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Starting Avaaz was a huge act of trust for me. I had big dreams and was scared of failing, but I knew that Avaaz meant giving up control. Because the way our community works, I don't make the final decisions -- you do. Every campaign we run is tested with 10-20,000 randomly chosen Avaazers who make the final decisions, no matter what I or the team feel. And that decision can't be made by 51% of us, at least 80-90% need to agree. 6 years and several hundred campaigns later, we've never broken that rule, and the wisdom of our community has shone through again and again. And I and the team are so grateful for the chance to serve you.
I made another decision years ago, to only accept money from you. We don't accept donations from corporations, governments, foundations, large donors, or any donation over 5000 Euros. I don't know of any other movement or NGO like this, but I know it's the right choice for our integrity, our purity, and our transformative promise. People didn't donate much at first, but I trusted that when we were ready, you would. And you have.
Together, we've built the largest online civic movement in the world, and every week and in literally hundreds of victories we are proving our ability to win the campaigns that move us forward to the world we dream of. But the spirit at the core of it all that has driven our campaigns, our community and our team, is trust and belief in each other -- that's been the magic of Avaaz.
I'm writing now because I feel we're ready, and I'm ready, for a deeper level of that trust and belief. And now the tears are coming. When I began 7 years ago, I was terrified of all this failing. My dad was hard on me growing up, and it made me hard on myself, and others. But over the years I have learned how to be a better leader that empowers people, learned how much my dad really loves me, learned how to believe, fully, in myself, so that I could believe in others. My team has walked that journey with me, and we've built an incredible loving spirit among us. And every time I meet an Avaaz member and their eyes light up, I feel that spirit in our community. It's magical.
That magic, and our skills and proven track record, make me believe we're ready for the next level of scale. We're a massive community, but a tiny organisation, around 5% the size of Greenpeace or Amnesty. We can win big battles like stopping ACTA and internet censorship, or banning whaling and bee-killing pesticides, or getting major anti-corruption laws passed. But to win the biggest battles and meet the challenges of our time like climate change and environmental destruction, the war on women, and the march of democracy -- we need to be bigger, much bigger. Just 40,000 of us power everything Avaaz does right now with small weekly donations. For the sake of a world that desperately needs it, let's reach 55,000 sustainers by midnight on December 31st, and take our magic to the next level in 2014.
friend -- Click to pledge what you can:
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Our world is beset by crises that are truly global, and require global solutions. And Avaaz is unique as a high tech, rapid reaction, mass participation, truly global movement able to mobilize anywhere to address the problems we face. It sounds crazy but I meet Presidents, billionaires, and powerful people all the time and they constantly say that our community's public engagement is the answer to the problems we face!! They're right, and it's a huge responsibility, and one that we need to rise to the challenge of shouldering. Let's come together to meet that challenge.
| YES, I'LL PLEDGE ₹85 A WEEK YES, I'LL PLEDGE ₹100 A WEEK YES, I'LL PLEDGE ₹133 A WEEK To pledge an amount other than the ones listed above, click here. |
Together, we've donated millions to humanitarian aid, played a key role in stalling Rupert Murdoch's march to global media domination, won dozens of national victories on climate change, upheld the global ban on whaling and helped protect Elephants and Rhinos, supported democracy movements from Burma to Zimbabwe to Palestine to Russia, killed ACTA and other efforts to censor the internet, opposed unjust war in Iraq and violations of human rights in Guantanamo, and stood up for whistleblowers like Snowden and Manning when it mattered. In literally hundreds of victories, our community has proven to be fearless, principled and effective in seeking the world we all dream of.
But it's not enough. To meet the challenges of our time, we need to reach another level to go toe to toe with the governments and corporations that are behind the problems we face. To win on climate change, we need to beat the oil companies, and they spend billions. To win on human rights, we need to press abusive governments, and they have enormous power. The power of 32 million committed citizens is unstoppable, but accessing that power requires a journey of trust, and commitment. I'm so excited and hopeful to take the next step on that journey with you:
| YES, I'LL PLEDGE ₹85 A WEEK YES, I'LL PLEDGE ₹100 A WEEK YES, I'LL PLEDGE ₹133 A WEEK To pledge an amount other than the ones listed above, click here. |
Regardless of whether you donate today, please know how grateful I and the team are for your wisdom, your commitment, and your incredible spirit of humanity. It's really a blissful thing to work for you! And together, we really, truly, can build the world we dream of.
With love, trust and belief,
Ricken and the whole Avaaz team.
PS - If you're still thinking it over, here's 11 more reasons to support Avaaz :)
Reason 1 – What we do works
With more than 32 million members in every nation of the world, able to mobilize at a moment's notice to pressing needs and opportunities, Avaaz works -- together we've saved lives in Haiti and Burma, reversed government policies from Brazil to Japan, and won victories on international treaties from banning cluster bombs to preserving oceans. Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown says of Avaaz "You have driven forward the idealism of the world ... do not underestimate your impact on leaders," while the Economist says Avaaz is "poised to deliver a deafening wake up call to world leaders," and Al Gore says "Avaaz is inspiring, and has already made a difference." We're only 6 years old and growing fast, and the more our members get involved and donate, the more impact we have.
Make a pledge here.
Reason 2 – An Avaaz donation is an investment with permanent social change returns
With Avaaz, our donations fund high impact campaigns that also recruit more people. More people means more donations, and more impact. So you're not only achieving a particular change with your donation, you're helping grow a community with new members that will multiply your donation many times over, and be a permanent and ever-increasing source of change. It's a tremendous philanthropic value to have this kind of double and permanent impact.
Reason 3 – We have no bureaucracy
Avaaz is a massive network of citizens, but our organisation is absolutely tiny -- just 55 full time campaigners with operational and technology support. Most large global NGOs have hundreds or even thousands of staff. Our small size means we have no time for red tape, layers of management, or being focused on anything but getting results.
Reason 4 – We're regularly audited, and fiscally responsible
There's a lot of fear out there about misuse of donated money. Most of the fear is misplaced – most organisations are filled with good people trying to do good things. With Avaaz you can be sure – partly because we're required by law to be audited every 12 months. This audit thoroughly checks every aspect of our books and financial practices. We've been audited 6 times since we launched and every time been given a squeaky clean bill of health (for details, click here).
Reason 5 – We have a world-class team that does outstanding work
Campaigning, advocacy and social change are a serious and demanding business -- the more competent the team, the more impact our donations have. Avaaz attracts some of the best campaigners and advocates in the world. Many of our Campaign Directors joined us after being CEOs of successful advocacy organisations, and most have degrees from the top universities in the world.
Make a pledge here.
Reason 6 – We're 100% independent
Avaaz takes absolutely no money from governments or corporations. This is hugely important to ensuring that our voice is exclusively determined by the values of our members, and not by any large funder or agenda. While we received initial seed grants from partner organisations and charitable organisations, 100% of the Avaaz budget now comes from small online donations. This means that the only agenda we have to follow is the people's agenda.
Reason 7 – We pass the money on when it makes sense, and give to the best efforts
Avaaz has donated more than $5 million to other organisations, because we saw them as better placed than us to have impact on a particular issue. For example, we've granted $1.6 million to Burmese monks and aid groups, $1.3 million to Haitian aid organisations (see this video from the groups that received our donations), and more than $1 million to relief organisations in Pakistan. The way we support organisations is important too. Most foundations have endless process and constraints that make them slow, bureaucratic and risk averse in supporting advocacy. Avaaz finds the best people and organisations and doesn't micromanage them -- we just empower them to do what they know best.
Reason 8 – We're political (this really matters)
Most charities offer tax deductibility for donations. But this means that they are, in a way, partially taxpayer funded, and governments use that to place a very thick set of rules on what they can and can't do. Chief among them is restricting what they can say to criticize, support, or oppose a politician. Avaaz is very rare in that our donations are not tax deductible, leaving us 100% free to say and do whatever we need to to get leaders to listen to people. Since so many important issues are won and lost in the political realm, this makes us much more effective than advocacy groups that shy away from speaking out politically.
Reason 9 – We go where the greatest needs and opportunities are
Most organisations focus on a single issue over a long period of time. This is very important to do, but that can mean that when desperate needs or amazing opportunities for social change arise, they get ignored because everyone is working on their own issue. Avaaz campaigns target the most urgent needs and opportunities, showing up just when a powerful burst of citizens' attention is needed most. We work continuously with top quality partners in the areas we campaign on, and all describe Avaaz as an amazing added value to their work.
Make a pledge here.
Reason 10 – Democratic accountability is hard-wired into our model
The Avaaz model of campaigning is people-powered. Our priorities are set at annual and weekly levels by polls of our membership and every campaign we run is first polled with members. No matter how much work we put into developing a campaign, if it fails to get the greenlight from members, we don't run it. So on a day to day basis, how we spend the donations we receive is determined directly by members.
Reason 11 – There's no other organisation like us
Avaaz is the world's first and only massive, high-tech, people-powered, multi-issue, genuinely global advocacy organisation. In a world where the problems we face are consistently global, and the solutions to them increasingly require global, democratic action, Avaaz is uniquely placed to effect change. No other organisation can rapidly mobilize large-scale, coordinated democratic pressure in over 194 countries within 24 hours. A new model of internet-based, people-powered politics has changed politics in several countries, and Avaaz is taking that proven model global. The result is already the largest global online movement in history, and we're just getting started.
| YES, I'LL PLEDGE ₹85 A WEEK YES, I'LL PLEDGE ₹100 A WEEK YES, I'LL PLEDGE ₹133 A WEEK To pledge an amount other than the ones listed above, click here. |
Avaaz.org is a 31-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
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