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The Maine Greens / Maine Green Party
Dime A Day
Fundraising Program
One of the four pillars of the Greens' philosophy is grassroots democracy. German Greens call this die Basis, the base or the foundation. Presently for Maine Greens, our base is the 33,000 people all across the state who voted for Green candidates on November 8, 1994. With this turnout we've muscled ourselves a small piece of land on Maine's political landscape as the first official Green Party east of the Mississippi River.
The Maine Green Party, planted on December 21, 1994, needs to build strength steadily like an old growth tree where each ring marks a seasonal cycle layered gradually on the one before.
If each of our 33,000 grassroots supporters brought just one friend a year into the Greens, we'd have 66,000 members by '95; 132,000 by '96 and 264,000 by '97 in three short years.
To add members the Greens need to reach out, explaining and teaching Green values and beliefs. We need an office, a phone and a fax. In short, we need money. We need water so our tree can send its roots down deep and out across the state.
A central question for our party is: Who will water the tree?
Unfortunately money has become the most corrupting factor in American politics. Big business and special interests control politicians with money. Money buys television ads, and that means votes. The Greens reject this corrupt system.
The Green Party would like to raise money in a manner aligned with our basic philosophy of social responsibility and grassroots democracy. Maine is not a rich state and Greens are no different. On the other hand, some small sacrifice needs to be made by everyone if we want a Green Party free from the corrupting influence of big money. This is our social responsibility.
If each Green Party member gives only a dime a day, our collective strength will be enormous, like spring rain filling streams and rivers. Each drop a single part of a torrent.
$.10 / day x 365 days = $36.50 / year
$36.50 / personx33,000 = $1,204,500 / year
This is more than enough money for the Green Party to grow and become a vital force in Maine politics. There's power in numbers. We won't need to beg at the money faucet of big business because we'll be getting water from our grassroots, die Basis.
On the back page of this leaflet are two labels (one for a friend) which can be taped nicely onto an empty soup can. Placed in a visible location (like over your kitchen sink or dresser), the can will serve as a reminder to support the Greens with a dime a day.
The back of an F.D.R. dime depicts the torch of liberty with an olive branch of peace on the left and an oak tree on the right. When we, as grassroots members, give our dimes (social responsibility) with the images of nonviolence and ecology on the back, we support all four pillars of Green politics in one symbolic action
To help keep your donations small, we ask that you send in your $9.12 ($36.50/4) at the beginning of each season: spring, summer, fall and winter, starting at once. It's our intention to publish a quarterly Green newsletter. Its arrival will remind you to empty your can and send in no more than $9.12.
This seasonal donation of only $9.12 will also establish an equality within our party. There will be no big donors, bigwigs or big cheeses. We'll all be just part of the groundwater.
With this method we'll also have a regular gauge of our strength and growth. When you donate, you could also send in any suggestions or ideas concerning the Maine Green Party.
For example: One suggestion we've had is to set aside your returnable bottles and cans for the Green Dime A Day program.
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