ASDE News

The Alliance for Self-Directed Education (ASDE) was incorporated a little more than three years ago, and we have already accomplished a lot. For some of what we have done, to make Self-Directed Education (SDE) more known and more available, see the list in the full Tipping Points article.

Now, after three years, it is time to up our game. To do that, no surprise, WE NEED MORE MONEY. The members of our Board of Directors are all unpaid volunteers, but to carry out and coordinate our many activities we need to hire people with the expertise and time to do so. For example, we need someone who can work regularly to advise and help coordinate the activities of local SDE groups, someone who can create press releases and work regularly through social media and other means to make SDE more well known to the general public, and someone to keep our website updated, fresh, and stocked with useful resources for SDE.

We have nearly 4,000 members, but only about a quarter of them have made any financial donation and only five percent have signed on as sustaining members (monthly donors). Those five percent have provided over half of the revenue we have taken in so far. THANK YOU to them, and to all the donors, but we now need donations from many more.

If every one of our members would sign on as a sustaining member, through our easy monthly donation program, we would be in great financial shape. Even if the average donation were just $5/month — the cost of one or two cups of coffee depending on where you buy it — our annual intake would be five times what it is now. We would be able to do five times as much toward our mission of making Self-Directed Education available to every family that desires it.

If you recognize the harm currently inflicted on children through the standard, coercive educational system, and if you know that children learn best when they learn in their own natural, self-directed ways, then WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT to help promote what you recognize and know.

Here, briefly, is OUR NEW MEMBERSHIP POLICY. We now ask all members to donate at least something financially to the organization. We recognize that many families are struggling financially, so the donation can be very small if that is your situation. If you register on our website as a new member, you will be led to a page that allows you to choose an amount of monthly donation or, if you prefer, allows you to choose an amount for a single donation that can be as large or small as you choose.

If you are not already a member, please JOIN NOW, and if you are a member but haven’t donated, or haven’t donated within the last year, please RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP NOW. We need your support, and your membership donation actively furthers your cause. Please also use whatever networks you have to tell others about ASDE and ask them to consider joining. Our strength is in numbers, and that is especially true when those large numbers contribute financially, even modestly, to the cause. Your donation is an investment in the happiness of children and the future of the nation and the world.

Our new membership policy does not prevent non-members from accessing our many resources, such as the forums, newsletter, Tipping Points articles, local SDE group support meetings, Resource Directory, and more. These and more will still be accessible to anyone who wishes to use them. However, we hope that everyone using these resources will see the value of joining and donating what they reasonably can, as donations are what make the resources possible.

Read the full version of this message, as well as an extensive list of ASDE’s accomplishments, offerings, and resources so far, here.