Mini Survey

In partnership with community and ethnic associations across the country, TIGRA is organizing Million Dollar Remitters Clubs as a tool for immigrant communities to come together and realize their economic power. The act of sending money to loved ones is an act of love and sacrifice for millions of immigrants around the world. But if seen as a collective practice, it is transformed into economic power in service of family and community. When everyone’s remittances are added up, it is clear that altogether, immigrants are sending billions of dollars home to their families and communities of origin every year.

As a Million Dollar Club (MDC), immigrant communities can speak as one voice of “Millionaires” for their region. Networked as the Global League of Community Sustainers/ La Liga de Sostenedores de la Comunidad Mundial, all immigrant communities can work together to advocate for “transnational community benefits agreements” with industry leaders to support community reinvestment priorities. Right now immigrant organizations are conducting Community Remittance Audit (CRA) surveys in various regions across the country and already it is proving to be a success in bringing diverse communities together over their shared remittance experiences.

How is a Million Dollar Club formed?

TIGRA has calculated that when the total amount that 350 remitters send per year is added, it totals $1 million, on average. Community and ethnic associations are therefore encouraged to conduct up to 350 surveys with their members in order to be able to reach the $1 million mark and thus form an MDC in their area. Organizations can form an MDC on their own with their membership, or combine their results with other organizations in their region to reach the 350/$1M goal.

TIGRA certifies the formation of MDCs and their membership into the Global League/ La Liga once 350 surveys are done and a core leadership has completed a six-part action education curriculum developed by TIGRA entitled Power of Love and Money: Transnational Organizing on Remittances.

What do Million Dollar Clubs do?

Once MDCs have become part of the Global League/ La Liga, they are charged with determining local priorities for their region that will receive community reinvestment funds.

Who can participate?

Anyone who sends money to their family or community is considered a remitter and is welcomed to share their experiences by filling out a survey.

How do we fill out a survey?

Surveys can either be completed online or they can be printed on paper from: http://www.transnationalaction.org/downloads.html.

Surveys can be found in three languages: English, Spanish, and French.

How do we get the results?

Surveys conducted online are automatically tallied by TIGRA’s database. TIGRA can quickly put the information on graphs to visually compare the numbers of the group with the demographics of their city and state. Organizations that fill out surveys on paper can calculate the results themselves or request the assistance of TIGRA to tally them.

Once the results are in, organizations are encouraged to share these with their constituents for members to reflect on their individual practices in the context of the group and dialogue on how their collective experience impacts their community. Organizations can then coordinate a press conference to share their results with the larger public.

What is the Action Education Curriculum?

Having conducted surveys, communities are ready to place their individual and group experiences in the larger framework of the experiences of all immigrants worldwide and what it means to their host and home countries. TIGRA invites organizations to deepen their understanding by participating in a membership education curriculum to fuel action in their community entitled Power of Love and Money: Transnational Organizing on Remittances.

The curriculum is intended to engage the constituent base of organizations and transform the individual act of sending money into a catalyst for social change across borders. Developed with a global and racial justice framework, the six-part series peels the layers that hide the predatory nature of the money transfer industry, the significance of each remittance to the whole, and grassroots-based strategies that resonate with the historical experiences of those who remit.

What happens next?

TIGRA works with groups to strengthen their capacity to engage in strategic social change activities by waging a corporate accountability campaign on one of the industry giants: Western Union. The campaign seeks to enjoin the company to adopt the Transnational Community Benefits Agreement that was developed by leaders from immigrant communities and from the global South to outline what companies like Western Union have to do to get our business. The campaign has several phases, the first being a period for organizations to do public education with their communities by collecting postcards.

HOW TO GET STARTED

TIGRA is currently organizing regional 1-day training workshops throughout the US to introduce organizations to the remittance industry landscape and how to balance the necessity of sending money home, with the power of collective action. Organizations can choose from a menu of options to get started based upon the capacity of the communities to get involved.

Call 510-653-3415 or email tigra at transnationalaction dot org to get started.