredible work of PERC volunteers and the incredible dedication of PERC members. It was possible because the lion's share of funding for charitable and public interest groups comes from individuals — not institutions. It was possible because "most people" — those who are middle-income, working class and poor — give away most money.

Ultimately, fundraising is about fostering change — through education and empowerment; through support and action — something that no one individual can possibly accomplish. Our vision of a greener, peaceful world is only as strong as the people who support us.

Most people have no reason to think the PERC needs their support unless we tell them. Please help without delay. Positive change requires solutions. It requires action. Your effort can make all the difference.