Welcome to 2014 from the Deschutes River Alliance

It’s an exciting month here at the DRA.  We have finally started fundraising to pay for the activities we have planned for this spring.  The scientific investigation plan has been created and we are now shopping for vendors for services and equipment.  So of course we have to be ready to pay for those goods and services.We elected to do something very different with our fundraising efforts.  We felt like there are already enough benefit dinners and auctions and bulk mail campaigns out there.  We also want to use your contributions as wisely and carefully as we can.So with the help of some innovative thinkers, including John and Amy Hazel, we decided to do an electronic fundraising campaign.  For those of you who have seen it, we have created a fundraising appeal letter.  We’ve asked a number guides and outfitters as well as fishing retailers to distribute that letter and a copy of our 2014 Science Work Plan to their clients and customers via email.  We’ve also asked each sender to write a cover letter with their own reasons why their customers should pay attention to our fundraising appeal, and even donate.In addition to keeping costs down, we realized that this sort of campaign has many advantages.  We aren’t wasting paper.  We are spending less of your donation to raise the funds we need to protect the Deschutes River.And we hope that by going electronic, that the fundraising letter will go viral.  It’s already been posted to internet bulletin boards and websites by some of the first recipients of the appeal letter.  By having guides and outfitters, and retail shops distribute our letter, it gives our efforts the endorsement of the sender, which we feel is incredibly important.  We just don’t get those advantages from a regular mail campaignSo just like we are breaking new ground in regards to protecting our river, we are also breaking new ground in innovative fundraising.  Please help make this campaign a success!We look forward to seeing you in 2014!Greg McMillan and David Moskowitz