I have been deeply gratified to see the number of dedicated conservative organizations now actively involved in defending against attacks on our freedoms—Tea Party groups, dedicated liberty-loving organizations, shooting clubs, and others.
GRNC’s dual mission is to both educate and mobilize those who support the Constitution and Bill of Rights, particularly Second Amendment supporters. To that end, we do our best to provide organizational leaders who can effectively address that mission via speaking engagements for sympathetic groups.
Given the current climate, however, GRNC has been overwhelmed with requests for speakers in areas stretching from one end of the state to the other. We do our best to accommodate those requests, but please bear in mind three things: First, all GRNC leaders are volunteers, most of whom have “day jobs.” Second, many of the requested engagements are located more than an hour’s drive from where our volunteers live. Third, as a grass roots mobilization organization with limited resources, we cannot reimburse travel expenses for lengthy drives, some of which can be considerable given the current cost of gasoline.
Speaker policy effective March 1, 2013 (excluding engagements previously booked):
To best meet the need to educate and mobilize while maintaining organizational strength, effective March 1, 2013 GRNC is implementing the following policy with respect to speaking engagements.
- With limited exceptions, we will be unable to accommodate speaker requests more than a 90 minute drive from the nearest available volunteer.
- We ask that sponsoring organizations have a reasonable expectation that the event will draw at least 20 attendees.
- We ask that sponsoring groups pay GRNC a $100 fee for each speaking engagement, which will be waived for: (a) clubs which have purchased a 5-year or longer “Organizational Membership” (as several wildlife clubs have); (b) any event at which 5 or more people join GRNC; (c) “PRO RKBA” corporate sponsors; (d) campaign events; (e) media and debate forums; and (f) others on a case-by-case basis.
- All speaker requests must now be made to GRNC’s Director of Development at: DirectorOfDevelopment@GRNC.org or 877.282.0939.
Please note that speaking engagement fees will be used to reimburse GRNC volunteers for gasoline and vehicle wear, and to bolster GRNC’s ability to defend gun rights, not as an honorarium for the speaker. As always, anyone who joins GRNC at such engagements will still be offered the “Special Event Rate” which discounts membership by amounts ranging from a $10 discount for an annual membership up to a $75 discount for a Benefactor membership. All of the speaker requirements are negotiable, depending on circumstances.
Armatissimi e liberissimi,
F. Paul Valone
President, Grass Roots North Carolina