We’re ramping up for Liberty Forum, March 5-8, 2015 in Manchester. For the first time, many libertarian think tanks will be in attendance–Cato, Charles Koch Institute, Mercatus, and FEE–a very good sign that shows the FSP is now regarded as a real contender for the future of freedom. I hope you will attend. This would give you an opportunity to meet the community first-hand and see what is transpiring on the ground.
From an organizational standpoint, we are going from strength to strength. Jason Sorens, the founder of the FSP, cofounder of Ethics and Economics Education of New England, and lecturer at Dartmouth College, has rejoined the board, and is now VP. It’s exciting to have him back!
We saw many successes in 2014:
Received 501c3 status, which has allowed us to leverage Amazon Smile and AdWords grant
We expanded the board, and new board members commit to $10K+/year
Approximately 1,200 new signers; 135 new movers (keep in mind no one is obligated to move yet)
18 Free Staters have been elected to the state house, the most so far. It is imperative that we Trigger the Move asap, so that more activists can run and win
Released a new, independently made documentary “101 Reasons Liberty Lives in New Hampshire” (23,000 views) and new “It’s Like This Too” mover profiles on the Voices for Liberty Channel
Strong social media growth, averaging 400 new page likes per week, with almost at 70,000 on Facebook, and almost 62,000 followers on Twitter
Media coverage in The Economist, NYT, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reason, etc.
Our goal for 2015-2016 is two-fold:
- Garner remaining signers (3,666 as of this writing) and Trigger the Move
- Reach out to all past participants and encourage them to move/find signers
Take a look at the draft Strategic Plan I sent the board, which outlines our mission, vision, target markets, current marketing efforts, and identifies new ones. Also attached is a Participant Statistics Monthly Performance Report for November 2014. You’ll note a few things: 1. Our biggest spikes in signers comes from mainstream media coverage (e.g. the jury nullification case, the Concord BEARCAT incident, and when a sitting Democrat said Free Staters are the single biggest threat to the state of NH); 2. the second largest spikes are around our FSP hosted events, Liberty Forum and PorcFest; and 3. the current Trigger the Move date is early 2018. We want to accelerate this. With your support, we can. If we double our recruitment rate in 2015, we will Trigger the Move in early 2016.
Our current signer acquisition rate is $100 (this increased from the historic $81 due to my transitioning into a full-time, paid position). If we are to Trigger the Move in 2016, we need to raise $366,600 as soon as possible. We are working on a capital campaign which will launch in Q1 2015, where we are asking select donors to contribute at the $25,000-$50,000 level.
Would you be willing to support 10% of this goal, $36,600? Your tax-exempt donation would directly support the following projects:
1) A mailing to all signers promoting the move and promoting obtaining new signers (est. cost: $16,000). We are sending a test mailer invitation to Liberty Forum to 3,125 signers in the identified target areas. This test mailing will provide data to help us determine how to proceed with the larger mailing list.
2) The balance will spent on online signer acquisition through Facebook, Twitter, and online advertising networks, employing SEO metrics to keep us on target and provide reporting data.
The Free State Project has the leadership, the skills, and the commitment to make your contribution count. We stand at the cusp of a historic breakthrough. We have already seen the benefits of concentrating liberty activists in one geographic area. Help us reach the finish line!
Yours in peace and liberty,
Carla