We’ve long wanted to add other methods for reaching Congress. For example…
Phone calls are more powerful than electronic letter delivery.
Congressional offices know that it takes more psychic energy to make a call. And they know that it consumes staff time to take and record the call. Phone calls have more weight than the more passive electronic letter. 
Years ago, our own Perry Willis wrote a memo. He mapped out a phone call confirmation system for Downsize DC. We never had the time or money to build it. But…
When we saw the CQRC Engage screen for phone call confirmation, guess what we discovered? A picture of what Perry had written. It was as if CQRC had seen our memo! And now…
We will have this tool instantly, once we switch to Engage!
Phone calling would allow us to pin down members of Congress when it comes to our bills, getting a firm Yes or No. Pressuring Congress for a firm Yes or No should then lead to new sponsors for those bills, along with targeted advertising to make the non-supporting members of Congress squirm. But that’s not all…
This is an era of social media. Our system needs to take account of this.
Here’s a moment of true confession…
We’ve been over-reliant on our email newsletter to spark action. Email is no longer the powerful tool it once was. As a result, our influence has shrunk. Millions have moved to Facebook. Now, thanks to our new Engage software…
We’ll be better able to use Facebook to help move people to Action. But that’s still not all.
Engage will also help you leverage Twitter.
We’ve always sent you back a copy of your letter, encouraging you to send that letter to friends. Our new tool will help you publish that letter via Twitter. And your Congressional reps will know you have done this. As the Tweets swell, you’ll…
- See that you’re not alone
- Become harder to ignore
We’ve told you in previous messages how Engage software will…
- Overcome technological hurdles (like CAPTCHAs) ensuring delivery, while…
- Cutting our maintenance costs by as much as 60%, plus…
- Skip the copy & paste step when sending letters, and…
- Allow you to send one, two, or three different missives to your Rep and two Senators
In fact, we’ve placed a list of 16 benefits you will gain from using Engage to the right of this message. But taking this step into the future isn’t free.
The annual fee for Engage, plus the conversion, will cost about $38,000. We’ve already raised nearly 60% of that. Can you help cover part of the $16,268 balance? If so we’ll…
Put your name on a Refounders roster that will appear at the bottom of this series of messages, and on the About Us page of our new site, next to the original Founders’ roster.
The “Refounders – 2016” will be listed in rank order based on the size of their gift. Monthly credit card pledgers will be “annualized” for ranking purposes.
Please consider starting or increasing a monthly, credit card pledge.
– OR –
Please demonstrate your confidence in our plan by investing the largest contribution that will make you feel good. Remember, your donation will be memorialized on the Refounders 2016 roster.
Thank you for being a DC Downsizer,
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
P.S. There’s a permanent listing of all the messages in this series on our blog, where we describe all the benefits of Engage. If you’ve missed any of the messages or would like to refer back, please visit that post titled, “ALL the Benefits of Engage.”
P.P.S.The Refounders list as of now: Brian Thomson, Larry Ryan, Ken Whedbee, Bruce Sawicki, Ferdinand Reinke, Jean McCrady, Robert Lehman, Allan Higgins, Nicholas Hasulak, Martin Anding, Albert Pigeon, David Rempel, David Kaup, Scott Mosher, Jonathan Sauer, Wilma Sinclair, Mary Swim, Travis Walston, Marc Bessent, Richard Browning, R Hilliard, Victoria Kelley, Erik Lindborg, Benjamin Moyes, Deborah Bishop, Christopher Norbury, Mel Pinney, John Hathaway, Jaret Osborne, Craig Finch, Ralph Horton, Charles Lankford, Dave Larson, Jack Madren Jr, Michael Stoll, Mark LeBar, Mark Crowley, Robert Lidral, Steven Castrechino, Jim Ferris, Dennis Poole, Doug Szarkowski, Randolph Szabla, Steven Schram, Kathleen Arnheim, David Brown, Steven Busby, Carl Case, William Cross, Franklin Davis, Tom Demers, John DiLiberto, Barbara Haskins, Len Hofferber, Pamela Krauskopf, Frank Pater, Ross Primrose, Kurt Schurenberg, Robert Stern, Jerry Titus, Travis Williams, Randy Young, William Stoner, Andrew Jason, Terry Robinson, Dan Kelly, Pamela Browne, Dana Davis, Dana Gudenau, Roger Leahy, Joel Norgaard, James Troy, Michael Hughes, Craig Thompson, Jim Delton, Peggy Christensen, Virgil Ragsdale, Mike Spalding, George Hanson, Ronald Pond, Jack Bruns, Pattie Bagwell, Brice Dobry, Richard Fall, Mark Gogan, David Gorrell, David Herzfeld, Thibeaux Lincecum, Michael O’Brien, Odetta Pierce, Jeff Stewart, Gregory Williamson, Bob Ford, Tom Morris, Valerie Nixon, Luke Elms, Dan Goebel, Steven Hahn, Paul Rogers, Thomas Thacker, Larry Upshaw, Jeffrey Hatwig, Dwight Bakker, Robert Bussey, R.S. Elam, Tim Haffner, Mary Kennedy, Raylene Short, Hana Bernard, Bobby Chapuis, Kathleen Chippi, Sue Lewis, Richard Siebold, John Davis, James Howe, Edward Krieger, Linda Rowberg, Mike Clancy, Carrie Eiler, Jon Foster, Charlotte Juett, Mike Rosing, Darryl W. Perry, William IV, Adora Jones, Martha Montelongo, Brad Morefield, Dan Moyes, Tom Mulcahy, Thomas Solt, John Walker, Brittany Wolf, Drew Campbell, Michael Phillips, Paul Price, Joseph Theriault, Michael Kitchen.