Will your name be on the Refounders roster?

Time is running out to become a member of the Downsize DC Refounders Committee. We’ve made tremendous progress on the amount we need to raise for converting Downsize DC to the Engage system.

In this message series, Jim Babka has been telling you about the Engage software we’re leasing from Congressional-Quarterly/Roll-Call. He’s told you how this powerful new software will cost us far less to maintain. Plus, it will bring you 16 powerful new benefits (list at right). Jim has explained thirteen of them in previous messages. Now, I want to describe the final three benefits…

Register others to vote

This tactic will become increasingly important, over time. Here’s why…

We believe a libertarian society can be achieved with as few as 13 million dedicated voters.

We’ll be demonstrating how and why we believe this in the coming months. But this tool will give you a way to help identify and mobilize those voters.

Your testimonials published

Do you like Downsize DC? Does one of our bills, in particular, thrill you? You’ll now be able to tell the world why! Our new software will allow you to write testimonials that can be seen by other visitors to the site. You’ll be able to put your own spin on things!

Tell us where you agree and disagree

You’ll never find an organization that agrees with you on everything. Our organization has a very diverse base of not only libertarians, but also liberals and conservatives.

Our new software will let you tell us which issues of ours you support, and which you do not. That way we can focus more of our communications to you on areas of agreement. This does NOT mean we’ll never contact you about issues where we disagree. We’ll still share new facts about such issues to see if you find it persuasive. But going forward, more and more of our communications will be about shared positions.

So…

• What do you think? Do you like the 16 benefits that the new Engage software will bring you?
• Do you want to see us finish the conversion to Engage?
• Do you want to be listed on the Refounder roster on our website?

Let me briefly review the finances of this move…

• We needed $12k to acquire the system. We did that.
• We are investing $26k in redesign and moving a dozen year’s worth of legacy data.
• That’s $38k total.
• As of now, we only need ${fill-in-the-blank}.

AND WE’RE A BIT BEHIND PACE!

The deadline to join our Refounders 2016 committee, described in every previous message (and again below), is just one week away!

But we want to add additional benefits for people who respond by the September 30 deadline. Refounders will be the first ones who get to…

1. See the look of the new website.
2. Test the new website by sending a message to Congress on a Downsize DC Agenda bill.

- Existing pledgers, whose pledges are current this month, are Refounders. – One time contributors, this month, are Refounders. – New and increased monthly, credit card pledgers, are also Refounders.

And it’s still the case that, regardless of the size of their contribution, we will…

Recognize new Refounders in this series of messages (as we do below my signature) and on the About Us page of our new site, next to the original Founders’ roster.

That original Founders roster was created in 2004. Despite the fact that several of the people listed there are no longer with us, they’re still memorialized and fondly remembered.

The “Refounders – 2016″ is listed in rank order based on the size of their gift. Monthly credit card pledgers are “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,

Perry Willis Downsize DC

P.S. Here is the updated list of more than 200 Refounders, as of Tuesday night: Brian Thomson, Michael Burks, Robert Hart Jr, Larry Ryan, Jann Werner, Tim Kaelin, Dan’l Leviton, Ken Whedbee, Bruce Sawicki, Ferdinand Reinke, David Mason, Martin Johnson, Loretta Hurite, Jean McCrady, Bruce Morton, Robert Lehman, Dwight Baker, William Hees, Allan Higgins, Bruce Liddel, Nicholas Hasulak, Martin Anding, Albert Pigeon, David Rempel, Peter Cappello, Wilma Sinclair, Scott Mosher, David Kaup, John Fehsenfeld, Rob Miller, Joe Cobb, David King, Eric Olivas, Jonathan Sauer, Mary Swim, Andy Williams, Travis Walston, Richard Loomis, William Buzzell, Andrew Borom, R Hilliard, Marc Bessent, Richard Browning, Jon Foster, Victoria Kelley, Erik Lindborg, Benjamin Moyes, Edward Wright, Deborah Bishop, Christopher Norburym, Mel Pinney, John Hathaway, Marjorie Peters, Jaret Osborne, Charles Lankford, Kendra Robb, Jim Compton, Michael Stoll, Craig Finch, Ralph Horton, Michel Kaiser, Dave Larson, Jack Madren Jr, Kay Samalin, Curry Taylor, Mark LeBar, Mark Crowley, Robert Lidral, Steven Castrechino, Jim Ferris, Mark Gogan, Chuck Patel, Dennis Poole, Doug Szarkowski, Peter Skaates, Randolph Szabla, Steven Schram, Barbara Haskins, Carl Case, John DiLiberto, Franklin Davis, Michael Phillips, Tom Demers, Christopher Gough, Shawn M. Murray, J.D., Ross Primrose, Jerry Titus, Kathleen Arnheim, Pranav Badhwar, David Brown, Steven Busby, William Cross, Kerry Daniel, Franklin Davis, Terri Dewell, Roger Garcia, Michael Gibbs, David Jeffries, Pamela Krauskopf, Thomas Kurzej, Jerry Mabry, Michael Maskalans, Frank Pater, Kurt Schurenberg, Judith Ann Shellabarger, Robert Stern, Mark Wilczek, Travis Williams, Randy Young, Len Hofferber, Andrew Jason, Terry Robinson, William Stoner, Dan Kelly, Michael Hughes, Dana Gudenau, Roger Leahy, Pamela Browne, Dana Davis, Joel Norgaard, Shohn Trojacek, James Troy, Craig Thompson, Peggy Christensen, Sandra Pierre, Virgil Ragsdale, Jim Delton, Derek Moyes, Adam Rezner, Mike Spalding, George Hanson, Ronald Pond, Jack Bruns, Steve Stewart, Patricia Wedel, Michael O’Brien, David Gorrell, James Balson, Pattie Bagwell, Brice Dobry, Timothy Doubledee, Randy Etter, Richard Fall, Marcelyn Floyd, Justin Gillen, Kristi Granger, Richard Hale, Jackson Harvey, David Herzfeld, Phil Hoff, Thibeaux Lincecum, Chuck Metalitz, Matthew Pfluger, Odetta Pierce, Annalee Scharbor, Jeff Stewart, Carl Swinney, James Wahler, David Weakland, Gregory Williamson, Bob Ford, Martin Johnson, Tom Morris, Valerie Nixon, Wendell Drye, Luke Elms, Dan Goebel, Steven Hahn, Paul Rogers, Paul Smith, Timothy Streit, Thomas Thacker, Larry Upshaw, Jeffrey Hatwig, Tracy Almeida, Dwight Bakker, Robert Bussey, R.S. Elam, Tim Haffner, Jeff Held, Jerry Hickman, Wes Johnson, Mary Kennedy, Joyce Manett, Raylene Short, Gregg Young, Hana Bernard, Bruce Boyd, Bobby Chapuis, Kathleen Chippi, Sue Lewis, Richard Siebold, David Bradshaw, John Davis, James Howe, Edward Krieger, Scott Lieberman, Paul Meyer, Linda Rowberg, Steven Bachman, Mike Clancy, Carrie Eiler, Jon Foster, Charlotte Juett, David Yett, Mike Rosing, Jim Babka, Frances Gettys, William IV, Adora Jones, Martha Montelongo, Brad Morefield, Dan Moyes, Tom Mulcahy, Evan Nagel, Thomas Solt, John Walker, Liz Winterhawk, Brittany Wolf, Bernard Zamostny, Darryl W. Perry, Kit Arbuckle, Drew Campbell, Brian Happaney, Greg Moser, Paul Price, Joseph Theriault, Roy Hannah, Michael Kitchen