IP: Nonprofit Presidential Transition Survey

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> FROM:   Gary Bass & Kay Guinane, OMB Watch
>              Maureen Burke & David Cohen, Advocacy Institute
>              Rick Cohen, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
>              Mark Rosenman & Bristow Hardin, The Union Institute
>
> The 2000 Presidential election marks the first time the Internet has been 
> widely used to get information to voters.  This also marks the first 
> election in which several nonprofits are utilizing the Internet to inform 
> both their constituencies and the public about important issues that will 
> factor into the campaigns.  In this same spirit, we are taking advantage 
> of the Internet's low cost and rapid turn-around to get your input on 
> ideas for a Nonprofit Agenda to present to the next President.  These 
> ideas will lead to specific proposals that the new President can make to 
> strengthen the nonprofit sector, particularly to address social justice issues.
>
> We have put some ideas into a survey, available online at 
> http://ombwatch.org/npadv/2000/survey.html. The ideas were developed from 
> conversations with local, state and national nonprofits and foundations 
> during previous presidential transitions and with the help of some state 
> nonprofit associations this summer.  None of us endorse every idea; rather 
> they reflect the range of ideas that have been presented to us.  Please 
> rate them in terms of their importance, provide any comments or specific 
> recommendations by them, and add ideas you feel are important that are missing.
>
> We ask you to distribute this email or inform other nonprofits about the 
> survey.  THE SURVEY WILL BE OPEN FOR RESPONSES UNTIL SEPTEMBER 26 AT 6:00 
> P.M. EASTERN TIME.  Please be sure to complete the survey by then, and 
> share the deadline with others.
>
> After tabulating the results we will send a note identifying how the ideas 
> were ranked to everyone who provides their email address on the 
> survey.  An advisory group will be convened to develop specific 
> recommendations based on the top ranked ideas.  These recommendations will 
> be available on the same web site as the survey and will be widely 
> announced so that any additional feedback can be obtained.  After 
> reviewing the feedback, we will prepare written materials for the 
> President's transition team.  We will request one or meetings with the 
> President's new team and invite some state and local groups to any 
> meetings that occur to discuss the ideas and recommendations.
>
> Since nothing like this has been done before, we would also appreciate any 
> comments you have about the process.  There is a spot at the end of the 
> survey for such feedback.
>
> We are sending this message to each of our networks.  As a result, you may 
> get several copies.  We apologize, but we wanted to reach a wide audience 
> for this unique opportunity.  If you send this to anyone else, please make 
> sure they know that they must go to 
> http://ombwatch.org/npadv/2000/survey.html by 6:00 p.m. (EST) on September 
> 26 to complete the survey.
>
> If you are unable to access this survey on the web and would like to get a 
> copy, please contact Kay Guinane at OMB Watch at 202/234-8494.
>
> Thanks for your help.  And thanks for your participation in this exciting 
> Internet experiment.