Acution Planning Notes 1

1. Auction Planning Meeting, 11-04-03
   1. Goals:
      1. Grow Public Interest (PI) at GW.
         1. Increase awareness among students of the opportunities in and advantages of practicing public interest law.
         2. Increase/improve GW's reputation as a great school for PI.
         3. Pitch the auction as a chance for firms to show their better side’Äîfirms that contribute to the auction demonstrate their commitment to public interest law. This could help firms attract better associates from GW by broadening the firms' appeal.
         4. Increase faculty involvement in and support of the auction and PI law generally. Encourage the dean to put more money where his mouth is.
      2. Generate truckloads of money.
   2. How to promote the auction:
      1. Increase emphasis on the ultimate goal of the auction; it's not just to raise money for EJF. The main purpose of the auction is to increase the availability of quality legal services to people who would otherwise be unable to afford them. (Of course, it has other other purposes, too, see above.)
      2. Make it fun (need a good theme).
      3. Send message to students that helping with the auction (either by securing donations or by bidding) is a way to fulfill their public service obligations?
   3. Initial to-do list:
      1. Publicity
      2. Decorations’Äîtheme
      3. Ebay auction
      4. Website
         1. Advertise donors’Äîpromote the businesses that make donations; give them "free" advertising in exchange for their donations
         2. Provide a link to alumni (with a separate, alumni-specific site, or just as part of the "main" site?)
         3. Pay-pal link for direct donations?
         4. Provide an organizing tool to keep all volunteers on the same page.
         5. Provide a place for people to contribute ideas.
      5. To-do list timeline
      6. Solicitation:
         1. Corporations’Äîtarget especially those w/whom students frequently do business:
            1. Amazon
            2. Expedia
            3. Dell
            4. Apple (get them to donate iPods!)
            5. Palm (organizers)
            6. Cell phone companies’Äîdonation of a year-long plan?
         2. Firms
            1. ask if they want to sponsor a scholarship ($1000-$5000) in their name
            2. try to get them to donate lunches w/partners?
         3. faculty/staff/administrators
         4. students
            1. ask 3Ls to solicit donations from any firms they worked at in their 2L summer
         5. Alumni
            1. Can they get matching funds from their employers for any donations they make?
            2. Offer them a pay-pal link on the website for making direct donations?
            3. Promote the ebay auction to them especially?
         6. Government money?
         7. Celebrities
            1. signed pictures
            2. signed books
            3. signed jerseys (from athletes)
            4. ?
   4. Meet w/Alison, Ethan, Julie early next week (Weds?)
      1. Introductions’Äîgoals for the auction
      2. Intro to the calendar (online)
      3. Intro to the project list’Äîplug projects and to-dos into calendar to create an initial timeline.
      4. Brainstorm’Äîwhat else do we need to do? What should we do this semester?
         1. Idea: Stuff mailboxes w/a heads-up about the auction asking people to keep it in mind as they travel for the holidays. It may help to plant the seed so that people will mention the auction to parents, grandparents, family friends, etc., priming them to (possibly) donate in Feb. or March.
         2. More?
   5. Meet w/Ali, Maggie, Andrew, Jocelyn (or survey them?)
      1. Find out what's been done so far this year and who has been/ is doing it. What donors/student groups have already been contacted?
      2. Make up a survey to get feedback on specific questions about what did and did not work well in the past?
   6. Todd to-do:
      1. Calendar
      2. Website (basic)
      3. Send email re: meeting and post notes
   7. George to-do:
      1. Consolidate ongoing efforts (what has been done already?)
      2. list projects we need to work on and consider deadlines
      3. Burn CD for Ethan
      4. Email schedule.