The
online site
"TFF Store & Donations"
launched today
PressInfo #
104
November
17, 2000 - December 5, 2001
It's only a few months since we launched TNN - the
TFF News Navigator. Now we open another new chapter, an
online site "TFF
Store & Donations." Here you can do two
things:
a) Buy TFF and related publications, the whole list
since 1986.
b) Make donations to help TFF remain a free voice
and become people-financed.
Our aim is to make it easier for you to buy our
publications - books and research reports - and to donate
money to our peace research and field work. While we are
energetic on Internet, we still believe in the printed
word; we also know that many thought it was too costly
and time-consuming to acquire our unique peace
publications (you can't buy them anywhere else).
We also know that the foundation have thousands of
supporters. We expect some of them to be willing to help
us now. We must remain a constructive independent voice,
and with donations from around the world, TFF can
solidify its financial basis and, thus, achieve more
results in a) research, b) field conflict-mitigation and
reconciliation and c) outreach on Internet and e-mail
services.
And rest assured:we won't become a profiteering
"dot-com'er." We will remain a humanistic, idealistic
"dot-org."
Look for the book
and the dove
The logo we have chosen for our new online site
"Store
& Donations" is a combination of a book with
moving pages and a dove sailing in the wind. The first
symbolises the publications you can buy; the other is a
carrier of your donation for peace.
The publications cover a wide range:
peace theory, disarmament, (alternative)
security, non-violence, conflict theory and resolution
methods, reconciliation, post-war reconstruction and
development, world order issues. There are numerous
works on the UN, its peace work, and the necessity for
reform and on UN peacekeeping. There are interesting
historical pieces written when the Cold War ended and
quite a few of our authors' prediction have come true.
And there are some 20 books, reports, peace proposals
etc for the Balkans, including Kosovo, unique in
perspective and scope. They combine solid scholarship
with critical analysis and - always - constructive
perspectives: what can be done? What could have been
done? What must be done in the future?
Your donation can be of any size from 2 US$ and
upwards. You can buy "shares" for peace and we offer
examples of what a donated sum may help us do. Everything
on TFF's site is free and so is TFF PressInfos that you
may already get in your mailbox. But we now suggest
honour
payments at the site: a small voluntary contribution
you can make when you use our website, benefit from its
articles and our services. Or simply: a "thank you" for
the work we do for peace in global space and cyberspace,
the thousands of unpaid hours we have invested to serve
each and everyone who cares about peace.
Secure payment,
easy navigation, and complete transparency
TFF
Store and Donations is built with the most
advanced and secure technology. Our partners are
ProNet International, DesignExtend, Miva and WorldPay who
already serve millions of clients. This online site is
easy and quick to navigate and aesthetically pleasing
like our main site.
TFF's auditing partner is the internationally esteemed
KPMG. It is your guarantee that your donation is spent
according to best financial management practices and
strictly in accordance with the foundation's purpose.
TFF's site will tell how much we obtain in donations and
sales.
And if you do not have or want to use credit card
payment, the "Publications"
section on TFF's main site has been updated and
streamlined. There you still make your order and a
donation; we tell you how much to pay including postage
and you pay via postal giro or bank transfer but not by
cheque.
It's so easy to
browse, buy and donate online
Go to http://www.transnational.org
and look for "TFF Store & Donations" - the book and
the dove. Chose publications and donations, put them in
your shopping basket, go to checkout and pay the items
and postage with your credit card. No queuing up at your
post office, no exorbitant bank fees, no time wasted. And
the risk is at least as low as any other payment
method.
This is our
vision
Most of us pay tax. Some of it goes to weapons,
satellites, covert actions, interventions, genocide and
human rights violations. Consequently, socio-economic
gaps widen day by day. While governments and business
profit in various ways, ordinary citizens pay the price.
Every time.
What governments and big business do for peace is far
too little, and they spend so much more on everything
related to violence. Those of us who work directly for
peace should not go on begging for money from those who,
in many cases, cause the problems in the first place. TFF
would l,ike to receive a support from the Swedish
government but we will not be dependent for our life on
that.
Security and peace can and must be democratised. If we
want a more peaceful, just, democratic and ecologically
balanced future, we citizens who have the means must
contribute, either by our voluntary work, by our
professional skills and/or by our cash contributions. If
you do and tell your neighbours, the good idea may
snowball - but nobody is going to do it for us!
You can help make that dream come true together with
TFF. Buy "peace shares" at a value of 2 US $ and upwards.
This is concrete action with full accountability: You can
always follow our activities on our website. Since 1986,
TFF has experimented with a new type of organisation and
with people's diplomacy. Today it is a a creative,
principled peacebuilder in the real world and in virtual
reality. We do free research and action and practise free
speech against violence and for peace. And we will in the
future.
Who will benefit
when you buy books and make a donation?
Neither you nor TFF will profit economically. But
these three main categories will:
A) Our website visitors who are mostly students, NGOs,
media and concerned citizens in at least 60 countries
(100.000 per year).
B) Citizens and civil society in conflict regions
where we do conflict analysis, -mitigation and
reconciliation; in short, work for peace with peaceful
means
C) People who read our publications, website articles
and media columns; people who are reached by TFF
PressInfo (curently 8500 directly), WIRE, Peace Browser
and the users of TFF News Navigator, TNN.
D) Democracy will benefit. We believe in enlightened,
pluralistic public debate and democracy in foreign,
security and peace affairs - fields that tend to be
monopolised by a few who wield power even over
humankind's existence. But we do not believe in being
politically correct in their eyes.
How will we spend
your money?
TFF is a shoestring operation with a network but no
single full-time employed staff. The founders and TFF
associates do the job without salaries. But we need funds
for administration, copying, website development, for
producing free services such as PressInfo and TNN. We
need to pay rent, phones, fax, surfing, insurance,
equipment, envelopes and paper. We have a webmaster and a
student who assist us on an hourly basis. We care
professionally about reporting to authorities, the bank
and our public accountant; we do bookkeeping and handle
your order expediently. Of course it adds up.
In addition, we need funds for missions to conflict
regions, research projects, editing and printing of
reports.
You are welcome to compare TFF's output per dollar so
far with any other NGO or state-financed research
institute anywhere. We are truly Gandhian also in this
respect.
With a little help
from our friends
During the last few months 1400+ people in 63
countries have told us with their letters and signatures
how much they appreciate TFF and how strongly they
opposed the decision of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs to deprive TFF of its organisational support.
Perhaps you are one of them? Perhaps you dispatched a
donation, too? We are immensely grateful!
To everybody else: Please make a donation now! And
tell others that TFF's unique work in conflict regions
and on Internet is worthy of a little help from friends
and like-minded people worldwide.
We can only work miracles with your help!
Peace is a comparative
advantage, it increases when you "browse, buy and donate"
at the TFF Store & Donations.
And now, please go
to T
F F S t o r e a n d D o n a t i o n s ! !
© TFF 2000

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