7th Printing

   

Printer-friendly versionSend to friend

By the time you receive this newsletter, the production of the 7th Printing of The URANTIA Book will have been completed!

Since the first printing of The URANTIA Book in 1955, over 110,000 copies have been printed and sold. Two-thirds of those copies have been sold in the last eight years. For many years now about 90% of our sales are to bookstores, with B. Dalton Booksellers being our largest buyer.

The new printing will not affect our current policies. The price will remain at $34.00; bookstore discounts are 40% for 5 or more copies and 30% for 1 to 4 copies; individuals can receive a 20% discount on purchases of 5 or more books (when sent to one address); libraries receive the maximum 40% discount for any number of copies.

7th Printing Fund Drive

We wish to extend to all who have so generously donated to the 7th Printing Fund our grateful thanks and appreciation for your kind and thoughtful support. As you will remember, the Finance Committee of URANTIA Brotherhood undertook the responsibility to manage a campaign to raise the funds for the 7th Printing of The URANTIA Book. The goal of the campaign was set at $210,000 for the printing of 25,000 copies of the book.

The fund raising campaign was designed to proceed in several steps or stages. The first step was to contact a small number of individuals who had been very generous in their donations of funds in the past. The second stage of the campaign was to contact the entire mailing list either by telephone or mail. As many telephone numbers as possible were obtained for people on the mailing list who lived within the continental United States.

In early March, dozens of volunteers spent several days contacting 1,344 people by telephone. At the same time, another 1,501 were contacted by mail.

Of those contacted by telephone, 392 pledged a specific amount, 40% were "open" (i.e., these people indicated it was financial hardship that would not allow them to donate). The amount of specific pledges totaled $35,391. As of June 30, 77% of these specific pledges have been fulfilled in the amount of $29,870. Of those who gave an "open" response, 27% have responded giving a total of $6,890. The cumulative result of the telephone campaign is that 41% of those contacted have responded by giving a total of $36,093. Of those contacted solely by mail, 17% responded by donating a total of $14,969. Also, about 100 people, including the volunteer telephone callers, were contacted in person.

The total number contacted by all methods was 2,945. To date, 29% of the mailing list has responded in the amount of $109,329. This 29% is roughly double the usual response rate of 12% to 15% that is received from the annual joint URANTIA Foundation/URANTIA Brotherhood solicitation letter for general funding support. The 29% includes a strong effort from our international friends. As English is not the primary language for most of them, we appreciate their extra effort.

Since the time of our original estimate, the printing company has informed us that the actual number of copies will be nearer 23,000 and the cost nearer $185,000. We have some additional large pledges totalling $45,000 which added to our $109,329 gives us $154,329. So, we are about $30,000 short for the cost of the 7th Printing. Also, through the use of volunteers, Brotherhood Committee members, and office staff, we have been able to keep the total cost of the fund drive at about $6,000. We would like to recover this cost so, added to the $30,000, our final goal is an additional $34,000.

If you have not already given, or if you initially gave a smaller amount and wanted to see how the fund drive would progress, now is the time to donate. We are in the last leg of our race to reach the goal and though we are only $34,000 short, it will require an extra effort or push to make it. We will be billed in September for the printing, ao we will have to take money from our general revenues to make up the difference if there is a shortage. Please help if you can and know that your help is greatly appreciated.

Finally, we wish to extend our sincerest appreciation to URANTIA Brotherhood and particularly to the Brotherhood's Finance Committee for a highly commendable job. The tireless effort they have made in this large and important task is truly praiseworthy. This endeavor exemplifies the ability of URANTIA Foundation and URANTIA Brotherhood to work together toward our mutual goals.