GOAL 100,000.00

mount Raised as of today $ 30,003.41
in actual donations and memberships

Power of One raises more than $15,000 in 2004. We can do even better in 2005!

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to thank a large number of people and AAMR organizations who responded during this past year. Many, in particular, send in donations to the campaign with their membership renewals. So thank you. The campaign in many ways has lived up to its name: a growing number of one by one contributions have added up to the most successful voluntary fundraising effort to date for AAMR. (Ana, check that with Doreen, we may want to say...to one of the most....)

We need to build on that kind of response. In 2005, we invite you to respond with another donation, or, even better, recruit one new member for AAMR. (I've had the fun of giving a couple of memberships to people!) Or, as we suggested originally, donate an honorarium if you are invited to use your skills in leadership or training. That is a powerful statement of the way that we, who make up the AAMR, serve and work together in a national network that benefits many of us, and the people whom we serve and support.

2004 began with an anonymous challenge donation at the Mid Winter Leadership meeting that multiplied itself three-fold. It was a good year! Let's help make 2005 even better.

Bill Gaventa, M.Div.
AAMR Board of Directors

The Power of One Campaign: Vision and Purpose

The following statement has been developed by Val Bradley, First Vice-President,
and Bill Gaventa, Campaign Chair.

The unique coalition of individuals that comprises the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) has been a powerful force for positive changes in the lives of people with cognitive disabilities. Given the major challenges facing our field as a consequence of budget cuts, retrenchment, waiting lists, staffing shortages and other assaults, it is even more important to maintain and strengthen the voice of AAMR in policy and professional forums around the country. The Power of One campaign is an important way to ensure that this voice is not diminished. Through your mentorship of a new member, the purchase of a membership for a young colleague, the contribution of speaking fees or other in-kind contribution, or by writing a check you will help to build a robust organization that will carry the message of self-determination, civil rights, and supports for people with cognitive disabilities and their families.

Your contribution will have an immediate impact in terms of the Association's role in public policy, in the courts, in our universities, and in provision of services and clinical and other supports. It will enhance the capacity of AAMR to reach out to new constituencies, including self advocates, through new and targeted publications and training efforts; to expand the adoption of the supports model and the tools needed to make it a reality; to seek grants to further our work in the area of environmental toxins and cognitive disabilities; to further hone our public policy agenda; and to build a fund-raising capacity that will eliminate the need for scatter shot and ad hoc efforts.

AAMR - now more than ever!!

There have been many inspiring moments and a great deal of success!

For example …

A 90-year-old AAMR member contributed $7, which represented his last hourly wage when he    retired.
A 4th grade Montessori class made a donation because of the work we do  for children with    disabilities throughout the world.
Many older members said they became an AAMR member when someone asked them to join    and now they are returning the favor by recruiting a new, younger member to the    Association.
Young professionals who do not have a great deal of money are recruiting their friends and   colleagues to join AAMR as a way of participating in the Power of One Campaign.

Won’t YOU, too, JOIN The AAMR Power of One Campaign?