Will You Be Part of Creating a UU Voice in National Policy?
Dear X:
You may know that I represent our congregation on the Board of Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ) in the National Capital Region. During the past couple of years UUSJ has been changing its focus from one of education about social justice issues to one of direct advocacy on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. To complete this change we need your help.
I’d like you to imagine . . . You’re joining twelve UU’s from around the capital region at the Senate cafeteria for a briefing. You’ll be preparing to go out and talk to legislative staff about raising the minimum wage for example.(A few days earlier you received background materials to prepare for the Hill visits.) A subject matter expert gives you the latest information about the issue and then there is a question and answer period, so you’ll feel confident talking about the issue.  But you’ll be talking more from the heart, not from your head. You don’t need to be a subject matter expert; you are talking about our UU values and why you believe action must be taken to stop escalating income inequality.
The imaginary story above is becoming a reality as UUSJ has organized and led small groups to Capitol Hill to visit members of Congress. UUSJ has also worked with community organizations and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) on several direct action and advocacy projects. You can find a list of some of these activities here (http://uusj.net/wp/?p=14379). In its transition from an educational organization to a direct advocacy organization, UUSJ engaged in an initiative to build staff, train volunteers, and modify its governance structure to accommodate the requirements of establishing a UU public advocacy organization. UUSJ wants to replace, with a volunteer based organization, what the UUA and UUSC D.C. advocacy offices were doing before being eliminated. 
So now we come to the request we have for you. UUSJ applied for, and was awarded, a grant of $5,000 by the Unitarian Universalist Fund for Social Responsibility to assist us with our transition. They have further committed to matching any money we raise for our transition up to an additional $5,000. UUSJ has set up a funding project entitled “UUSJ – Your Voice in the Nations Capital”, on the UU crowd-funding site Faithify.org. Your contribution made through that site will be matched by the UU Fund for Social Responsibility. You will only be charged if we receive pledges matching or exceeding our Faithify goal of $5,000 (and we hope that goal will be exceeded). 
Please visit http://www.faithify.org today to make a generous pledge to our transition work. Your support matters more than the amount  but for a tax deductible donation of $40 or more you will receive a one year membership in UUSJ.
Sincerely,
P.S. Please reply to this email with any questions – I look forward to talking with you.