Wellstone Action a Great Success in 2003

New nonprofit achieves growth and results

In less than a year, Wellstone Action has grown from a concept to a thriving grassroots organization with over 23,000 active members. The organization was founded to continue the work of the late US Senator Paul Wellstone and his wife Sheila Wellstone. In its first year, 1000 activists were trained at Camp Wellstone programs around the country. (This program is so popular that a recent camp filled in less than 24 hours!) Members of the Wellstone Action Network got attention for mental health parity by sending 25,000 letters and faxes to key legislators. And the Sheila Wellstone Institute was launched to work toward ending domestic violence.

Wellstone Action uses Technology for Change™

The Wellstone group and thedatabank, inc. have been working together since 2000, when thedatabank was selected to provide a voter, fundraising, and volunteer database and online communications tools for Paul Wellstone's re-election campaign. It was only natural that thedatabank continue to support Wellstone Action's fight for justice and progressive change.

How does thedatabank's technology help Wellstone Action achieve its mission?

• e-ActionMax TM , thedatabank's Advocacy module, makes it easy for members of the action network to send emails, faxes or letters to their legislative representatives or other targets with just a few mouse clicks.
• Online sign-up forms let new members join quickly. The process is fully automated, saving precious staff time.
• A “Forward to a Friend” button appears in every action alert and newsletter they send out. “'Forward to a Friend' is one of the reasons our network has grown so quickly,” said Anne Johnson, Administrative Director for Wellstone Action. “Members have forwarded issues to as many as fifteen friends, and later those friends come back to us and join.”
• The member database is used to keep track of program participants as well as donors and volunteers. Because the system is so easy to use, and access levels can be precisely controlled, volunteers are frequently utilized for data entry.

And this is only the beginning! thedatabank is partnering with Wellstone Action to pilot the newest online community tools. These tools will integrate web-based organizing with traditional grassroots strategies and facilitate member-to-member contacts.

To find out more about Wellstone Action, visit www.wellstone.org .

To see for yourself how tools like “Forward to a Friend” work, contact us and request a live demonstration.

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