How the contest works
For the 2009 COLCPE campaign, the union locals will be divided into five categories:

• Branches with 2,000 or more members
• 1,000 to 1,999 members
• 500 to 999 members
• 100 to 499 members, and
• 50 to 99 members.

Between now and the end of the year, branches will strive to sign up as many active and retired members as possible as automatic Gimme 5-level COLCPE donors. The five branches with the highest percentage of members who are Gimme 5 contributors in their size category as of December 31 will be the winners.

At that point, each winning branch will conduct a raffle among all of its Gimme 5 members and the winner will receive a $1,000 American Express gift card. In addition, the five winning branches will each receive laptop computers for branch use, and the COLCPE coordinators of each winning branch will receive a $200 gift card upon completion of a report on their branch’s winning strategy.

There will be a special prize for making the greatest progress. The branch recording the most growth in percentage of automatic contributors during the contest months also will stage a $1,000 raffle for eligible members, receive a laptop, and the COLCPE coordinator will receive a gift certificate. (The branch winning this special prize must not have won in its size category in the general competition.)

And don’t think for a minute that branches with 49 or fewer members are being forgotten. All Gimme 5 contributors in these branches will be entered into a separate raffle, with one lucky winner drawn for a $1,000 gift card.

Winning branches will be announced in the February 2010 Postal Record, the annual COLCPE recognition issue.