Letter from Chris Littleton, April 18, 2010

Please make sure you read this very carefully to understand the refund process and reasoning. As you know we promised to have a refund process available within 48 hours of the event. This is it.
(Please note that the period for requesting refunds ended on May 1st)

First – thank you.
I was humbled by the amazing outpouring of sympathy, gratitude and inspiration that came from tons of people Friday and Saturday regarding this event. Your words and e-mails were overwhelmingly positive.

My favorite e-mail, summing up most people’s sentiments, was a very short note which said –

When the buzz spread about Sean bailing…the little Peruvian lady who was selling tea shirts next to me asked me several times for a translation, she paused, smiled and said “He is not the Tea Party, we are.”

Absolutely amazing, and of course, an entirely accurate description what was truely important.

Both the leaders and supporters of this movement are absolutely amazing! You have given so much to your families, our nation and the leaders of this incredible story called the Tea Party movement. Thank you!

A recap of where we stand:

UC required that the event had to be ticketed, a cost of $20k just for the tickets. In addition, the raw costs of the event itself was projected to be an additional $40K. So we opted for a mix of seats/prices which would cover the cost of the event and allow people to choose seating based on preference. Any small net positive after this event could fund events and activities of the CTP in 2010. In this same way, donations and ticket sales from previous events have funded everything we do. If we weren’t keeping our heads above the water line with these events, the organization may have folded long ago.

To address the idea of making a “profit” on this event. CTP is non-profit entity. That means it is illegal for us take profits on anything the CTP receives. And, to clarify even further, not a single person takes money in the form of salary or compensation from the CTP. Also, CTP is not a Political Action Committee, so no funds can be used to support or fund candidates or issues.

In short, CTP is not a profit center of any kind. Not one volunteer or leader receives salary or is reimbursed for time, mileage, etc. We do this because we believe down to our very souls that this movement is the only thing standing between the American people and a complete decline into a very left leaning and very dangerous future for the American people.

With that understood, if the primary charge from our friends at the George Soros funded Media Matters is that Hannity is helping the Tea Party “profit”, it is simply false.

I think Mike Wilson’s review of the Hannity cancellation at the April 15th event was pretty comprehensive in explaining the events as they unfolded. Click here to review the newsletter Mike sent hours after the event.

What few know, except those present at our planning meetings, is that we had a very difficult internal debate over whether to even charge for tickets at all. Our initial intent was to keep the event admission free, but it became clear that the costs were too much for standard fundraising to cover. We developed a mix of local business sponsorships, donations and tickets to cover the costs.

In ticketing the event, much like a concert or sporting event, we charged more ($20) for seats closest to the floor. Why is this important? Because seats on the floor on the opposite end of the stadium, far away and behind the Hannity stage were considered premium seats as well. “Premium seats” were just seats closest to the floor, closest to the action, including the real action – our speakers!

In total about 2,000 seats were sold for $20. The remaining 2,000 seats on the lower level of the arena were given to our community groups at a recommended donation of $5/ticket. Some gave a little more if they could help the event. In the end, at least half of the $20 tickets ended up selling for $5/ticket. We felt that we should offer these "premium" seats at a discount to the most faithful tea party supporters – our community group members and leaders.

To review –
Out of the total of 13,176 possible seats, 11,176 were to be sold for $5 or given away for promotions, volunteers, students, etc. Just over 100 VIP seats on the floor were part of gifts for larger donations, business sponsorships and speakers’ family/friends.

I hope this clarifies the ticketing question. We sincerely believe the ticketing mix was appropriate and balanced.

With that said, people are disappointed, and I don’t blame them. Many people bought tickets to see Hannity, get on TV, or just be closer to the guests who would be featured on the show. While this was not the primary purpose of this event, I understand many came for that reason.

We understand that, we were as disappointed as anyone.
In order to address that concern, we are willing to offer refunds. The refunds will be available through May 1st.

Please keep in mind, as mentioned above, the event budgeting relied on the ticket mix that was sold. And, I think that mix was extremely conservative and affordable. So, while I can’t correct the disappointment from Hannity not attending, I would ask you to consider that ticket cost as a donation to the Cincinnati Tea Party.

At no point would these proceeds have turned into “profit.” As mentioned above, we do this without pay of any kind because we all know how important this fight has become.

The amount of refunds will determine whether we remain in the black or go red for this event. A final accounting of the expenses and donations will be done after the May 1st deadline for refunds.

We appreciate everything you do for this movement. Thank you for all the sacrifices you make. We look forward to your continued support and accomplishing great things for the cause of Liberty in 2010 and beyond.

Chris Littleton
President of the Cincinnati Tea Party