In the weeks leading up to DSA-LA’s inaugural Annual Convention, the Steering Committee launched the first of what will become periodic chapter-wide fundraisers to sustain our work, aptly named “Sustaining Socialism.” Our members banded together to donate and promote the fundraiser culminating with an in-person event at Rockwell Table and Stage directly following the Annual Convention. We set an ambitious goal for ourselves, hoping to raise $6,000 to help sustain the work of our chapter and support long-term strategic planning. Steering is thrilled to announce that between the online fundraiser and the in-person event, our chapter raised a grand total of $6,936.02! By raising almost $1,000 more than our goal, our chapter is in a stronger position to fund our work and embark on the ambitious political projects encapsulated in our three chapter resolutions.
This chapter-wide fundraising strategy represents a shift away from project-specific fundraisers, to an integrated strategy focused on supporting our collective work through sustaining monthly dues, and periodic one-time events to support projects and initiatives across the chapter.
At the same time, we’re committed to ensuring funds are available for specific initiatives within our general fund, and to this end, we are thrilled to announce our Comrades for Comrades program — a Steering Committee initiative committed to ensuring that we have the funds for ten low-income membership dues available at all times.
As a socialist organization, DSA-LA should not turn away any member from joining our organization for lack of funds. At the same time, our size in membership is a source of our strength, and to accomplish our ambitious goals we have to fund our movement just as much as we need to recruit for it. We understand that some of our members are more capable of making financial contributions to our organization than others, and we ask that you complete this form if you would like to participate in the Comrades for Comrades program by:
- Contributing to sponsor a national membership for a low-income comrade, or
- Requesting financial support for a low-income national membership
Full information about the initiative can be found here.