Thirty-nine of the nation’s 64 volunteer State Coordinators came together July 13-15, 2007, for a weekend of work, fun and deep connection, revitalizing themselves and the movement.“We want to create a movement of dispensable people.”

So declared Miki Kashtan, Nonviolent Communications trainer, as she launched the Saturday morning session of the second annual State Coordinators Forward, a weekend in which the Department of Peace Campaign volunteer State Coordinators and staff come together, not to “retreat,” but to support the campaign and one another in moving forward.

In the beautiful lakeside setting of the Koinonia Retreat Center just outside Minneapolis, MN, 39 State Coordinators representing 26 states joined five staff and one board member for the powerful weekend co-created by staff and the Forward planning team of Lynn Ellis (ME), Carol Hillson (NY) and Rena Patty (WA). With many taking off work and paying their own way, State Coordinators began the weekend with dinner Friday followed by sharing from each participant and discussion about the state of the movement, led by Executive Director Dot Maver. Saturday’s session was dedicated primarily to Nonviolent Communications (NVC) training and exploring and expanding the movement’s appeal to a more diverse swath of our society, with additional work on media and messaging strategies with Patty Kuderer, Director of Communications. For the half-day Sunday, the group dove into fundraising with Peace Alliance Foundation Director of Development Lynn McMullen, and shared final goodbyes and celebrations.

Expanding the Movement: NVC and Diversity
On Saturday, Miki echoed words oft-told by Peace Alliance Founder Marianne Williamson, saying, "If it’s all about one person, they can literally kill the person and kill the movement." She challenged the group to be dispensable and make what we do teachable, noting that doing so ensures this movement will live far beyond our efforts and serve generations to come.

NVC is a process rooted in discovering shared needs and working together to meet them. As we reflect to another what they’re saying and support them in discovering their needs, we help them reconnect at the heart-level, and generate clarity, hope and energy.

Miki noted that people in conflict typically share the same needs; they just have different strategies for fulfilling them. The challenge is the illusion that if a strategy isn’t implemented, the need goes unmet. “Not true,” Miki said. “There is always another strategy.”

Also challenging is the belief that the desired outcome is the need, when it’s actually a strategy to meet the need. “If I get to the level of needs, there is no conflict,” Miki noted, adding that when we stand in true nonviolence, “the relationship outweighs the outcome.”

“Every interaction with every person in your life is a part of your work to create a Department of Peace,” Miki continued. The key, she explained, is willingness to learn from others. “If you’re not willing to be changed, on what grounds can you expect the other person to change?” Miki said.

Working in a movement of transformational peace consciousness, seeking first to connect rather than convince, it’s not unusual to encounter anger, either in one’s self or others. “Unexpressed fear typically shows up as aggression,” Miki noted. “If you can connect to the person around their fear, you can usually diffuse the aggression.”

Willingness plays another important role. “If you’re doing something that you’re not willing to do, it’s a liability to you and the movement because it drains energy,” Miki shared, noting that things done without willingness are done with negativity that can result in a backlash. “If something needs to be done and there is no one willing to do it,” Miki continued, “don’t do it! Let it go.” When someone is willing—perhaps even you—it will get done in a way that supports, sustains and uplifts all those involved.

The group embarked upon an exploration of race, working to heal hurts within themselves so that as a movement, we stand as a partner with people of color throughout the planet. Using NVC techniques, the group explored challenging issues with empathy, heart and patience. Miki pointed out the importance of going into diverse communities in the spirit of engagement and curiosity, seeking first to learn about the needs of other groups rather than trying to “recruit.” As we do, we ultimately discover our shared needs, and how supporting the Department of Peace meets them.

The process wasn’t always easy. “We’re retraining our nervous system to stick with fully understanding another’s needs and getting to connection, even if it’s uncomfortable,” Miki reminded the participants. “If you override another’s needs, they will feel their needs don’t matter and lose commitment and connection to the group,” she said. Even as the process can seem to take more time, experience indicates that once the needs are met in full, the work flows more efficiently.

Media, Messaging and Amazing Results!
After the powerful session, the State Coordinators shifted gears and looked at media and communications-related issues. Working in small groups, they brainstormed slogans and key message points related to understanding violence as a social health issue and to articulating our message during the 2008 presidential campaign. Patty Kuderer also shared that the Peace Alliance is working with a university group to create a national public service announcement (PSA) that volunteers can have placed on local television.

Saturday night, State Coordinators shared just a few exciting success stories. David Hazen of Oregon showed a local TV news story, which included an interview with David and an invitation for viewers to call their Senators. New York’s Carol Hillson shared about the group’s work to create the “Choose Peace ”  September events, including a concert in New York and tools for house parties nationwide. Liz Gannon-Graydon, also from New York, talked about her work with a former-student who is now a lawyer to create a peace curriculum for youth.

From California, John McNeil, Christine Elliot, and John and Jan Atkinson shared about the seeds planted among various religious groups more than two years previously that are now coming to fruition as powerful partnerships, with a presentation done at the Unity church national conference. They also discussed the growth in their grassroots team: the San Diego group now has 40 active “core team” members and 19 specific working groups, including City Council Resolutions, Interfaith Outreach, Walks for Peace, Be the Bill, and Community Solutions. They’re also creating the “Voices for Peace ” benefit concert, occurring August 10, 2007.

Lynne Ellis from Maine shared video of her presentation at a teach-in at a local college, reminding the group how anyone can get up and share about the Department of Peace. Michigan’s Linda Henderson, who has been involved in the movement since its inception, shared that the first Native American tribal council endorsed the legislation, thanks to the initiative of grassroots volunteers. “It’s the first time something happened and was complete without my even knowing it was in the works,” she said, “It was great!”

Anne Creter from New Jersey discussed her work to get endorsements of the legislation from groups of Social Workers, the United Nations and the Friends Committee on National Legislation. She invited other Quakers to join her in educating the Quaker community. From New Hampshire, Barbara Thorngren shared their groups work to raise awareness, including innovative weather-proof signs, electric green T-shirts, and a new agreement with the Peace Pole company. New Hampshire is also reveling in the enthusiasm of others around the nation for supporting the presidential campaign outreach efforts in New Hampshire.

Karen Johnson of Illinois celebrated that state’s second annual Networking for Peace and Nonviolence gathering, the founding of a new Student Peace Alliance group at Depauw University, and their work with Peace and Justice Studies classes to provide internships to students seeking volunteer hours. From Florida, Ana Campos shared her inspiring experience meeting with a local Native American elder, and Dan Kahn discussed how their volunteers are coming to each Congressional District Team meeting with at least two new peacebuilding programs from the local area. The group then writes thank you notes to and builds relationship with the programs.

Glenn Norris from Oklahoma shared his state’s remarkable success at getting letters to the editor (LTE) published—eight from the Father’s Day action campaign alone! He told the group it’s all about relationship, and how volunteers contact the paper’s LTE section editor prior to submitting letters, and thank them when it’s published.

Limited time prevented full sharing of the tremendous work going on in the grassroots. Suffice it to say that everyone in the room knew they were seeing not even the tip of the iceberg of what this movement is generating.

Ensuring Sustainability: Fundraising Strategies
On Sunday, the group recommitted to making this movement sustainable through effective fundraising. Lynn McMullen led the session, bringing a new view of possibility with her definition of a fundraiser: “A person committed to cultivating human generosity.”

Lynn discussed the sad taboo around talking about money, and how important it is that we be passionate and willing to give people the opportunity to contribute to what really matters.

“The flow of money changes the world,” she said, noting that, “we vote with our money” and can just as easily vote for peace. “Right now, the amount of money in the checkbook of The Peace Alliance and the Peace Alliance Foundation shapes the size and scope of our movement,” she explained. “Our goal with fundraising is that we be shaped by our vision, not by our budget.”

Lynn noted that four years ago in the United States, people spent $2 billion on Nintendo games—in one month. We spend an additional $10 billion to $15 billion per year in toys that are not computer games. “The point isn’t that buying games is bad,” she said. “The point is that we can take just a tiny percentage of all that buy peace!”

Through the initiation of our annual donor drive, this year called Invest in Peace!, Lynn explained that our intention is to “increase the quantity of our asking” so that literally everyone in the movement is asking others to contribute. Lynn reminded the group that the diaries of Susan B. Anthony are replete with concerns about money and that Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi and the Abolitionists shared the same issues.

“We should be proud that we’re part of raising the money for social change!” Lynn exclaimed.

Lynn encouraged each state to think about annualized fundraising plans for their areas, and outlined an integrated fundraising strategy for The Peace Alliance and the Peace Alliance Foundation, which includes four major elements. First is the annual donor campaign to bring in more recurring donors or “Peace Partners.” State Coordinators took time during the weekend to create their own personalized donation pages, just as everyone in the campaign can.

Second are national “3x3” events. These fundraising events will be closely supported and managed by national staff to support local groups in achieving significant financial success. Money raised (after expenses) will be split three ways: to the Peace Alliance Foundation, to the local group and to a local peacebuilding organization of the local group’s choosing. These peacebuilders will be honored at the fundraising event, providing additional awareness of the power of peace and what the Department of Peace will do, while creating dynamic opportunities for media coverage. We’ll start the roll-out of these events with just a few this year, increasing the number annually for greater success.

Cultivating major gifts is the third element of the strategy. Each person attending had the opportunity to share with Lynn the name of someone who they believe is a potential major donor—able to contribute $5,000 or more in a single gift, and to give regularly. The goal is to cultivate relationships to generate larger and larger gifts each year.

Recognizing that whatever people create themselves has magic in it, the final aspect is grassroots events. These include walkathons, concerts, raffles, silent auctions, etc. The key element is that the host committees be involved in creating their own vision of the event, whatever it may be. Lynn shared an example of a local fundraiser in Idaho. In honor of Mother’s Day, they held an event in which young people created pictures of what peace means to them. The pictures were posted at a local coffee house through Father’s Day, at which time they were sold in a silent auction.

Lynn reminded everyone that costs for any event, whether locally generated or a national “3x3” event, should be no more than 20 percent of revenue generated. “So you want to start with an idea of how much you realistically think you’ll bring in, then budget from there,” she recommended. “We want to make sure we make money!”

The Forward wrapped up before lunch with final sharing and powerful connections, all of which added up to a renewed commitment and a deep sense of the privilege of being part of this transformational movement.