Dear friends,
Five years ago a sweaty dude named Andrew Slack came to one of our shows with an idea would profoundly change the way Harry Potter fans could interact with the magical world created by JK Rowling. No, he wasn’t proposing a theme park. Instead, he wanted to take a cue from the books and create an actual Dumbledore’s Army. He wanted to harness the enthusiasm and dedication of Harry Potter fans everywhere and put it to practical action here in our own world. His idea was to form an Alliance of Harry Potter fans.
I immediately started working with Andrew on his idea for the Harry Potter Alliance. Just as these books had inspired us to start a band and make art, they also inspired us to be better people. They taught us that the powers of love and friendship and courage are enough to overcome seemingly insurmountable evil. Harry and his friends proved that it doesn’t matter how old you are: you can still play a huge role in shaping the world. We hoped to create an organization that would help facilitate and empower Harry Potter fans everywhere, to bring them together, and to help them transfer a little of the magic of Harry’s world into our own.
Five years later, I am truly honored to be a part of the organization that the Harry Potter Alliance has become. It is certainly a testament to the impressive character and unyielding generosity of Harry Potter’s fanbase that we have been able to grow so large and accomplish so much. Earlier this year, we partnered with various segments of the Harry Potter fandom and beyond to raise over $123,000 for Haiti disaster relief. Through Partners in Health, we were able to send five full cargo planes filled with food and medical supplies to Haiti! Then a few months later, our members donated over 50,00 books to the Mississippi Delat! These statistics blow my mind!
Like all non-profit organizations, the Harry Potter Alliance is in constant need of financial support. For the past few years, we’ve survived on a few grants, proceeds from various wizard rock compilations, and member-organized drives and donations. Other activist organizations have marveled at our ability to accomplish so much on a nearly non-existent budget. I know this sounds like I’m gearing up to ask you for some cash, but I’m happy to report that’s not the case.
Instead, I’d like to ask you to take just a little bit of time to lend your support to the Harry Potter Alliance as we enter the final days of the Chase Community Giving contest on Facebook. We are currently in first place and we have a really legitimate shot at winning $250,000, but no lead is insurmountable and we need all-hands-on-deck in this race to the finish. I can’t even being to tell you about the incredible things we can do with that kind of money, but rest assured that an already awesome organization will be able to continue being awesome at all new levels of extreme awesomeness!
So here’s what you can do to help:
1) Please go vote for the Harry Potter Alliance RIGHT NOW on Facebook
http://hpaFTW.com
It can be a bit confusing, but here’s all you need to do to vote for the HPA:
1. Click “Get started to vote” (the second green button, top right)
2. Allow access and then click “Like”
3. Click “Vote now” (green button, top right)
2) Once you’ve voted, please repost, retweet, blog, dance, shout, etc. Do whatever it takes to get as many of your friends and family to cast a vote for the Harry Potter Alliance. I can’t emphasize how important this is! This is your chance to help round up the votes we’ll need to win this competition. Be a hero! Is your mom on Facebook? It’s weird, I know, but now’s your chance to really share something with her. She loves HP too and I’m sure you can convince her to lend the HP Alliance a vote. And bonus points if she can get some of her own friends to vote too!
3) Gift votes! You’re only allowed to vote for the HP Alliance once, but if you vote for 5 different organizations in this contest, you’ll receive one gift vote to send to a friend. We recommend using the BUDDY SYSTEM! Find a buddy, exchange gift votes, and then use them to vote for the Harry Potter Alliance. Using this gift vote is like casting a patronus and having it fight alongside you! EXPECTO PATRONUM!
4) If you want to help out some more, check in with our staff to find out more tricks and tips to help us win this contest. Email hpaftw@thehpalliance.org for details!
If you’ve ever read a Harry Potter book or seen a movie, if you’ve ever sorted yourself into a Hogwarts house or put on a pair of round glasses, if you’ve ever been to a wizard rock show or played in a wizard rock band, or if you’ve ever wished that magic was real, now is your chance to make it so. Now is your chance to be a wizard! Now is your chance to support our real-world Dumbledore’s Army! Now is the time to raise that magic wand-of-an-index finger and click over to http://hpaFTW.com. Now is your chance to help the Harry Potter Alliance and Harry Potter fans everywhere continue to bring the magic of these stories to life.
Thanks for your support!
Sincerely,
Paul DeGeorge
Harry and the Potters
the Harry Potter Alliance
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