This is a crucial time for ensuring the necessary commitments in the fight against global extreme poverty and preventable disease are made and to turn these promises into reality for the world’s poorest people -- and this will only be possible with your help. By putting your hometown on the ONE map, we can show our leaders just how much support there is across the country for making poverty history. So THANK YOU for your interest in declaring your hometown a ONE City. Our goal is to have a ONE City located in all 50 states by the end of 2008. We are over halfway there, thanks to the efforts of members like you.
Learn more. Download the toolkit. Get started (we’ll help!). We look forward to hearing how it goes!
Did you know that you could declare your state a ONE State? Are you a college student? Does your congregation support ONE?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, you can get more proclamations! These same steps apply to other proclamations. Just start by contacting your governor, university officials or faith leaders and ask them to show support for the fight against global extreme poverty by making your state a ONE State, your school a ONE Campus or your place of worship a ONE Congregation.
How to Get the ONE City Declaration
1. CONTACT THE ONE CAMPAIGN
Email your local field organizer or giveyourtime@one.org and let the ONE team know about your interest—we’ll give you quick tips, help you meet all of the requirements and let you know if your state or another nearby city has also signed on!
2. CONTACT THE MAYOR’S OFFICE OR CITY COUNCIL
Contact the mayor’s office or city officials to find out what the process is for issuing a “proclamation”. In many areas, this can be done by the decision of the Mayor, but in others it may require action from the City Council. Proclamations are a common way for cities and states to show support for issues and causes.
3. ENLIST SUPPORT
Enlist the support of your friends and family. If need be, think of organizations or community leaders who may be supportive of a proclamation. A few ideas are places of worship, the Rotary or Key Clubs, Boy or Girl Scouts or elected officials with experience living overseas. See if they will join you! Use the petitions to gather signatures from members of your community.
4. USE THE FACTS
ONE fact sheets may help you answer any questions from your mayor or city council. ONE fact sheets can be found at www.one.org/issues/.
5. FOLLOW UP
Be sure to fill out any necessary forms and provide the sample proclamation. Securing proclamations can take time, so do not be afraid to be persistent.
6. SAY THANK YOU
Thank the officials who granted you the proclamation and anyone else who helped out in the process.
7. MAKE A BIG SPLASH
We don’t want your hard work to go unnoticed. Often times, proclamations are announced and filed away and never seen or heard of again. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen with this proclamation. By completing the “must haves” and “can dos” found in the ONE City toolkit, ONE will make sure that this declaration gets the attention it deserves!
8. TELL ONE HOW IT WENT
Email giveyourtime@one.org and let the ONE team know about your success! Send us your pictures, how it happened, and the names of people involved. We would love to hear from you and add your hometown to our ONE map.
Make a Bigger Splash
After your Mayor or City Council issues the proclamation, complete a few easy steps to make the announcement bigger. Complete the three "must-haves" and pick at least five options from the “can do” list.
ONE City Must-Haves
Recruit more people! Ask local residents, city officials, friends, neighbors, family members and everyone you see to join ONE either by signing the declaration located at city hall, online at ONE.org or by texting “City” to 62523.
Start a ONE Group. Visit ONE.org and sign up for a ONE Group on the ONE Group webpage. Contact your ONE field representative, and help find ways that your community can take action and get involved in the fight against extreme poverty.
Introduce ONE. Present ONE to the city council or at a prominent community event to help introduce the city officials or community members to ONE’s mission and educate them on the importance of getting involved. Contact ONE for a sample presentation.
ONE City “Can Do” List (Pick Five)
Challenge others. Ask the mayor or city official to issue a friendly challenge to surrounding mayors or city councils, encouraging them to follow the city’s lead in being declared a ONE City.
Write a LTE. Submit a letter to the editor (LTE) to your local newspaper and let the community know about your efforts and the Mayor or City Council’s announcement.
Write your Rep. Write a letter to your two senators and your representative to let them know about this announcement and educate them about ONE’s movement. Be sure to include a copy of the proclamation.
ONE-ify the city. Place flyers, white bands and the ONE declaration at city hall, local businesses, churches, schools, the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. Reach out to all or some of these organizations to get the word out and sign up new members.
Wrap trees. With white ribbon or other materials, wrap trees to creatively get people talking about ONE.
ONE community event. Include ONE in city activities; examples include a table at a local festival or a float in a parade.
ONE community groups. Ask the mayor to make introductions from the city to the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, and other local organizations. These introductions can provide a great network for ONE. Reach out to local school officials and ask them to join ONE by signing a proclamation.
Organize a ONE presence at community events. Keep an eye out for upcoming events where ONE could be involved.
Recruit others to join the proclamation effort. Ask churches, schools, businesses and community organizations like the Rotary Club to join the city in supporting ONE. Ask mayors and city councils from neighboring cities and local institutions to join ONE.
Promote the proclamation. Contact friends, colleagues and family members to let them know about the announcement and encourage them to join ONE.
Organize a ONE event around the proclamation. Host a house party, church event or school event to let people know what the proclamations means.
Contribute to media work. Be available for interviews and send ONE local media contacts.
