Issue Date: March 16, 2003
Make your voice heard
I love signing online petitions. It's so easy: I log on, type in my name and address, and feel like I've contributed to the cause. But I also get the feeling it was too easy. How can something so simple accomplish anything?
Meghan Johnson, director of the Downey McGrath Group, a lobbying firm, says it's difficult to predict online petitions' impact. "The generic petition doesn't do any good, though it's a great way to raise awareness of an issue," she says. "If you want to make an impact, take the time to call, write or send an e-mail." Better still, send money.
One strength of Internet petitions is that they enable far-flung citizens to unite and be counted. There are online grass-roots campaigns for everything from the Christian Coalition (cc.org) to the Green Party (greenpartyus.org). Some start really small. Two women who objected when President Bush withheld U.N. funds earmarked for women and children in the Third World started "The 34 Million Friends Campaign" (unfoundation.org/support/unf_ unfpa.htm); so far, they've raised more than $322,000.
Says Joan Blades, a co-founder of MoveOn.org, which has campaigned successfully for many causes: "For us, a petition is a starting place. Folks identify themselves as concerned about an issue, and then we do everything we can to help them be heard." MoveOn.org began as a petition to bring closure to the Clinton-Lewinsky inquiry, but it has evolved into a "very fast fund-raiser," says Downey McGrath's Johnson. This year, MoveOn.org launched a television ad campaign funded entirely by citizens to protest war with Iraq.
If you plan to give money to someone you've never heard of, be certain you're dealing with a legitimate outfit. Look for an address on the site. Call them; ask around. There are many fraudulent campaigns to raise funds for charities that don't exist. Get a lesson in spotting them at fraud.org.
-- Christina Wood
|
