The National Coalition for History Needs Your Help!

During this holiday giving season, the NCH Board of Directors urge you to make an end-of-the-year fully TAX DEDUCTIBLE contribution to the NATIONAL COALITION FOR HISTORY (federal tax ID #01-0688590 for federal income tax purposes). Your contribution will help ensure the continuation of our important education and advocacy activities that advance the interests of the historical and archival communities here in Washington.

The Coalition is supported largely by the voluntary contributions of over 60 institutional supporters. Collectively, they provide most of the history coalition’s annual operating budget. However, the reality is that the vast majority of our organizational members are non-profits themselves, and they also face the same budget challenges that we do. As a result, the NCH budget has remained stagnant in recent years, while the number of critical issues that demand our advocacy efforts continues to expand.

We also depend on our readers for a percentage of our budget. Often, it is reader contributions that determine whether the history coalition ends the fiscal year in the black. Today, we appeal to you, our readers, to give something back.

In 2007, the National Coalition for History (NCH) made significant investments in new technology to expand the range of services that we can provide to our constituents. The most noticeable change was our redesigned website that debuted last April. Thanks to the generosity of the History Channel, we were able to create a state-of-the-art internet presence.

Visitors to the website and subscribers to our new RSS feed now have instant access to our news stories as soon as they are posted. For example, there were times this year that NCH was able to provide agency funding levels from a House or Senate appropriations subcommittee markup within an hour of the end of the hearing.

And the NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE continues deliver to you (click to subscribe)–free of charge – a weekly wrap-up of news and information about what’s going on of interest to the history and archive community on Capitol Hill and within federal agencies. We are also accessible on History News Network.

We have also invested in an on-line commercial legislative tracking service, Congressional Quarterly, which dramatically improves our ability to identify and monitor legislation.

In addition our grassroots lobbying service, CapWiz, allows you to go on-line and contact your Members of Congress at critical times in the legislative process. For example, this year when the House of Representatives was considering the Presidential Records Reform Act, we were able to generate nearly 2,000 e-mails to Congress in less than a week in support of the bill.

While these new technologies have dramatically improved our ability to provide information to our readers and advocate on your behalf, they have also put additional strains on NCH’s bottom line.

And that is where you can help!

For individuals, a $50 contribution is suggested though we certainly are appreciative of donations in any amount.

Historical and archival organizations that are not members of the National Coalition for History, but nevertheless benefit from the WASHINGTON UPDATE and our other advocacy activities are urged to join the NCH by making a financial contribution.

There two ways to make a donation:

BY CHECK, contributions payable to the “National Coalition for History” can be mailed to NCH, 400 A Street SE, Washington D.C. 20003.

ONLINE DONATIONS may be made by visiting our contribution webpage that can be accessed by clicking here.

Thank you in advance for your support and Happy Holidays!