by Ronald E. Milliman
When discussing the ACB Monthly Monetary Support (MMS) Program with our ACB members, often they tell me something like: "Ron, I'm not participating in anything that is like the NFB PAC Plan, and I don't see any difference between the NFB PAC Plan and our MMS Program." So, I thought I would tell everyone about the similarities and the differences.
Like many of you, I was a member of the NFB at one time. And, yes, I participated in the NFB PAC Plan.
While there are some similarities between the PAC Plan and the MMS Program, there are also some very important differences. The only similarity between the PAC Plan and the MMS Program is that both offer a way for our members to support our organizations by making regular, monthly contributions. But the "PAC" in the PAC Plan stands for pre-authorized check.
The MMS program offers its participants the options of either having contributions automatically withdrawn directly from your bank account or from your credit or debit card. It offers you the option of making your contribution at the beginning or at the middle of the month. The MMS program offers new participants the flexibility of enrolling online, over the telephone, by mail, or by e-mail. It also allows contributors the ability to split their contributions between the national organization and an affiliate of the contributor's choice. The PAC Plan does none of the above!
ACB rewards its members for participating in the MMS program by giving them special gifts, such as the little FM Scanner radios. ACB encourages participation in the MMS program by holding annual drawings that reward our members with prizes such as gift certificates worth hundreds of dollars, and other grand prizes such as a talking microwave oven, BookPort Plus, GW Micro BookSense, a fully accessible Olympus Digital Recorder, Victor Reader Stream, Touch Memo, and others.
We value and respect all of our contributors' privacy, and do not share any confidential information such as the amount contributed to anyone, except to those people who must know in order to maintain our accounting records as required by law. In ACB, your political stardom is totally dependent upon you, and what you step up and contribute, not in money, but in effort to further the mission and goals of our organization!
So how can you become a participant in the MMS Program? You can join by going to www.acb.org/node/28 or you can call the Minnesota office at 1-800-866-3242.
Now, when someone says, "I don't want to participate in the MMS Program because it is too similar to the NFB PAC Plan," you know what to tell them!