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This page contains answers to questions we often
recieve about Vegan Outreach. For answers to your
questions about veganism see the
Q & A page in our Starter
Pack.
How do I order copies of your booklets?
Copies of booklets as well as other Vegan Outreach
publications and merchandise can be ordered from the
catalog.
| Vegan
Outreach does not exist to sell these booklets,
but rather to bring about widespread veganism
as quickly and efficiently as possible.
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How much do copies of your booklets
cost?
We ask for a contribution of 5-20¢ per booklet,
plus shipping, whenever possible.
If the full amount is not possible, any donation helps
us to continue to print and distribute copies of Why
Vegan, minimizing the amount of time between printings
when we don’t have copies on hand. All donations
will directly influence the number of people who read
Why Vegan.
Vegan Outreach does not exist to sell these booklets,
but rather to bring about widespread veganism as quickly
and efficiently as possible. Second, the costs are
variable, depending on how many we had been able to
afford to print in the last run.
Our total costs are ~20 cents per Why Vegan
distributed.
That comes out to:
- 8.7 printing for Why Vegan (new color version)
- 3.8 average shipping
- 8.6 everything else (other programs, printing
of other literature, etc.)
Separate from the printing costs, the shipping costs
are very different -- for example, 300 booklets shipped
UPS ground right from the printer to someone cost
only ~$0.04 each to ship. However, to send one Why
Vegan as part of our Vegan Starter Pack to someone
requesting information costs $0.99, in addition to
the shipping charges of the booklets from the printer
to Pittsburgh. Other booklets are more expensive,
since they are printed in smaller batches.
Many members of Vegan Outreach feel compelled to
"pay" for the copies of Why Vegan they order.
Sometimes activists with limited money hold large
events, or distribute
large numbers regularly, and we try to send them
what they need even though they can only pay for a
few copies.
On the other hand, we are dependent on donations
to be able to print more copies. If everyone paid
exactly for what they ordered, our distribution of
booklets would, quite literally, be about 1/4 of what
it is now. We would never be able to reach out to
anyone new, or supply booklets to people with limited
funds but unlimited opportunities (the majority of
our distribution network).
Where can I sign up for the Vegan
Outreach newsletter? Is there a membership cost?
If you would like to receive the Vegan Outreach newsletter,
send us your mailing address.
You can sign up for the e-newsletter, and read back
issues, here.
We do not have membership fees -- we believe that
anyone who is vegan, is working towards becoming vegan,
and/or is trying to spread veganism should be able
to be on our membership rolls (as long as we hear
from them every year or so, w/ or w/o financially
contributing. Not everyone who falls into our membership
categories is able to contribute a fixed amount.
How can I find animal-friendly groups
in my area?
Start at GreenPeople
or the World
Animal Net Directory for ANIMAL RIGHTS groups
and the International
Vegetarian Union for vegetarian groups. Also see
Vegan
Outreach's local contacts.
| Many
people contact us because they've had enough
of the business world and want to be able
to help the animals full time and make a
difference in their career. |
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How can I get a job with Vegan Outreach?
At this time, VO does not have any employment opportunities.
Before you make a decision of working for another
group, let me try to prevent some grief and disillusionment
for you. Ask yourself, "What would I do with
my life if there were no animal suffering?" If
you can answer with a career that holds your interest
and that you would like to do, then I would follow
whatever path is needed to pursue that career and
do animal advocacy in your free time. If your gut
feeling is that nothing holds your interest but working
for animal rights full-time, then by all means pursue
a job within the movement.
Many people contact us because they've had enough
of the business world and want to be able to help
the animals full time and make a difference in their
career. The animals need people doing local public
outreach in all areas of the country. This type of
outreach is done in people’s spare time without pay.
Even though you may not like your job, this type of
a life can be more fulfilling than working for a national
animal rights organization. You can do the type of
activism you like with no one else telling you what
to do and how to do it. Working for a national organization
will often relegate you to menial or ‘go fer’ tasks,
and you will feel as frustrated as you do in your
current job except that you will probably be making
less. The exceptions to this rule are people who really
click with the group they are working for and people
who have special or long-developed talents that are
highly valued and hard to come by. People usually
develop these talents by doing activism in their spare
time for many years.
My suggestion is to try to discover on your own what
type of activism you like to do and where your talents
can help the animals most in the long run. Once you
have discovered this, if you feel like a national
group could help you in using your talents, then investigate
working for them. Talk to current employees to get
different opinions on how it is to work for a particular
organization.
When not working for a potential employer, you may
be treated with respect. But upon employment, you
may be surprised that you are treated disrespectfully.
Be aware of this possible change in attitude. Don’t
feel bad about confronting them about the treatment
or leaving if it continues.
One career that could help animals would be to do
medical research that doesn’t use animals. Any grant
money that you receive could take money away from
animal experimentation.
Don't let the fact that you might have to touch an
animal product in some minor way in training for a
career automatically prevent you from doing a career
where, in the end, you can actually help animals.
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