Dear Barrett Brown,

Brian Lisco was fighting to create a Secular Student Alliance club at his Texas high school, but you wouldn't believe how difficult the administration was making it.  They dragged their feet, made him jump through hoops, and even discouraged faculty from helping.  But Brian was determined.

After nine months of working with Brian, we upped the ante.  The Secular Student Alliance hired a full-time staffer to focus on helping secular high school students and we led a media campaign to shine a light on the unfair treatment of nontheistic teens.  When the Brian's administration started getting calls from USA Today, they caved.  Brian got his club.

Brian won his fight, but other students are still struggling.  They need our help and your support now more than ever, and you have an opportunity to double your impact. SSA members Jeff Hawkins and Janet Strauss have offered us a $100,000 matching offer. This extends to both new and existing supporters. Here's what that means for you:

• New Supporters: 100% of your 2011 giving will be matched.
• Past Supporters: 100% of your 2011 giving will be matched if you missed us in 2010.
• Current Supporters: Any donation in 2011 beyond what you contributed in 2010 will be matched 100%.

I'd like to encourage you to give your most generous gift this year to help us meet this ambitious matching offer. Please contribute today – every penny counts!

But our groups don't need to be controversial to make a profound impact. Their mere presence gives secular students a place to belong and makes others aware of our perspective. In April, the New York Times wrote an article about the success of the Secular Student Alliance at Rutherford High School. They quoted the advisor of a Christian club who said, "Some of our students didn't understand that there are people who don't believe in God."

And as students are exposed to the secular worldview, they're less prejudiced against it – and could even change their own understanding of the world. That's what Breane Lyga found with the Rutherford High SSA. Every week she used to attend both the Christian and SSA meetings. "I wanted to get both points of view," she said. Around Christmas, she stopped going to the Christian club meetings. "I guess I found out who I was."

Stories like Breane's remind me how big a difference it can make in a student's life to have a welcoming, secular community available.

That's what we're fostering together. Thanks to supporters like you, we can provide students with group starting packets, tabling supplies, project grants, one-on-one help from our campus organizing team, leadership training, and more. Your contributions enable us to support a network of over 260 such campus groups – at no cost to them. But as more students come to us, we need your help to serve them. Please donate today to make it possible for more students to have these communities.

I thank you for your time and support, both as a staff member and a full-time student myself.

Sincerely, Ashley Paramore, Development Director Secular Student Alliance

P.S. – Remember, the Secular Student Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit so any donations and dues are tax-deductible. Don't miss your chance to double your impact for the students!

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