MEMBERSHIPS

I fully realize that many of you don’t know me personally, never heard of the Gift of Power Foundation and, therefore, have little motivation to support the mission of the GPF without some explanation of exactly how your money is going to be spent. Fair enough. In your position, I would want to know with some specificity (I love that word – I can spell it and I know what it means, but I can’t pronounce it) how my money was going to be spent. So, I’m going to spend my money and yours to fund the following GPF projects:

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS:
Producing, publishing and disseminating a variety of educational materials is a vital component in the war on violence against women and children. An example of this is the book “Making it Out Alive, protecting women and children from violence.” The focus of this book is on awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance. Basically, a compilation of tips and strategies on how to avoid becoming a victim in the first place.

Producing, publishing and disseminating articles and discussions by a variety of therapists, advocates and other experts in the field. These articles and discussions are published on our online web sites www.giftofpower.org and our action site www.protectingwomen.com. Readers are encouraged to reply to these articles and submit comments and suggestions. Readers are also encouraged to submit articles of their own for publication.

LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS:
Lectures and workshops for clubs, corporations and organizations are provided for a fee and those fees are used to help defray operational costs.  Lectures and workshops for victim advocacy organizations are provided free of charge with operational costs paid by the Gift of Power.
     
TRAINING AND CERTIFYING INSTRUCTORS:
A vital part of our mission is to bring the Threat Level Yellow training program to as many females as possible. To accomplish this task, the GPF trains and certifies instructors from all over the country (and beyond) so that they can, in turn, offer hands-on, in-person, self-defense instruction to documented victims of rape, physical attacks and / or domestic violence (as referred by police agencies, women’s shelters and other reputable agencies and organizations) IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.

FUNDRAISING:
As I have stated previously, I really dislike asking others for money and support. But, since founding the Gift of Power Foundation, I have learned that, like other charities, the GPF cannot function (indeed cannot exist) without the generous and continuous support of people and organizations that share our concern for protecting women and children from violence. Hence, fundraising efforts are ongoing. These efforts include securing grants and funding wherever they are available (a large and difficult chore, I’m learning). Other efforts include producing and marketing products such as t-shirts, hats, posters, books, etc, with the net proceeds going to help defray GPF costs.

OVERHEAD:
I suppose that I should not have been surprised to learn that charities like the GPF pay just as much in overhead as any for-profit business. There are no special discounted prices to charities for rent, utilities, travel, supplies, postage, etc, etc. that I’m aware of.

ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS:
Just like any business, we have to market our products and services or die. Advertising and public relations are essential components in our mission to “spread the word” and I don’t think that anyone really believes that advertising and P.R. efforts are without cost. The costs are enormous. Got any idea what it costs for a TV ad for instance?

COMMUNITY OUTREACH:
Presently, we are working on further community outreach in a number of projects to include:

• Producing intermediate and advanced educational materials and training curriculums, i.e. “Threat Level Orange” and “Threat Level Red.”
• To install GPF educational and instructional programs in local and national government agencies, schools and colleges, care giving organizations, companies and corporations, charities, advocacy groups, police agencies, courts (restitution programs), religious organizations, health clubs and local self-defense training centers throughout the U.S.
• Develop educational and training programs for media programming (radio, TV, print and the internet).
• Develop a directory for counseling services for victims (where victims can go for help in their community, online help, legal help, medical help, self-defense training, etc).
• Enlist political support both locally and nationally.
• Form strategic alliances with other like-minded organizations for special events and programs designed to heighten awareness of the need for accessible self-defense training.

If you are interested in helping to protect women and children from violence, one of the ways that you can do so is to become a member of the Gift of Power Alliance. Your memberships are tax deductible and will help make a real difference in the lives of victims of violence.

Current Alliance memberships are:

One-year platinum membership -- $1,200.00. You receive -

• Your name inscribed on our “List of Patrons” as a Platinum Gift of Power Alliance member.
• A beautiful Gift of Power Alliance certificate of membership.
• A six-month subscription to www.protectingwomen.com, the groundbreaking, highly interactive Internet website that offers subscribers a video presentation of the entire Threat Level Yellow course of instruction and more. You may designate the person of your choice to receive this subscription.
• A signed copy of the book “Making it Out Alive, protecting women and children from violence.” This book contains a list of vital preventative measures you can take on how to avoid becoming a victim of violence in the first place.
• A logo shirt.

One-year Gold Membership -- $600.00. You receive -

• Your name inscribed on our “List of Patrons” as a Gold Gift of Power Alliance member.
• A beautiful Gift of Power Alliance certificate of membership.
• A three-month subscription to www.protectingwomen.com. You may designate the person of your choice to receive this subscription.

One-year Silver Membership -- $300.00. You receive -

• Your name inscribed on our “List of Patrons” as a Silver Gift of Power Alliance member.
• A beautiful Gift of Power Alliance certificate of membership.
• A one-month subscription to www.protectingwomen.com. You may designate the person of your choice to receive this subscription.

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

You may pay for your membership by credit card.

You may pay for your membership by check. In this case, please send the Membership Registration information along with your check payable to “Gift of Power”

Mailing Address

Dave Hebler c/o Gift of Power,
P.O. Box 3701, Carson City, NV 89702