Tobacco.org Survey

Author: Cynthia Hallett

Dear Colleagues and Tobacco News Service Users,

The Tobacco News Service ˆ the Tobacco.org website and the Tobacco News daily newsletter ˆ serves the entire tobacco control community - advocates, researchers, health departments and coalitions at the local, state and federal levels, and national partner organizations. However, we have alarming news about this vital resource:  The Tobacco News Service faces a severe budget shortfall and will close its doors in early 2007. 

The ANR Foundation is working with the principals of the Tobacco News Service ˆ Gene Borio and Mike (Tac) Tacelosky ˆ to try to keep this important resource operating. We have secured a short-term grant from the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute (FAMRI) to continue the website and daily newsletter through mid-February of 2007 while exploring options to create a sustainable funding mechanism for the Tobacco News Service.

The ANR Foundation is conducting a brief survey of Tobacco News Service users to give us a better picture of who uses the service, and how they use the information they find on the website or in the daily newsletter. This information will help us understand how users access and utilize the service, demonstrate a need and desire to maintain the service, and begin to identify possible funding strategies to keep the news service intact.

The survey is brief, and won't take more than 10 minutes of your time to complete. The information you provide in the survey will be confidential. Data will be reported in aggregate and individual responses will not be associated with a specific person. We do offer an opportunity to provide your contact information at the end of the survey in the event you wish to provide a testimonial or write a letter of support for the service.

To complete the survey, please go to:

http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB225WMHATGDL

The survey will remain open through Friday, December 15, 2006.

Many thanks for your help. We will keep everyone posted as to new developments, and hope that we will be able to report that the Tobacco News Service will continue past February 15, 2007.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Hallett,

Executive Director

ANR Foundation