November 18, 2019
Dear <first name>,
Overall, the election delivered a new Virginia legislature
that’s still friendly to our cause, BUT ..
. House and Senate newcomers of both parties often come in
grossly underestimating their constituents’ opposition to the
death penalty.
It’s up to VADP to rally grassroots action in their home
districts to inform new legislators of opposition to the death
penalty. There’s much to be done, and time is short, because...
We have long targeted 2020 for an all-out campaign for
repeal, and everything is falling into place for victory.
We now need YOUR support to make Virginia the first
Southern state to abolish capital punishment. Please consider ..
For the past four years VADP has built support for death
penalty reform and abolition across party lines - engaging
Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and Libertarians alike.
We now have enough broad-based support to have a serious debate
about death penalty abolition in the General Assembly.
Earlier this year, the Senate voted to pass a bill exempting
people with severe mental illness from capital punishment. This
was the first time that either chamber of the Virginia General
Assembly had voted to limit the death penalty in any way.
We could not have achieved this extraordinary breakthrough
without our supporters’ extra-generous donations. (Thank you!)
You helped us push ahead despite a potentially disastrous
shortfall -- the loss of a $40,000 ongoing annual grant.
Let me restate that: We lost a long-standing source of one
quarter of our modest $165,000 budget .. not just for last
year but for the foreseeable future.
When we alerted supporters, you rallied with more and
larger donations, enough so we did not need to limit activities
or cut staff in 2019. (We have only two full-time employees!)
You will soon see the results of our intensive public
communications efforts, articles and op-eds generated by media
releases and our many press conferences.
In these, legislators will hear the voices of murder victim
family members and Conservatives calling for abolition of the
death penalty. We are also about to release some striking data
that clearly demonstrates that most citizens throughout the
entire Commonwealth abandoned capital punishment decades ago.
Thanks to VADP donor support, repeal is in reach! It would
be tragic to let a funding shortfall slow us down when victory
is so close. So please help us close our budget gap!..
Your last contribution to VADP was *, given on *.
Today, I ask you to not only match that, but to increase
your support by 25%, 50%, or even double it.
Many of our donors are generous around the holidays. Yet
we really need an additional $15,000 by the end of this year so
we can push into 2020 without worrying about slashing budget or
staff.
To abolish the death penalty in Virginia, we need your
generous gift returned in the envelope provided. It’s tax-
deductible when you itemize!
Please be as generous as you can and support us as soon as
possible. (You can also give with your credit or debit card at
our secure web site: www.vadp.org “Donate”. )
With urgent thanks,
Michael E. Stone
Executive Director
P.S. As I explained, we need each of our individual donors to
increase their contribution by an average of 25% by the end of
2019 to help us overcome the loss of that $40,000 legacy grant.
Please return your VADP donation today, using the enclosed form
and envelope.
