The Advocates for Self-Government is a non-partisan libertarian organization, but their year’s end message explicitly mentions Wes Benedict and the Libertarian Party, and their biweekly email newsletter regularly carries mentions of the LP and columns by current and former LP leaders.
http://www.theadvocates.org/year-in-review/:
2013 Round-Up: Join Us In Celebrating!
World’s Smallest Political Quiz Hits Milestone: Taken Online 20 MILLION Times
Thousands of new libertarian activists on campus every year – thanks to OPH
Exciting new poll finds “libertarian renaissance”
Read all about this and more –
and learn our plans to reach millions more Americans in the new year!
Let’s start off with a bang: Please join me in celebrating a new Quiz milestone!
World’s Smallest Political Quiz Hits 20 MILLION
As of October 2013, the online World’s Smallest Political Quiz has been taken more than 20 MILLION TIMES since it was first put on the Web in 1995.
The Quiz has become an Internet legend – the world’s first, and by far the most popular, Internet political quiz.
And the numbers continue to grow. In October 2007 we were thrilled to announce that we had reached the ten million mark. Just six years later — that impressive number has been doubled!
Plus: add to that the 12-million-plus Quiz cards we’ve distributed, and the additional millions more people encountering the Quiz in classrooms, newspapers, books, on talk radio, at Facebook, at Operation Politically Homeless (OPH) booths, and elsewhere.
This is fantastic news for libertarians. Because the Quiz is arguably the most effective tool for libertarian outreach ever invented.
The Quiz is magic! It is eye-catching, intriguing, fun. And a Quiz taker can go from knowing nothing about libertarianism to becoming a full-fledged libertarian activist – all from an encounter with a single Quiz card or the online Quiz.
That’s because when people take the Quiz:
- They learn that libertarianism is a major part of the American political spectrum – that there is more to politics than just left versus right.
- They get insights into their own political views, and they think about some of today’s most important – but often ignored – political issues.
- They learn that, on many key issues, libertarians are their allies, even if they consider themselves liberals or conservatives or centrists.
- A large percentage of Quiz takers discover they are libertarians or have more in common with libertarianism than any other political philosophy.
- They are given resources to learn more about libertarianism, the liberty movement, and the best ways to tell others about these world-changing ideas. Quiz-takers thus become Quiz givers – spreading the message themselves.
You can help keep this vital work going with your tax-deductible donation now.
Quiz Success Is No Accident
Please note: the amazing success of the Quiz is no accident. The Advocates has spent many years and thousands of hours developing, refining and promoting the Quiz.
Advocates Founder Marshall Fritz created the Quiz in 1987, building it around a chart by Libertarian Party co-founder and Advocates supporter David F. Nolan. From the start, Marshall insisted that the Quiz be not just fast and fun, but above all honest and accurate – giving reliable and useful insights to those who take it.
The result is a tool so effective and mind-opening that non-libertarian educators, journalists and others can – and do – use it and recommend it.
During the past decade, the Quiz has been featured in more than a dozen of America’s best-selling college and high school textbooks or their supplementary material.
During that same period we’ve supplied educators, at their request, with tens of thousands of card Quizzes for their classrooms. Libertarianism studied in the classroom – a libertarian dream come true, thanks to the Advocates!
This is tangible, real-world outreach success. And it is making a real difference.
As Ron Paul – who knows a thing or two about America’s libertarian movement – said in the Congressional Record:
“The World’s Smallest Political Quiz is one of the freedom movement’s
most recognized and effective outreach tools. …
The World’s Smallest Political Quiz is responsible for many Americans’ first contact with libertarian ideas.
While traveling around the country, I have often heard people say,
‘I never knew I was a libertarian until I took the Quiz!’”
Indeed, that’s the story of Wes Benedict, current Executive Director of the national Libertarian Party and longtime libertarian activist. As Wes writes in his new book, Introduction to the Libertarian Party:
“I had barely heard of the word ‘libertarian’ before I took the Quiz.
But shortly after I took it and found out I had libertarian political views,
I joined the Libertarian Party as a dues-paying member.”
Wes went on to have an immense impact as a local, state and national activist, fundraiser, donor, candidate – and today, as Executive Director of the national Libertarian Party.
And his journey started – like that of countless others – with an encounter with the Quiz.
Imagine how many other journeys have started with those 20 million online Quiz hits.
The success of the Quiz is great news for the entire liberty movement. The Quiz is finding and educating the libertarian leaders, activists and supporters of tomorrow!
You can help keep this vital work going with your tax-deductible donation now.
OPH Excitement on College Campuses
Imagine discovering thousands of new college-age libertarians – and recruiting them into active libertarian chapters. In one year!
That’s the 2014 goal of one of our most ambitious outreach programs.
For the past four years we’ve been supplying campus libertarian groups across America with our exclusive Operation Politically Homeless (OPH) outreach kits.
We offer these incredibly effective kits – a $65 value – FREE to every campus libertarian organization that asks for one. Our only stipulation: they agree to use it at least three times in a calendar year and report the results to us.
I am excited to announce that we have now given OPH kits, at their request, to nearly 1,000 campus libertarian groups – in almost every state in America.
The potential is incredible. And the results so far from students using OPH has been… amazing!
A quick reminder: OPH uses the World’s Smallest Political Quiz and other unique features to transform an ordinary hum-drum outreach booth into an exciting crowd-drawing event. OPH makes it easy and fun for just a couple of libertarians to discover lots of new libertarians and libertarian-leaning individuals wherever people are gathered.
OPH works sensationally on college campuses. We have received glowing testimonials from student activists across America, telling us they’re using OPH to spread their message and get lots of new sign-ups – and having fun doing it!
Here’s what leaders of the two biggest national student libertarian groups have to say about OPH:
“This is awesome! What a great resource for students!” – Clark Ruper, Vice President, Students for Liberty (SFL)
“The OPH kits are fantastic on campus…” – Corey Hubbard, former Director of Events, Young Americans for Liberty (YAL)
Do the Math
Some quick math will show you why I’m so excited about these 900-plus OPH kits we’ve given away.
If all 900 kits were used three times this coming year, 2,700 OPHs would be held on campuses this year.
But to be conservative, imagine that just one-third of those kits are used an average of three times in 2014.
Here’s what that would look like:
- 300 kits, used three times, equals… 900 OPH events on campuses across America.
- 900 OPH events, discovering on average 20 libertarian-leaning recruits (a reasonable expectation, based on years of experience with OPH), equals…
- … 18,000 potential new college-aged libertarian activists brought into the liberty movement!
Imagine what this would mean to the liberty movement! For this year – and for decades to come.
That’s the potential of OPH in the hands of the passionate, hardworking new libertarian campus organizations across America. Year after year.
I’m proud that the Advocates is making this possible.
“We ROCKED the Student Activity Mart!”
But really… will students use OPH? Will they get these kinds of results?
Yes! Let me share a couple of reports from students using OPH in just the past few months.
Reports Sam Link of Young Americans for Liberty at Bowling Green State University in Ohio:
“Thanks for the OPH kit! We used it to help spread the word and recruit during BGSU’s Campus Fest.
“We were definitely the most active political table at Campus Fest. The Quiz was a huge help in bringing students to the table and we were able to sign up around 100 people that day!”
One hundred new sign-ups – in one day! That’s the power of OPH.
In early September the University of Missouri chapter of Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) used OPH to educate and recruit at the Student Activity Mart.
Member James Chappelow says OPH “rocked the Student Activity Mart.”
“We recruited more than 50 new interested students and provided a public service to Mizzou students of all political stripes by helping them get in touch with their own ideas and beliefs.”
Fifty new students signed up! And, as always with OPH, many other students were educated about liberty and the political spectrum.
I could share many similar OPH stories with you. (See more quotes and student OPH outreach successes elsewhere in this mailing.)
Bottom line: With nearly 1,000 OPHs in the hands of hardworking, dedicated student groups, we can look forward to many thousands of young people discovering the joys of liberty in 2014 – and becoming activists and leaders themselves in our great Cause!
You can help keep this vital work going with your tax-deductible donation now.
Teaching 1,000 Libertarians the Very Best Ways
to Spread the Liberty Message
The Quiz and OPH are helping millions of Americans encounter and understand the ideas of liberty. And many go on to embrace those ideas and become libertarians themselves.
But – great as that is – it’s not enough.
We must also teach these new libertarians to become powerful and effective advocates for liberty. We must equip them with the knowledge and the best tools to bring their friends, neighbors and communities into the liberty movement.
That’s why, for over 25 years, the Advocates has worked to empower libertarians by teaching them the very best ways to communicate the ideas of liberty.
This is an Advocates specialty. It’s been a key part of our mission from the earliest days of the organization. And I’m finding that the growing legions of enthusiastic new libertarians, on and off campus, are hungry to learn how to persuade others to accept libertarianism.
They want to know how to open the eyes of family members, friends, classmates and colleagues. They want to know how to deal with the hard questions. How to talk about liberty without turning people off. How to spread our ideas – quickly, effectively, winningly.
And that’s what we teach.
Demand for our communication workshops has never been higher. This year I conducted workshops at Harvard University, Texas State University, the University of North Texas, and Utah Valley University – attended by students from numerous surrounding colleges. I also did workshops in Houston and Atlanta sponsored by several libertarian organizations.
Already workshops for 2014 in Louisiana, Tennessee, Colorado, and Georgia are booked. More are being scheduled as I write. And dozens of libertarian student groups have asked us to do communication workshops. We’re working on dates for those, and – because demand is so great – we will also be offering live online workshops.
In 2014 we plan to train close to 1,000 libertarians – many of whom will be leaders in their organizations and will in turn share these techniques with their members.
Our training changes lives. Here are just a few comments from 2013 workshop participants:
“This workshop should be taken by every individual in the liberty movement. The practicality and content have the power to take us from a minority to a majority.”
“A fabulous workshop for anyone interested in cultivating their libertarian communication skills.”
“If you want to help spread the message of liberty… you need this training.”
You can help keep this vital work going with your tax-deductible donation now.
And Still More…
Our acclaimed email newsletter The Liberator Online delivers expert communication know-how to over 33,000 subscribers. Our social media outreach reaches thousands of people daily on Facebook and elsewhere. Our exclusive books, videos, and CDs teach libertarian communication excellence.
You and I know that…
What the World Needs Now…
… is more libertarians! And just as important: we desperately need libertarians who are effective and persuasive ambassadors for liberty. Libertarians who will provide the manpower and the leadership for a huge national grassroots libertarian movement that will make liberty a burning issue in American politics once again.
That’s what the Advocates is creating! That’s what your generosity is making possible.
You can help keep this vital work going with your tax-deductible donation now.
New Poll: What We’ve Been Waiting for… Is Here!
I am excited by the results of a September 2013 national poll commissioned by the FreedomWorks organization.
As Politico.com reported, the survey found: “Republicans embracing libertarian priorities… a libertarian renaissance in 2013… 78 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents self-identify as fiscally conservative and socially moderate… they seem to be embracing underlying libertarian priorities and views about the role of government… one-quarter of Republicans self-identified as ‘libertarian’ or ‘lean libertarian’…”
And the libertarian rEVOLution isn’t just happening among Republicans, of course. Reports Politico: “About 40 percent of 18-to-32-year-olds view the word ‘libertarian’ favorably…”
And my favorite:
“Told that libertarians generally believe individuals should be free
to do as they like as long as they don’t hurt others
and that the government should keep out of people’s day-to-day lives,
58 percent of the full national sample said they agree.”
Incredible! This would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. It’s what you and I have dreamed of. And it’s what Advocates Founder Marshall Fritz predicted, over and over again, when despairing libertarians told him there was no hope for liberty. (I just wish he were here today to see the libertarian revolution he and other liberty pioneers made possible.)
But you and I don’t need a poll to tell us that libertarian ideas are on the rise. You’ve felt it yourself, I’m sure. Our day is dawning at last. Millions of Americans are now ready to hear and embrace the ideas of liberty. This is the time you and I have been working so hard for!
These newly-awakened liberty-minded individuals desperately need what only the Advocates can offer them. Proven, tested outreach and recruitment tools like the Quiz and OPH. Solid information on the ideas of liberty and the libertarian movement. The best ways to be effective advocates for freedom. How to win hearts and minds – while avoiding the disastrous communication mistakes that, in the past, too often turned people off to libertarianism.
The Advocates has what they need and want. We must reach them – now.
We are working hard on new ways to greatly increase the effectiveness of our online Quiz outreach. And we’ll be ramping up our communication training: conducting workshops across the country, publishing more books on successful libertarian communication, and continuing to empower libertarian students to discover, create, and activate more libertarians on campus.
But the Advocates can’t do this without you. Your support makes our work possible. Your donation helps us build and empower the growing, energetic libertarian movement the world needs so urgently now.
Your donation helps us ensure that millions of people will encounter libertarian ideas in attractive, honest, persuasive ways – because of the unique, proven programs YOU make possible.
Your donation today will allow us to make a huge difference for liberty in the months ahead.
Our “Thank-You” Gifts for You
The greatest gift we can give you is this: the satisfaction of knowing you are personally playing a vital role in this world-changing work of discovering, training and equipping libertarian activists across America.
The other gift we can give is less important, but still very nice. Please check the enclosed insert to see what we have reserved for you to show our appreciation for your generous support of this work.
Thank you for being one of the very important people who care enough about liberty to want to do something about it – to share its blessings and benefits with everyone.
Can I count on you to invest in liberty by making a contribution to the Advocates today?
For liberty,
Sharon Harris, Advocates President
P.S. Please remember, we depend entirely on your generous tax-deductible donations to make our work possible.
P.P.S. Your investment helps make it possible for grassroots libertarian activists to become powerful and successful advocates of the ideas of liberty. For college libertarians – on fire with these ideas – to discover, create and activate thousands more libertarians on campuses nationwide. For millions of people to learn about the libertarian ideas you and I cherish.
You can help keep this vital work going with your tax-deductible donation now.
Thank you for your dedication to the great cause of LIBERTY!