This is a great idea and money raising plan thought up by my friend Michael to raide money for Kerry. If you do not have time to donate, please try to think of ways to promote the site.
Dear friends,
I am writing to tell you about a new website I just designed called
www.barterforkerry.com. I believe this site could become a powerful tool for
raising funds to defeat Bush in November and to take our country back.
The idea is simple: individual citizens offer their services‹from
photography to cooking, from web design to guitar lessons, from house
painting to massage therapy‹in exchange for a check made out to John Kerry
for President.
If just two hundred citizens in each state--music teachers, auto mechanics,
plumbers, carpenters, lawyers, housecleaners, accountants, yoga instructors,
babysitters, tennis teachers, massage therapists, web designers--pledge to
donate just one hour of their services a month in exchange for a donation to
John Kerry for President, at an average hourly rate of $50, these ten
thousand concerned citizens can raise $4 million for Kerry by the election.
Now THAT's people power!
If these same 200 citizens in each state instead pledge one hour a WEEK,
they could raise $16 million to kick Bush out of office on November 2nd.
Isn't restoring our beloved country to sanity worth an hour a week?
With this email, I am proposing a national movement of average, concerned
citizens coming together to donate one hour of their time a week from now
until the election. I'm taking the plunge right now: I'm a salsa dance
instructor, and I hereby pledge to donate one salsa dance lesson a week from
now until the November 2nd election, 32 lessons, for a $75 donation to John
Kerry's campaign each lesson.
That means that I, one simple individual who can't afford to donate more
than a few hundred dollars out of my own pocket to Kerry's campaign this
year, can raise $2,400 for his campaign in the next 8 months, just by
donating an hour of my time a week doing something I enjoy. And because I'm
donating services, not money (the check comes from the person receiving the
services, not from me), there is no legal restriction on how much I can
donate and raise. Think of how much money we can raise if everyone in this
country who wants Bush out (that's a large number!) harnesses their skills,
talents, hobbies, abilities and passions in this simple way.
The site will also contain listings for people willing to donate their
services--from web design to entertainment to cooking to childcare--for
local John Kerry fundraising events. If you are holding a local Kerry
fundraising event, check out the page for your state and you will find
people listed there who will help you out for free.
Currently, there is only one service provider on the site, me (in CA), but
that will change soon--the site is only a few hours old and word is
spreading rapidly.
So, with that said, I invite you to visit BarterForKerry.com If you like
what you see, there are several ways you can help this effort:
1) Make The Pledge. Through the site, pledge an hour (or more!) of your time
a week using your skills to help beat Bush. Choose one of the skills
categories listed, or submit your own in the "other" box‹be creative here!
Even if you can't pledge an hour a week, just an hour a month can still make
a difference.
2) Use other service providers in your area listed on the site. Even if they
charge more than the average market rate, it's worth it. ALL the money goes
to support Kerry's campaign, 100% of it.
3 ) Please tell your friends about this site. Word of mouth is the best
publicity. Better yet, forward this email to all your friends (with a
personal note at the top), and encourage them to forward it to their friends
with a personal note, and so on. (Don't send an email to anyone who might
not be interested‹spam is never a good way of promoting anything.)
4) Join the BarterForKerry.com email list. This list will send out
occasional (less than once a week) emails with important updates about our
movement, progress reports, stories from real-life BarterForKerry.com users,
and media stories. I will NEVER let anyone else have access to your email
address and your email address will not be used for ANY OTHER purpose EVER.
You will receive NO SPAM from joining this list. To join, send a blank email
to michael@barterforkerry.com with the word "list" in the subject heading.
5) As you will tell, I'm a pretty lame web designer. If we want this to be a
national movement, we need a professional website. Do you know anyone who
would be willing to donate web, graphic, or database design services to take
the site to the next level? If so, please contact me at
michael@barterforkerry.com.
6 ) The best way to make this movement grow is through media exposure. I am
already conducting a national media campaign. However, I can use all the
help I can get on this front. If you know anyone in local or national media
outlets (newspapers, radio, television, magazines, websites) who might be
interested in running a piece on BarterForKerry.com, please forward their
info to me at michael@barterforkerry.com (I will never give this information
to anyone else) or have them contact me at that address.
7) Although this is a grass-roots movement of average citizens working to
defeat Bush, I would love to get a some celebrities involved. Imagine how
much money we could raise for Kerry and how much publicity we could generate
for Kerry if we could get, say, a famous musician to donate a one-hour
private guitar or voice lesson each month, or a famous athlete to donate a
one-hour private sports lesson a month, through this site, in exchange for a
$2,000 donation to Kerry each lesson. If anyone knows any celebrity
musicians, athletes, authors, actors, or other celebrities who might be
willing to join the movement in this way, please contact them on our behalf
or contact me at michael@barterforkerry.com about this possibility. It would
be great publicity for Kerry, for the site, and for celebrity, as well as an
effective way to raise money for Kerry.
Thank you! Together, we're going to beat Bush on November 2nd.
Michael Ellsberg
michael@barterforkerry.com