Sunday, November 13, 2005

Fundraising Among Nepalis In The US: Pyramid Of 10


I first brought this up here: Gameplan. The idea there is that it is not enough to extend moral support, and it is not enough to lobby. Logistical support has to be extended. And we should be very involved in the movement, in the planning, in suggesting ideas, we should be participating in the details. We can't be out there in the streets in Kathmandu, but other than that we can do pretty much everything else. We can participate at all other levels, and we should.

Fundraising is key to what I am suggesting. But in that gameplan the fundraising starts only after the seven party coalition comes around to the three point program. And the fundraising is done primarily by the Nepali organizations in the US, by their officers.

Today I would like to take the idea to a whole different level.

The money is to be given to the seven party coalition if it comes around to the three point program (Maoist, Moriarty, Madhav, Manmohan: Get Behind The 3 Point Program) or part or all of it can be given to a whole new party if the youth associated with all the parties were to get around to that idea. (Janata Dal Constitution) A new cutting edge party would be launched that would skip the constituent assembly idea and go straight for this: Proposed Democratic Republican Constitution. I came up with this idea right after Gagan Thapa came under attack from Girija Koirala after the Pokhara incident.

But here I have to be careful. I am not there, I am here. It is for the people at the other end to decide what exactly it is that they want to do, they can do. They are the ones facing ground realities. Gagan's last stand was that he wished to work from inside the Nepali Congress. And if that be his stand, I will respect that. But I want him and others like him to know there also are other options. We do not have forever. We should be thinking months not years.

As for fundraising, my idea is this.

Forget the existing Nepali organizations. Instead construct a pyramid of 10.

If you can get 10 people including yourself to donate $100 each, you are a Leader. 10 of those are lead by a Senior Leader. There is a Commander at the top.

10 Donors * 10 Leaders * 10 Senior Leaders = 1000 Contributors = $100,000.

This might be the more efficient, faster route to raising money and keeping it all transparent. The 10 Senior Leaders and the Commander decide on the details of dealing with the money. The broad framework is as suggested above. And there has to be an agility to our ways. We have to be constantly studying the developments. We should make strategic investments. We should be fast on our feet.

And we give more than money. We are very involved with the planning of the details of the movement.

The great thing about this idea is those in Kathmandu could use the same idea to get 100,000 people out in the streets: Take Over Tundikhel. This way you know exactly how many people you have at any one point in time. You can decide to show up only after you have the numbers. You can stay organized. You can get creative with the movement.

It can feel like I am giving Gagan a lot of homework. But I am not pushing. I am only suggesting. I mean, is your patience not being tried by all three forces in the country?

I suggest those of us in the US start building our pyramid right away. Right now we are not collecting money. We are only preparing a pyramid of people who are pledging to contribute. We will push the button down the line when we decide the time is right.

3 Scenarios
Gameplan
House Revival Stance Preventing Progress

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