Dear Friend of MEMRI,
We are writing to you as Vice President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which this year marked its 22nd year of operations.
#GivingTuesday – our nation's annual day of generosity, when we Americans recommit, through volunteering and charity, to causes important to us – falls this year on December 1. On this occasion, many Americans donate to support organizations that assist in U.S. defense and security and that provide insight and clarity on issues that are critical in these tumultuous times. Last month, our role was recognized by the Department of Justice; on November 12, MEMRI was honored with the Attorney General's Award for Meritorious Public Service.
We recognize that you receive many end-of-year requests for support from nonprofit organizations, but we would be grateful if you could take the time to allow us to present our case for why we deserve your support in these difficult times.
In today's era of disinformation and "fake news," MEMRI research on the Arab and Muslim world – all its countries and their political, military, and religious leaders, trends within them, conflicts among them, and other key aspects – is vital to understanding the region.
Despite the tremendous difficulties we all have faced in 2020, MEMRI has remained one of the world's most productive nonprofit think tanks focusing on the Middle East and South Asia and on threats to the U.S. and the West. Our phenomenal research output equals or surpasses that of similar organizations many times our size with many times our budget.
In all 50 U.S. states and Washington, DC, lawmakers, counterterrorism officials, law enforcement, and other first responders turn to MEMRI. In Congress, we meet regularly with staff of leading Republican and Democratic committee members. We provide our research to the White House and the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Justice, the National Counterterrorism Center, the TSA, and others. In the U.S. and worldwide, MEMRI research has prevented terrorist attacks. We assist academia, including 700+ universities and institutions of higher learning, in the U.S. and worldwide. MEMRI research is regularly used by leading U.S. print and broadcast media outlets – including The Washington Post, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, and CNN, as well as by leading foreign media across the world. Our research is also available free of charge to the general public. No one else does the work that we are doing.
As 2020 draws to a close, we are asking you today, as our reader, to help us continue our essential work. We cannot do this without you.
So far this year, MEMRI has published nearly 600 Special Dispatch translations, over 50 Inquiry and Analysis reports, and nearly 40 Daily Briefs, and have sent out over 750 emails of translations and research to readers like you. We have released nearly 800 translated clips, and in that time frame all clips have had a total of 28,542,467 views on all platforms. They have been retweeted by members of parliament in many countries, and our top five recent clips had over 2 million views within three days.
Other MEMRI projects include: exposing hate-filled sermons in mosques across the U.S., Canada, and Europe; monitoring the threat of white supremacism and neo-Nazism online; amplifying the voices of reformists in the Middle East and South Asia; and monitoring, translating, and analyzing the Russian media, following its ideology and strategy as well as its activities inside Russia, in its orbit and areas of influence, and in the Arab and Muslim world. MEMRI is assisting Western authorities on a daily basis in connection with all these issues, and more.
This #GivingTuesday, please help MEMRI continue its crucial work in support of American freedom and security.
Sincerely,
