Each person who will be conducting a fundraising party for the Ruth Institute will want to cater the event to their friends. What will your friends be accustomed to? A cocktail party by the pool? Or maybe a barbeque Invite five to fifteen people depending on your house size and comfort. An overstuffed or under stuffed house makes an event hard to accommodate. Inform your guests about who Dr. Morse and the Ruth Institute are. Not only is the Ruth Institute helping to “make marriage cool” through various programs, but Dr. Morse is a strong voice in our media and culture in defense of traditional marriage. Let them know she will be talking to them about how they can help the Institute and join our team. People do not respond well to surprise Fundraising events—give /> Depending on the kind of party you choose to have, you may want to think about asking you guests for a small donation before they even come.
The Ruth Institute will provide the rest! (Speaker, donation envelops etc) So sit back, relax and enjoy the event! We want to take a moment to thank you for your efforts in supporting us. We cannot continue to protect marriage without your help and support!

1. If possible, compose the letter in Microsoft Word, Notepad or some other word processor. If that isn’t possible, try writing out the letter by hand beforehand. It is very difficult and cumbersome to create a letter on an internet web page.

2. For San Marcos residents, it is probably best to submit letters to North County Times since an individual can submit letters to them every two weeks. The San Diego Union-Tribune allows only one letter from an individual every 90 days. Also, the San Diego Union-Tribune seems to be more liberal than the North County Times.

3. North County Times comes in two versions, North County Times for northern San Diego County and The Californian for the Temecula area. Letters may be submitted to either or both as far as I know. The formats are identical.

4. Letters to the editor are limited to 200 words. Longer letters will be rejected. (Microsoft Word has a “Word Count” function on the “Tools” menu.)

5. Submitting letters on line to North County Times/The Californian is very easy: First, bring up their website, www.nctimes.com

6. Click on “Contact Us” in the upper left corner of the page.

7. Under “Send a Letter,” click on either “A Letter to the North County Times Editor” or “A Letter to The Californian Editor.

8. Fill in your name, email address, mailing address, phone number and letter subject. Paste or type your letter in the space allowed and click on “Submit Letter to the Editor”.
   

That’s it. You’re done. After the first letter, you may get a phone call from the paper just confirming that there is really a resident with your name at that address and phone number. This is probably to prevent them from being flooded with letters with phony addresses and phone numbers.

by Jamie Gruber, Executive Director, Ruth Institute

Before you do anything make sure that you follow your campus protocol for bringing a speaker onto campus. Contact your student government or student life to make sure you fill out the necessary paperwork

Taking into account the size of your school and the surrounding support to make sure that you reserve a lecture hall that fits the size of the event. Larger venues look empty and don’t look successful.

Publicity is essential to a successful event. First check your campus’ policy on advertising, and then efficiently cover your campus with flyers (see Ruth Institute approved flyers). Creating facebook groups or events or getting the word out through listservs is also a great tool. Nothing beats word of mouth though, so talk it up at your club meetings and with your friends.

You will also want to publicize at the local Churches or community organizations that you know would be interested in a Ruth Institute event. This ensures high turn out and community interest in your club.

Now that your have students and the community involved, it is important to get faculty and staff on board. A great tool to get a lot of student attendance is to find faculty who support the topic of the event and encourage them by giving extra credit for attendance.

Make sure your campus newspaper covers the event so that the following day there will be recognition of the event. Send the standard news release to the campus paper, and to any alternative campus papers. This has two-fold benefits: first, it is a follow up for those who attended and second it is publicity for your club on campus.

Plan an event that is at a time and date that maximizes potential attendance.

To continue after the event!

Think about creating a club on campus that promotes the values that the Ruth Institute shared in its talk.
Radio publicity can be a great boon to your event. Make a list of local radio stations that might be sympathetic to the event. Dr Morse has lots of talk radio experience and can give them an entertaining interview. Call us with the list and we can do the rest.

by Jamie Gruber, Executive Director, Ruth Institute

Try to guess the size of the event and plan the hall accordingly. You do not want a venue that is much larger than the guest turnout. This makes the room look empty and the event unsuccessful.

Publicity is key to a successful event. Make sure that you advertise in the appropriate mediums. If this event is being held at a church for example the bulletin and website would be a great way to get the word out. Please utilize the pre-approved Ruth Institutes flyers. If you would prefer to make your own flyers, make sure that you contact us.

Word of mouth is the best way to get the word out. Encourage others to come with excitement for the event

Plan an event at a time and a date that maximizes potential attendance.

If your event is at a Church make sure that the pastor is involved and comes to the event. It is important to include him, so that he can carry the material over to other aspects of the Church

To continue the ideas learned from the Ruth Institute Event, start a Ruth Support Group chapter in your neighborhood

Radio publicity can be a great asset to your event. Make a list of local radio stations that might be sympathetic to the event. Dr Morse has lots of talk radio experience and can give them an entertaining interview. Call us with the list and we can do the rest.