It is more important than ever that we promote our cause effectively. Quite literally, the future of the American space program will be determined in the next couple of years. The next President of the United States will most likely decide whether the U.S. remains stranded in low Earth orbit or if it chooses to engage in human missions to Mars and other destinations. Nations around the world will also be making similar decisions. The Mars Society is in unique position to help impact these decisions.

We Need Leaders! If you have an idea on how to help The Mars Society or if you want to take a leadership role, we want to hear from you. Even as we build a professional structure, we will still be almost entirely reliant on our membership. I want to make sure that we fully utilize our membership base and listen to their needs and suggestions. Otherwise, our organization will fail to be as effective as we should be. I hope you will join us in this effort.

Below is a list of initial goals that need to be accomplished. If you have any ideas or suggestions (or have items that should be added to this list), please contact me at carberry@marssociety.org.

-- Chris Carberry

1. Build membership. No non-profit organization can thrive without a broad, involved membership base. We are specifically looking for the input of members, both past and present, about how to better involve all of our members in the process of moving the Mars Society forward. Additionally, we have added a new option to allow anyone interested to purchase three years' worth of membership for the price of two. Those interested in renewing their membership or joining for the first time can do so on our web site.
2. Raise additional funds. As the Mars Society prepares to take on ambitious new challenges, stable sources of funding will be critical, and work is being planned to identify and pursue new funding opportunities of all sorts. If you have funding ideas, or wish to help pursue opportunities that we identify, please let me know.
3. Increase mainstream media and unconventional coverage. The Mars Society already conducts a number of newsworthy activities on a regular basis, including the work being done at its Mars Analog Research Stations and the University Rover Challenge, and will be engaging in many more such activities going forward. A comprehensive, coordinated approach to ensuring that major and local media outlets across the world report on these activities will help achieve the Mars Society's other major goals while raising our stature worldwide. We also hope to make better use of web-based forms of communication to maximize our impact on Generation Y and other demographics. 
4. Intensify political outreach. Building on a string of recent successes such as the increased prominence of space policy in this year's presidential election, the Mars Society will be stepping up its efforts to ensure that politicians across the spectrum are well-educated on all of the benefits of space exploration and humans-to-Mars specifically, in order to increase our chances of positive political outcomes.
5. Education. Since our founding, education outreach has been a primary goal. We plan to intensify our educational outreach efforts through both coordinated education programs and providing members and the public with educational material that can be used by anyone, anywhere, anytime. 
6. Continue professionalizing the Mars Society's administration. From its founding in 1998, the Mars Society has grown to become one of the leading space advocacy organizations in the world. Ensuring that a top-notch administrative backbone is in place will help ensure that the organization can continue to grow and achieve its goals.
7. Bolster Mars Society projects. Projects like FMARS, MDRS, and the URC are where the Society makes some of its greatest contributions in terms of research and outreach. Expanding these existing projects and adding new and exciting projects, in particular through the recently announced Mars Project Challenge, will help focus our efforts while creating new opportunities for member involvement and media coverage. 
8. Strengthen relations with international Mars Societies. The Mars Society is, and always has been, a global organization. Given the impressive accomplishments of international Societies, such as the Germans' Archimedes Balloon Project and the Canadians' ongoing dedication to supporting and staffing the analog research stations, increased cooperation with and spotlighting of their efforts will be positive for the entire organization. This will include supporting conventions outside of the United States, including this year's Australian Mars Society Convention (July 4-6, 2008 in Adelaide, Australia) as well as the eighth European Mars Convention (October 17-18, 2008 in Antwerp, Belgium).
9. 11th Annual International Mars Society Convention. On August 14-17, 2008, the Mars Society will be holding our annual Convention in Boulder, Colorado. We hope to not only to have our best speaker lineup yet, but to provide programming that will help to revitalize our organization by re-involving our membership.