If you’re new to the idea of liberty, you are sure to find valuable and useful information from The Advocates for Self-Government, a non-profit organization which you’re probably already familiar with. The Advocates publish The World’s Smallest Political Quiz and are responsible for Operation Politically Homeless, two wildly successful libertarian outreach programs. Today I’m going to tell you a bit more about The Advocates, why I just sent them $50, and why you should too.

Through its outreach and education programs, along with a wealth of valuable information on its Web site, The Advocates have helped to spread the message of liberty far and wide. Its Liberator Online mailing list, for instance, has 65,000 subscribers in over 100 countries who receive regular updates on liberty right in their inboxes. And the message that went out tonight is the subject of my message to you today.

I just received in my inbox a message from The Advocates president Sharon Harris detailing why the organization is nearly $49,000 in debt and is critically in need of help. It isn’t showing up in the mailing list archive yet, so until it does, I’ll post it here in its entirety.

From: Advocates for Self-Government <liberator@theadvocates.org>
Date: Mar 20, 2006 11:02 PM
Subject: The Advocates is facing a terrible crisis
To: distribution@lists.theadvocates.org

Dear friend,

This is the most painful message I’ve ever had to write.

The Advocates for Self-Government is facing a major fiscal crisis. We desperately need your help.

We’ve already laid off staff, canceled all discretionary expenditures, and put our plans for 2006 on hold.

Time is very short, so I’ll quickly explain what caused this emergency.

I’ll tell you what we must do to fix it, and how you can help.

Before I do, let me say this: You’ve never before received a message like this from the Advocates. That’s because we’ve never before been in a situation like this.

We’re a frugal, penny-pinching organization.

We pride ourselves on being fiscally trustworthy.

As president for the last 10 years, I’ve worked to build the Advocates into an organization that is respected around the world. I hate to think that all our progress could be jeopardized.

But we’ve run into a one-time predicament that we simply couldn’t anticipate.

Here’s what happened…

In October 2005, we celebrated the Advocates 20th anniversary with a three-day conference at the Renaissance Hotel in Atlanta.

We had an all-star line-up of speakers. Headlining was Hugh Downs, the former host of ABC’s 20/20. He had never before appeared at a libertarian event. Best-selling author Robert Ringer also spoke. He hadn’t appeared at a libertarian event in 25 years.

We thought the opportunity to see Hugh Downs and Robert Ringer would make this an irresistible, once-in-a-lifetime event for libertarians. Harry Browne, David Bergland, Mary Ruwart, Congressman Ron Paul, and others were also on the agenda.

It really was a first-class line-up, with something for every libertarian. We advertised in Reason magazine, the Libertarian Communicator, LP News, and Liberty magazine. We sent out mailings and emails.

I expected this conference to follow in the footsteps of our 15th anniversary event, five years earlier. That event had sold out quickly and made a profit.

For our 20th anniversary, I confidently predicted that we would sell every one of the 350 tickets we had available.

At worst, I expected we’d sell 200 tickets and break even.

We didn’t. We sold just over 100 tickets.

Financially, it was a bloodbath for us.

With just over 100 people, we didn’t cover the cost of the meals, meeting rooms, or hotel services. We didn’t come anywhere close to selling the number of hotel rooms we had guaranteed.

The painful bottom line: We owe the hotel $48,906.

I’m still not sure what went wrong.

I don’t know if libertarians weren’t excited about seeing Hugh Downs, Robert Ringer, or the other speakers. I don’t know if an uncertain economy made people reluctant to travel. I just don’t know.

The people who did attend the anniversary celebration loved it. Many told me it was the best libertarian event they had ever been to.

But compliments, while they warm my heart, don’t pay the bills.

That’s why I must ask you for help.

Before I do, I need to say this: I take full responsibility for this crisis. It was my fault.

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry I put the Advocates in a dangerous financial position. Even though I had every reason to believe this conference would be a success, I feel terrible that it wasn’t.

Most of all, I’m sorry the Advocates is being forced to deal with this fiscal crisis, rather than go full steam ahead with what we do best — advancing the cause of liberty.

It’s my fault, and I must ask for your help to fix it.

The Advocates needs to raise $48,906. That’s what it will take to get us out of debt.

We need that $48,906 immediately. The hotel was kind enough to give us six months to pay — but that time is up.

This isn’t hyperbole. I wouldn’t ask for your help if the need wasn’t urgent and real.

Until this debt is paid off, the Advocates is paralyzed.

If we can’t raise $48,906 right now, I’ll have to spend the rest of the year trying to scrape the money together, while trying to avoid the possibility of legal action against us.

The Advocates for Self-Government, one of the most active and innovative groups in the libertarian movement, will be sidelined — at a time when America desperately needs to hear our libertarian message.

If the debt is paid off, we’ll be able to move forward with our unique programs that move liberty forward…

• Getting more people to take the World’s Smallest Political Quiz. More than 5.5 million have already taken the online Quiz — and many of them learned about libertarianism for the first time.
• Reaching more people with our Liberator Online email newsletter, the largest-circulation libertarian publication in the world. More than 65,000 people in 100 countries already read it.
• Encouraging more vital, grassroots libertarian outreach with our “Lights of Liberty” awards. Hundreds of thousands of Americans encounter the libertarian message every year thanks to our “Lights of Liberty” award-winners.
• Distributing acclaimed tools like Operation Politically Homeless and books like Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion and Libertarianism In One Lesson.
• Getting the Quiz into thousands of classrooms around the country. More than 420 schools already use it.

There’s so much we want to do in 2006! But we can’t do anything until this debt is paid off.

And we can’t pay off the debt without your help.

If you’ve never made a contribution to us before, can you make one now? Anything you can give will help.

If you’ve given before, can you match or double that previous amount? If you can afford it, can you donate $500 or $1,000?

Your donation — however large or small — moves us closer to paying off the $48,906 we owe.

Right now, as you read this message, you hold the fate — the future — of the Advocates in your hands.

Your generosity is the only thing that stands between us and disaster.

Please click here to safely make your secure online donation now: https://www.fbs.net/advocates/donate.cfm

Thank you for anything you can do to help.

Sincerely,

Sharon Harris
President, Advocates for Self-Government

PS: If you can help, I’ll make two promises:

***1. Every penny you give will be used to eliminate our conference debt.***

2. If you have any questions, I’ll personally answer them. If you’re not sure how we got into this crisis, or what we need to do to get out of it, just email me. I will respond.

The Advocates isn’t some big, impersonal organization. I consider anyone who makes a donation to be a friend. And if a friend has a question, I’ll answer it. Email me at sharon@TheAdvocates.org. (Or call me at our office at (770) 386-8372.)

If you make a donation, I want you to be 100% certain that you’ve made a good decision, and that your hard-earned money will be used exactly the way I say it will. You have my personal promise on that.

But please don’t delay in making a contribution. We need to raise that $48,906 immediately. We’re going to need everyone to pitch in to get through this. Can I count on you?

Please click here to safely make your secure online donation now: https://www.fbs.net/advocates/donate.cfm

Thank you so much.

With our freedom threatened every day by forces both outside and inside our country, it’s more important than ever that we do everything we can to spread the message of liberty and to support those who also spread that message. That’s why I sent $50 to The Advocates, and that’s why I’m asking you to take a look at their site, as well as their companion site, Libertarianism.com, and judge for yourself. Is the work they do valuable? If so, send in your tax-deductible donation.

And even if you can’t send in any money, there are still things you can do. Send the World’s Smallest Political Quiz to all your friends, for instance. Spread the message of liberty yourself.

Those of us who love liberty and are willing to do whatever is necessary to protect and preserve it must always be ready and willing to do whatever we can, and more importantly “we must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Thanks to Dennis for the tip.