First Step: State Organizational Development Department.(National Right To Life Committee's program for supporting local chapters)(Brief Article)

Whether a local RTL organization is months old or decades old, chances are there are any number of areas in which it could on occasion use help. And, after nearly three decades, surely it is true that the collective store of expertise, insight, ideas, practical tips, and commonsense solutions is so vast that the answers to nearly all questions/problems have already been found.

It is precisely because we don't need to "reinvent the wheel" that NRLC's State Organizational Development Department has proven so valuable to state and local pro-life organizations nationwide, according to Director Jacki Ragan.

"We're here to work with pro-lifers in each of the 50 states to help them solve any problem that they might encounter," she said. "The department exists solely for them - - to assist them in any way we can to develop a statewide presence."

And those problems run the gamut from the most basic through the most complicated. The answers take the form of materials, information, expertise, and being "a voice on the other end," Ragan said, to those who need to know they are not the first organization to run into a particular problem.

Formed in 1985, in a typical week the State Organizational Development Department will:

*Provide materials

*Help a pro-life organization with fundraising (camera-ready direct mail solicitation letters are available for all states on a regular basis)