Inaugurating our first fund-raising drive

We are nearing the end of the year, but not slowing down! Several more educational activities remain on our calender for 2010 (just take a look at the meeting schedule, below)! The biggest event of all takes place in just 2 weeks: the International Conference on Biotherapy (ICB), to be held in the US (Los Angeles) for the first time in its 14-year history.

But today I asked readers of our newsletter (The BeTER LeTTER) for assistance. "If you are planning to contribute to the BTER Foundation this year," I wrote, "NOW is the time to do it. We really need your support in our drive to raise $20,000 to pay our faculty's travel costs."

The BTER Foundation is bringing the leading clinicians and researchers from around the globe to share their knowledge and experience with us all. THIS is the way the BTER Foundation fulfills its mission to improve the QUALITY and AVAILABILITY of healthcare. The faculty has volunteered their services and time; we will pay their travel costs.

Never before have I used our newsletter to ask for donations; and I hope never to need to do it again. But our efforts to date to raise money through grants and sponsorship have fallen short. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Conference Grant that we worked so hard to get did not materialize. In fact, our application was rejected without review because "it was outside the mission of AHRQ" (AHRQ is part of the US Department of Health and Human Services). No one from AHRQ returned our telephone or e-mail messages, so we still do not know why our conference was "outside the the mission" of their Small Conference Grants program. But we do know that this will not stop us from moving ahead with the conference. We also know that raising the needed funds through very high registration fees is the wrong way to go, because it will prevent many people from attending. We want to increase biotherapy education, not inhibit it; our educational programs must remain affordable.

So with this month's newsletter, I inaugurated our first fund-raising drive ever: to raise $20,000 to cover the ICB faculty travel costs.

And now, what about you?

If you are in the fortunate position to have something to give this year, and if you plan to contribute to the BTER Foundation, please do it now. Donations can be mailed to the Foundation (address at the end of this newsletter) or submitted by credit card on-line.

Wishing you a great Thanksgiving Holiday, and many reasons to be thankful. Today, I am thankful for you and all our readers and supporters.