Please be aware that the Cleveland Park Email List receives a large
number of appeals each week for many worthy causes. To keep list members
from being overwhelmed with frequent appeals, the moderators have developed a
checklist of requirements that all such messages must meet. If you are planning to submit a message to raise funds or collect donations for a non-profit or charity that you support, you need to write your message in accordance with ALL of the points below. If you have already submitted your message to the posting address, cleveland [dash] park (at) yahoogroups [dot] com, and your message has not appeared within a day of submission, you can assume it was deleted because it did not meet the requirements below. Please reread your message and check it carefully against the checklist below, before you revise and resubmit it, as the listserv is far too busy for the moderators to review and point out problems in any individual list member's post.
The
In-Boundary Only Rule: The CP List posts solicitations for
charities and event notices for fundraisers that benefit causes and institutions
located on the listserv area coverage map: http://clevelandpark.googlepages.com/listservmap
. However, this rule may not apply to neighbors who are personally involved in the collection of money or donated items. That is to say, if you are willing to go to neighbors’ homes to pick up
donations, or if you can establish a collection point for donations within the
list’s boundaries (e.g., offer your front porch as a drop-off point), then your
appeal for donations may be considered “in the neighborhood” (assuming, of
course, that you live within the listserv’s boundaries). List members who would like to advertise an out-of-boundary event, such as a benefit auction at a downtown
hotel, may create a neighborhood connection by hosting a pre- or post-event
gathering within the list’s boundaries, or by organizing a group to travel to the
event together. The list moderators may use their own judgment to
determine whether the poster has done enough to create a neighborhood
connection that turns an out-of-neighborhood charity appeal into a neighborhood-based message.
The
Sign Your Message Rule: ALL messages (not just solicitations) that
appear on the Cleveland Park Listserv must be signed at the END with the name
of the poster. When it comes to charity appeals, you need to show your FULL name and say what your relationship is to the organization that you are
asking your neighbors to support.
The
No Canned Messages Rule: Messages to your neighbors asking for
their money or other types of support need to be written in your own
words. Do NOT copy text from your organization’s web site or brochure.
Do not copy a message that is circulating on other lists or going out to lots
of individuals. Do NOT include a line asking list members to forward your message
on to everyone they know. (If you do that, the moderators may simply cut that line out of your message and put it through, in compliance with this rule.) If you can’t take the time to explain your
cause in your own words, then your message does not belong on this
neighbor-to-neighbor discussion group.
The
No Crosspost Rule: We will delete any fundraising message that you have sent simultaneously to other lists or other
individuals. There are several reasons for this rule. First,
crossposting often creates confusion in the reply sequence if a poster who has received the message from another source uses the “reply to all” button. Second,
crossposting means repetition of messages for those who are members of several
lists. Third, crossposting means that the poster hasn’t taken the
time to craft a personal appeal just for the neighbors on this listserv (see the
“no canned messages” rule, above). If the organization is important
enough, then it’s worth the time it takes to write your message just for your
neighbors on this list. If, after a few days have gone by, you want to post your appeal elsewhere, that’s okay. But if your message shows up on another list
on the same day you’ve posted it to the CP List, we’ll remove from the list archives.
The
Not Too Often Rule: Fundraising messages cannot come too
frequently from the same poster or for the same cause from different
posters. Three times a year is the maximum -- with possible exceptions
for local efforts to relieve a national catastrophe, such as was the case for
the Cleveland Park neighbors who organized help from relocated victims of
Hurricane Katrina. In that case, please contact the moderators off-list
about your long-range fundraising plans.
The
Must Fit Within the List’s Rules Rule: Fundraising messages must,
of course, meet all the normal rules of the listserv. Here are some of
the most important ones:
·
No
use of ALL CAPS (except for occasional emphasis).
·
Messages
can’t be in all lower case.
·
No
starting in the subject line and continuing the message in the text box.
·
Your
message should be composed in plain text; otherwise it may come in with garbled
characters and need to be deleted.
·
No
posting for a friend or colleague. List members can post for themselves or
members of their own households only.
·
No
notes to the moderators in the message. Write your message exactly as you
want it to appear on the list.
Please
visit the list rules page at http://cprules.notlong.com
for a complete description of how to post a message suitable for the CP
Listserv.
If you can revise your message to meet ALL of the requirements listed above, you may resubmit it to the posting address, cleveland-park@yahoogroups.com .
For additional information on how the CP Listserv works, we
recommend reading the list’s Frequently Asked Questions page at http://cpfaq.notlong.com .
Thanks for understanding,
The Moderators: Bill, Peggy, Jeanne, Christina, Laura, Sanjay, and Andrew
CP Homepage: http://www.cleveland-park.com
CP List Rules: http://cprules.notlong.com