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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (130335)	8/7/2005 3:06:10 PM
From: KLP	Respond to of 793800

You were on a "roll" as they say, CB...LOLOL! I had looked on their website, and still didn't see who was funding them....but by golly, on a side link next to the one you provided, and I had seen, I see that they didn't want their donor list to be public.... And you are right...I'm quote active in a National non-profit organization,that educates and funds highly visible projects, but it isn't a public advocacy group. aclu.org ACLU Condemns Theft of Confidential Donor Files January 21, 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: media@aclu.org Statement of ACLU President Nadine Strossen NEW YORK -- The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation is outraged that a former employee of a former consultant stole a list of our donors, as reported in today’s New York Times. Legal steps are being taken to address the theft. Beyond violating a contractual agreement, the actions of this individual also violate the basic fundraising and privacy principles so greatly valued and maintained by this organization. The ACLU Foundation takes great care to protect the confidentiality of its donors and is taking steps to recover its donor information and to prevent any further misuse. By so doing, we send a strong message -- not only on our behalf but also on behalf of the entire nonprofit community -- that such actions have serious repercussions and must not be tolerated. We have also taken action to alert our donors and members. As soon as we heard of the violation, we sent letters by overnight mail to more than 800 donors and members whose names might be on the list. Today’s Times story also implied, both in the headline and in the opening paragraph, that discipline against two Board members was imminent because they had spoken to reporters about internal ACLU Board matters. But as I told the reporter, "no current Board member supports implementing any such proceedings, and I am aware of many Board members who responded by expressing their strong opposition to the idea. We will discuss the idea, but I predict that it will be resoundingly rejected (as I have advised the former Board member who proposed it)." While part of my statement was quoted, I am troubled that the Times is making headline news out of an action that is highly unlikely to occur and that could have been more fairly reported on after the matter had been discussed at the meetings taking place this weekend. Indeed, we spent eight hours in meetings today and not one member of the ACLU Foundation Board or ACLU National Board made a recommendation to begin removal proceedings against any Board member. As I predicted, the idea was never even entertained. Of course we understand that our members and the public hold us accountable to unique and special standards because we are the ACLU. We believe our policies and actions meet those standards. For instance, we voluntarily decline to collect certain publicly available data -- such as motor vehicle, driver license or credit history information -- because of our concern for privacy rights. Vibrant non-profits can both protect privacy rights and be effective fundraisers for their causes. The ACLU is a leader in these areas and we must be -- since that's our job after all. The ACLU's mission has never been more important than it is today, and the proof of our vibrancy is in our accomplishments -- the history-making advocacy that is the hallmark of the ACLU's work. That's why 145,000 new members joined the ACLU last year and why people are presently giving to the ACLU in record amounts. We look forward to continuing our critical work with the support of our members and donors.