Note: If you're already sold on this website, you can skip the sales pitch and go directly to the info on donations and fundraising.

Goals
     The goal of EmpowermentResources.com is to provide the information- especially the books and the Internet links- to allow people to empower themselves, take charge of their own lives, and collectively take charge of society.  EmpowermentResources.com is openly Green in philosophy and seeks to blend the personal, cultural, political, and ecological aspects of the Green movement.
     In EmpowermentResources.com and EmpowermentBooks.com I attempt to combine the best info from the personal growth and self-help movements, voluntary simplicity, holistic health, natural living, vegetarianism, alternative medicine, the counterculture, the co-operative and communal movements, the Green movement, the left, eco-feminism, and a focus on building a peaceful, humane, co-operative ecologically sustainable society into one overall strategy, vision, and website network that includes EmpowermentResources.com, an online bookstore and an online store.  I also include a book proposal in this website, but at the moment this is a lower priority for me than expanding EmpowermentResources.com, EmpowermentBooks.com, and EmpowermentStores.com.

     My primary goal is to provide useful innovative empowering information on the Internet for people interested in personal growth, social change, and ecology.  Given that Paul Ray estimates that 24% of the American people are Greens, I have a large potential audience or market to share my info with.  I currently have 4 specific goals: 
     1)  Build a large affiliate program for EmpowermentBooks.com and introduce and popularize the words "Empowerment Books" and "EmpowermentBooks.com".
     2)  Have EmpowermentResources.com serve as an online Empowerment Resource center and a holistic Green networking center that lists and provide links to the best Empowerment Resources available for personal growth, social change, and ecology and helps individuals change their own lives and change society.
     3)  The goal of EmpowermentStores.com is to empower the consumer, save consumers money, provide useful consumer info and let people know about positive economic alternatives such as Green goods, health food, nutritional supplements, health-enhancing products, empowerment books, and left-wing products and causes they can spend their money on.  (I believe many Green products and services offer better value than, say, SUVs, but SUVs are currently much better marketed.)
     4)  In order to accomplish this, my fourth goal is a mixture of fundraising and marketing to generate income and voluntary simplicity to minimize my expenses.  At this stage in my plans, donations would be extremely useful and greatly appreciated.

Accomplishments
     After 3 years, I now have 3 websites -- EmpowermentResources.com, EmpowermentBooks.com, and EmpowermentStores.com. -- that offer a lot of innovative useful ideas, books, and links for empowerment and personal growth, social change, and ecology.  I also offer a new affiliate program for EmpowermentBooks.com and I expect to recruit a number of affiliates.
     I have also shared information with many people.  EmpowermentResources.com has been viewed over 43,000 times in 1999.  Some of my website readers work for the media, and I believe this website has helped shake up the media and push it more to the left.  Here is one recent example: a 12/9/99 Washington Post article [Emboldened Protesters Digging In On Vieques- Civilians Control Gate, Decry Clinton Decision] described a political protest in Puerto Rico using the word "empowerment":
     "The demonstrators' takeover of access to Camp Garcia is the most vivid example of the sense of empowerment that has been building here...". 
     The words "empower" or "empowerment" have been used by everyone from the Cisco corporation ("empowering the Internet generation") and Microsoft to the Millennium Whole Earth Catalog, the Center for a New American Dream, and the Montgomery County Rainbow Coalition.
     In my opinion, I have done the initial R&D and product development.  I have 3 excellent websites.  If I can get the info in these websites to the Greens in America and generate enough book sales and/or donations, I believe I can make a significant contribution to empowering people at the dawn of a new millennium.
     Please consider making a generous donation today.  Thanks.

The Economic Benefits of the EmpowermentResources.com Websites and Building A Green Economy
     One of the goals of Empowerment Resources is to share knowledge, including info on cultural empowerment and building an ecologically sustainable society, that will help people build a Green economy.
     Building a Green economy would mean the growth of certain parts of our economy, such as recycling, increased energy-efficiency, eco-technology, renewable energy, solar power, holistic health, holistic medicine and holistic medical research, family planning, education, swords into plowshares economic conversion, appropriate technology, rebuilding our decaying infrastructure, repairing our economic safety net, buying and selling inexpensive used goods, a Strategic Environmental Initiative (as Al Gore proposed years ago), health food, herbalism and nutritional supplements, organic agriculture, sustainable agriculture, organic gardening, edible landscaping, personal growth/empowerment/holistic health/spiritual growth spending, unions, small businesses, worker-owned co-operatives, nonprofits, computers, the Internet, etc.  I would be interested in working with any forward-thinking foundations and/or companies who, out of altruism and/or enlightened long-term economic self-interest, would be willing to help fund my website to help spread knowledge to promote a Green economy.  I'm also open to toning down my website to gain funding and/or broader appeal (i.e., trading off consciousness-raising for mass appeal).

Donations and Fundraising
     If you like EmpowermentResources.com and want to help build a Green economy in America, please consider making a much-appreciated donation to EmpowermentResources.com.  You can send a check or donate using your credit card.  (I've invested over $24,000 and spent 3 years of my life working on EmpowermentResources.com and recently, EmpowermentBooks.com and EmpowermentStores.com.  These websites offer people a lot of good information and have already had an impact.  I could really use some donations and financial support at this point.)
     If you are wealthy and/or represent a foundation, donations of $1,000 or $10,000 would be invaluable, greatly appreciated, and frugally spent.
     There are also many ways you can help EmpowermentResources.com.

Dec. 1999 note to Foundations and Wealthy Donors
     After 3 years of work on EmpowermentResources.com and recently launching EmpowermentBooks.com and EmpowermentStores.com, I believe I have 3 excellent websites with a lot of innovative useful info to share.  However, I spent my life savings and then some working on this project, and I'm at the point where I need real funding from a progressive donor and/or foundation to share this information widely in a timely fashion.  I believe this website has already helped shake up the media, which I believe is a key leverage point for social change.  If my other funding sources continue, I can work on this project for a entire year for $10,000-$20,000.
     If $10,000-$20,000 is not a realistic option for you or your foundation, any and all donations will be very valuable and greatly appreciated.  I have been working on a very tight budget for so long that any and all donations in this Christmas season will definitely have a positive impact.
     If I am unsuccessful in raising funds, I will need to switch gears and find a well-paying job to pay my bills and debts.
     I would really like to share EmpowermentResources.com, EmpowermentBooks.com, and EmpowermentStores.com with people interested in personal growth, social change, and ecology, and to help build a Green movement in this country.  But after exhausting my own funds, I will need some financial assistance to do this.  I hope you can help me share this info.
Please consider making a donation today.  Thanks.

My Future Plans
     My first choice would be to get funding to expand, improve and promote EmpowermentResources.com, EmpowermentBooks.com, and EmpowermentStores.com.  Please consider making a donation to EmpowermentResources.com today.

     My second choice would be to sign a book contract.  I have a detailed book proposal.  I also welcome any financial or other assistance in this project.

     I am open to getting an agent or agents to represent me, as long as I have the final say about what projects I choose to work on.

     I am also open to doing consulting work.  I'm very knowledgeable about many topics related to empowerment, holistic health, and the Green movement.  Or you can just make me an offer, and I'll carefully consider it.

     Thanks for taking the time to read and review my fundraising appeal and thanks for considering making a generous donation.

     Sincerely,
     Ed Harding 

     Ed Harding can be contacted at:     

               Empowerment Resources
               P.O. Box 3190
               Silver Spring, MD  20918
               http://www.EmpowermentResources.com
               empower@EmpowermentResources.com
               301-779-9769


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