BALTIMORE (AP) -- The NAACP is asking every member to go<br>door-to-door and promote the civil rights group to at least 10<br>neighbors as part of a nationwide effort to boost stagnant<br>membership levels
Friday, August 13th 1999, 12:00 am
By: News On 6
BALTIMORE (AP) -- The NAACP is asking every member to go door-to-door and promote the civil rights group to at least 10 neighbors as part of a nationwide effort to boost stagnant membership levels by enticing people of all races to join.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is calling it the "Knock Across America" campaign.
"We're selling this organization because it can be of benefit to everyone," said Sylvia Williams, who is the first national membership consultant hired by the NAACP. "Every race belongs to this organization."
Membership of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group has remained at about 500,000 in the last two years. Spokesman John White said the organization does not maintain figures on the racial composition of its membership.
Recruitment efforts have been ineffective because many of the 2,200 local chapters do not accurately track their own members and are not connected to the Internet, White said.
For the $30 annual fee, members receive a bimonthly magazine on civil rights and the right to participate in local branch activities, including elections.
The West Virginia and Alabama chapters began the door-to-door canvassing this month. Maryland chapters of the Baltimore-based organization will begin doing so in September. Money also will be set aside for TV and billboard ads, Ms. Williams said.
(Copyright 1999 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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