Chapter 10.  Details for Team 7 

“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world.

 Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

 “The solution to adult problems tomorrow depends on large measure

upon how our children grow up today.”

-- Margaret Mead, American Anthropologist and Writer

Narration

Checklist

Chart

 

Narration

          Circulation.  Team 7 arranges for as many people as possible—those who labor, learn or live in the community—to receive E-News, i.e., adults and youth who read and comprehend, regardless of citizenship or voter status.  The team starts with a checklist similar to the one used by Team 1: 

·              has your team made a list of schools, elected officials, government agencies, and community 

organizations which have e-mail lists?  (It would be good to compare with the lists of other teams, to 

save time.)

·              has your team composed a simple letter stating your request which you can e-mail, mail and / 

or fax to this list?  (See chapters 5 and 15 for advice.  Your newsletter teacher will help you compose 

the letter, and he or she will edit and proofread.  You make contact with her in order to get her help.) 

            As for the letter, the team makes it clear to a school, elected official, government agency or 

community organization that we do not want to see the e-mail addresses;  we ask only to convey 

useful information to recipients.  (But if they entrust e-mail addresses to us, we accept carefully.)

            Schools, elected officials, government agencies, and community organizations which cooperate are 

known as “e-mail trustees”, because they never tell us the e-mail addresses.  We do this so that e-mail 

addresses not be abused.  The only information we ask of the e-mail trustees is the number of addresses in 

their respective databases.

            The one possible problem is duplication, that is, a recipient receiving an issue of E-News more than 

once.  Team 7 is asked to come up with a solution.

            Team 7 keeps trying to enlarge the number of E-News recipients.  After contacting trustees, Team 7 

tries to collect e-mail addresses as efficiently as possible, as, for example, by an announcement at high 

schools.  The larger the number of e-mail addresses, the more income Team 7 might get for E-News.

            Team 7 uses “SCARF”, described in chapter 15, the last part of which is “follow-up”.  When doing 

a follow-up, team 7 e-mails a copy to team 6, backing that up with voice mail, so that team 6 know to contact

another e-mail trustee.

            Income.  Team 7 starts with a checklist: 

·              has your team made a list of elected officials, businesses, and grant makers which might help 

sponsor E-News?  (This list would overlap with the one for circulation, but the lists might not be identical.

Your newsletter teacher will approve the list.)

·              has your team composed a simple letter requesting a meeting which you can e-mail, mail and / 

or fax to this list?  (See chapters 5 and 15 for advice.  The newsletter teacher will help you compose the 

letter, and he or she will edit and proofread.  You make contact with him in order to get his help.) 

            The letter will not talk about income, but, rather, about how E-News will help an elected official, 

business or grant maker fulfill its goal.  The letter will request a meeting, at which time income will be 

brought up.  Before the meeting, the team will rehearse in front of the newsletter teacher or a school teacher.  

            For the meeting, team 7 will use the advice in chapters 5 and 15;  additionally, team 7 can use 

chapters 1 and 2, as well as 

·       highlights of E-News to impress a possible sponsor, from back issues if possible;

·       a brief explanation of how E-News would fulfill a goal of the possible sponsor;

·       an brief explanation of why a possible sponsor would get her / his / its money’s worth;

·       an outline of how sponsor money (say “income”) would be used.

            As for income, there is a formula for how it will be divided:

·              50% (fifty percent) will be, potentially, college money for newsletter, community-fund, 

and local-currency staff;  the money will be divided among staff in accordance with chapter 17; 

·              20% (twenty percent) will be for the newsletter teacher, until such time that all E-News 

teams are evaluated as an “A” or “O” for at least two consecutive months, per chapter 17, whereafter the 

teacher’s share will drop to 15% and the community fund’s share will increase to 15%;

·              10% (ten percent) will be for a community fund, the funds in which will be disbursed by a 

vote of those laboring, learning or living in the community who are able to read and comprehend, 

regardless of citizenship or voter status;  the community fund will employ best practices enumerated in 

chapter 16;

·              5% (five percent) will be for the income controllers, who will be one or two community adults 

entrusted with deposits, disbursements, and bookkeeping;

·              5% (five percent) will be for expenses of staff members and the newsletter teacher, which 

includes, but is not limited to, insurance through Exploring if needed, costs of E-News publication and 

the companion Web site, some of the costs of university students helping in person or by e-mail;

·              5% (five percent) is for publicity, publication, and presentation, so that E-News start in other 

communities;

·              5% (five percent) is contingency, which may be used for the controller, expense and / or publicity 

line items;  need is to be determined by a vote of all staff members and the newsletter teacher;  any portion 

left over at the end of a fiscal year goes into the community chest.

            It is not known how much income there will be in a fiscal year, but an eventual goal is $50,000 a year 

for a community E-News.

            By name, brief description, and hyperlink to their Web sites, sponsors will be recognized at the 

E-News Web site.  Banners and logos will not be included, as these would make the newsletter “heavy”.

 Checklist

E-NEWS CHECKLIST FOR TEAMS 7 

1. Do you know your team members? 

2. Do you have school e-mail addresses for them? 

3. Do you have telephone numbers for them? 

4. Has your team become acquainted with members of other teams? 

5. Do members of your team understand the importance of increasing circulation? 

6. Who is to take primary responsibility for increasing circulation?  There should be more than one person.  It might be good to have three teams each with two members. 

7. Who is to be the backup for increasing circulation?  There should be more than one person.  It might be good to have three teams each with two members. 

8. Do members of your team know what is meant by “e-mail trustee”? 

9. Do your team members know how to find possible e-mail trustees? 

10. When making first contact with possible e-mail trustees, what might you say to save time and get a meeting relatively quickly? 

11. How might you confirm? 

12. When meeting with e-mail trustees, do your team members know what to say to them? 

13. Does everyone on a team understand the importance of recording a meeting, that is, taking notes? 

14. How should you follow up after a meeting? 

15. Does your team have e-mail addresses and telephone numbers for team 6, as they are to receive a copy of each follow-up to adults?

16. Who is to take primary responsibility for bringing income to E-News?  There should be more than one person.  It might be good to have three teams each with two members. 

17. Do members of your team know where to find a list of those who might become sponsors of E-News? 

18. What is the best way to make first contact with elected officials, government agencies, businesses, and others who might become sponsors? 

19. When making first contact, what might you say to save time and get a meeting relatively quickly? 

20. How might you confirm? 

21. What might you say at a meeting with an elected official or a government agency?  With a business?  With others? 

22. Does everyone on a team understand the importance of recording a meeting, that is, taking notes? 

23. How might you follow up? 

24. Which other team should know about whom in the community you have contacted? 

25. On your team, when might photographs be taken and who among you has primary responsibility? 

26. On your team, who is the backup photographer? 

27. If there is an emergency for which you do not have a solution, whom do you contact and how?