NRL News
Page 5
September 2007
Volume 34
Issue 9

“Life Leaders”: A Powerful New Tool to Grow the Grassroots
BY Dave Andrusko

“Pro-lifers love to volunteer,” said Jacki Ragan, NRLC state organizational development director. “It’s a simple fact of life. Our people want to help in any way they can and are eager to harness the new technologies.”

This is no exaggeration. Over the years, pro-lifers by the thousands have risen to the challenge to volunteer on behalf of the babies.

The latest opportunity to help the greatest movement for social justice of our time builds on what has preceded it. “Life Leaders” requires no paperwork, can be done at home using your own computer, is conducted at your own pace, and is easy to understand.

“Life Leaders” has all the earmarks of a success in the making, according to Ragan.

“Most people are pro-life,” Ragan said with utter conviction. “The challenge is to locate them and plug them into the Movement.”

This is where “Life Leaders” comes in, a new project application that uses the Internet to identify pro-life households in the privacy of the volunteer’s own home.

“Pro-abortionists have tens of millions of dollars at their disposal,” Ragan said. “They hire people to do what we count on grassroots people to accomplish out of the goodness of their hearts.”

When people like those reading this story fill out the coupon at the bottom of the page to volunteer for “Life Leaders,” they’ll send it to the “Life Leaders” coordinator. You will be contacted and given a password to access the “Life Leaders” web site. On that site is stored the names and phone numbers of 50 local people whom you’ll call to find out if the person is pro-life.

“It’s really remarkably easy,” Ragan said. “All you need is a pleasant phone voice and the ability to use your phone and your computer simultaneously..”

Here’s how it works. You’re sitting at your computer and you go to the “Life Leaders” web page. The names come up one at a time on your screen.

Using the script that is provided, you tell the person who answers that you’re calling on behalf of National Right to Life and assure the person that the survey will take less than a minute. You use your computer’s cursor to check the person’s responses to the questions.

Once the interview is over, the answers are submitted and  another name automatically pops up on your computer screen. It’s that simple.

Based on the responses, the person will receive e-mails from National Right to Life and/or be offered the chance to help recruit other pro-lifers, either by calling people or by distributing a pro-life petition.

“There are many sources of names to be called, including the names on pro-life petitions that need updating,” Ragan said. “In addition to making sure the pro-life person is at the same residence, we will also be calling many other people for the first time to determine their views on abortion.”

Annie Hermann, who works in the state organizational development department with Jacki Ragan, gave a workshop on “Life Leaders” at the 2007 National Right to Life Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. Hermann told NRL News she found the audience receptive to the new project and is herself eager to help launch it.

“When people answer the questions, you have to remember it may be the first time the person answering them has ever directly addressed abortion,” she said. “It gives them a chance to take a stand, which is very important in helping them make the decision to become a volunteer themselves.”

“I am convinced ‘Life Leaders’ is going to take off and become a great success,” Ragan added. “With all the challenges we’ll be presented with in 2008, it is imperative that we identify every pro-life household we possibly can.”