News from the Franciscan Action Network (FAN)

The main area of growth for FAN over the past months has been "virtual," with improvements to the interface of our website, database and online advocacy tools. These developments enable us to utilize the internet's outreach potential to animate all of the registered members of FAN. In this way we can continue to grow interest and enthusiasm for FAN, and for a unique Franciscan voice in legislative advocacy, while growing the base of members so essential for effectiveness in shaping public policy.

In addition, we have updated our registration process so that we can receive key information from our members to facilitate their taking action through our website, and to allow them to receive user-specific information from the Action Center. Further improvements will continue over the fall of 2008, but now we are ready to move in earnest.

However, there are some things that you, as a registered member of FAN can do to assist us as the Action Center.

1. Tell a Friend about FAN!

The number of persons registered through our website has passed the 700 mark! This is remarkable growth, given that our efforts at direct advertisement have barely begun. You have been spreading the word about FAN to your communities, families, and friends, and it is paying off! Great work to all of our members and supporters! You can continue to spread the word by visiting FAN's Tell-A-Friend page and entering the names and email addresses of up to ten people and personalizing a prepared message for them about FAN.

2. Confirm and Update Your Membership Info.

Most of you who have signed up on our website have done so in the blue rectangle located at the top right corner of each page. When you signed up there, you were asked to provide your full name, email address and zip code. Signing up this way provided us with key contact information for members, but it was only the first part of the registration process.

After signing up, all of you received an automatically generated follow-up email, inviting you to follow a link to our full membership form to complete your registration. Those who did so were able to fill in additional critical contact information (full voting address, mailing address, phone number), and to setup a username and password to navigate the "member-only" parts of our site. If you have not taken this second step, your membership on the FAN website has not been fully activated!

It is very important that you complete your registration and provide us with the rest of your contact information. This will allow us to have a full accounting of the congressional districts in which our members are located. This information is crucial for our online advocacy efforts and will allow you to take action without having to re-enter your information each time you do so.

Thus, I ask each registered member of FAN (and if you are receiving this message directly from FAN you are a registered member) to take these steps to ensure your membership is active:

1. If you have a username and password for FAN, please click here and test your login credentials. If you are successful in logging in, you will see the blue rectangle in the upper right of the page disappear and be replaced by a line that says "Welcome" with your first name listed. If you know you have a username and password but do not remember them, follow the appropriate links on the login page and this information will be provided by automated email to the email address you provided when you signed up on the FAN website.

2. If you do not have a username and password, this means you have not completed the second step in the registration process. Many people did not complete the process because the automated email that was sent was captured by a junk email or spam filter. Please consult with your email software or internet service provider to find out how to check your junk or spam email folder for an email message sent from noreply@franciscanaction.org. This message will contain the link you must follow to complete your registration.

3. If you cannot find the registration email in your junk or spam folder, please fill out our web form and submit it with a request to have me resend the registration link to your email address. Please be sure to use the same email that you initially provided to FAN.

4. When logged in, click on the "update profile" link on the upper right side of each page to review your contact information for accuracy. If you make any changes, please click the "submit" button on the bottom of the page to record these changes.

5. IMPORTANT: Take a moment to learn how to add our domain (franciscanaction.org) to your safe senders or safe email lists. This will help to ensure that you immediately receive future messages from us and that they do not end up in your junk or spam folders. You will need to consult with your email software or your internet service provider on how to do this, as each one is a little different.

Please be sure to check your registration status as soon as possible! Of our 700+ members, over 200 are presently listed as having incomplete registrations! We need you to "finish the good work you have begun" so that the Action Center can be of better service to you. Thank you.