Dear {FIRST_NAME},

We hope this email reaches you in good health and good spirits as you celebrate winter, join in your family’s traditions, and look toward another new year. 

Here at NVCADP we look forward to 2012 with optimism and energy, and are readying ourselves for unprecedented death penalty education, outreach, and organizing in Nevada.

In the last year, we’ve witnessed tremendous momentum toward repeal of the death penalty in the Unites States. We’re proud to say that Nevadans have been part of that movement. Your membership matters. Your participation in our action alerts and petitions matter. And your support matters!

With your support, NVCADP accomplished much in 2011:

• We successfully passed legislation through both the House and the Senate which would compel a bipartisan, objective audit of the costs of the death penalty to Nevadans. We argued that Nevadans are entitled to know what this public policy costs tax-payers, and what measure of public safety or victim relief this investment promises. Though the bill was vetoed by the Governor on the last possible day, we spoke—and our representatives heard us.

• We hosted Scott Langley’s compelling Death Penalty Documentary Photography Project for a week as part of Reno’s annual Reno is Artown.  The Arts community welcomed social change exhibits, and the individuals who witnessed the exhibit were moved and intellectually engaged in discussion of the death penalty as a human rights violation.

• NVCADP reached out to all of you when Troy Davis’s execution was scheduled. Together, we signed petitions, we wrote letters to the Parole and Pardons Board, and we used this emblematic case to educate our friends, families, and neighbors about how flawed this system is. I was proud to see that we also grieved together, and continued to use Troy Davis’s name when we affirmed our commitment to this work.

• Though it took over a year of legal correspondence, NVCADP achieved tax-exempt status. Your donations are now tax-deductible to the full extent of the law!

We made the case for our values and concerns in nearly a dozen articles, features, editorials, and opinion pieces across the state. We grew our membership, grew our FaceBook community, invested time into our connections with policy-makers around the state, and are poised to grow our presence in Nevada’s communities in 2012.

YOUR support made all of this possible—NVCADP cannot function as a voice for humanity, justice, closure for victims’ families, or pragmatic and ethical public policy without your continued involvement and your financial support. Now is the time to make a year-end gift to NVCADP. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation of $50, $100, $250 or more now. 

Wishing you peace in 2012,

Eryn Branch

Interim Executive Director

Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty