January 2005

Dear Friend of NSAN:

Beginning immediately, the National Service Alumni Network will suspend all program activities in New York and Boston. This includes our online community.

The alumni reaction to NSAN has always been tremendous. More than 200 people attended our first event, and thousands have participated in workshops, seminars, and forums since then. And while our ultimate goal was to fund our civic association entirely through membership dues, the plan required that we raise a certain amount of money from philanthropic sources in order to sustain us until the day when we had enough members.

Recently, it has become increasingly difficult to raise the money we need during this "start-up" phase. Because we can no longer support a full-time staff, our programming efforts must pause.

Over the next few months we will continue to pursue funding and alternative opportunities for the national service alumni movement. I'll keep you updated as to our progress.

To the thousands of members, donors, supporters, and event attendees over the past 2 years: thank you. Your unwavering passion and dedication is proof that national service alumni are a talent pool of civic power from which our nation will be able to draw.

This is most definitely not the end of our shared efforts to harness the organized civic power of 500,000+ Americans who truly give a damn. I look forward to getting back in touch with you soon.

Thank you.

Rich Leimsider

Founder

National Service Alumni Network