Once Fallen 2024 Annual Report

The year 2024 was among the worst years for OnceFallen since we started making reports. There have been numerous hindrances to our brand, including the following:

1. The federal Bureau of Prisons had increased the number of facilities that censored our correspondence with prisoners. In September, the BOP changed how Corrlinks handles emails, effectively preventing us from continuing the Informational Corrlinks Newsletter (ICoN), which has negatively impacted our ability to get valuable info to prisoners.
2. The Wisconsin prison system is switching to a different email network which also limits the ability to get info to prisoners.
3. A dispute with the distributor of our book, Your Life on The List, has led to the decision to distribute the 4th edition of the book solely as a PDF file on OnceFallen.com and through the Fair Shake app for prisoners.
4. A fundraising attempt to replace aging equipment fell far short of the goal.
5. Aside from a single OpEd in the Delaware Cape-Gazette, I had no other media inquiries, though I was interviewed twice by researchers as part of upcoming papers. 

Needless to say, this has been a down year for Once Fallen. Both donations and requests for information fell this year. 

Total individual inquiries: 706 (down from 788 in 2023; -82 or a 10.5% decrease)

First contact from:

• Email: 247
• Corrlinks: 165
• Letter/US Mail: 159
• Phone: 91
• Text: 30
• Facebook: 9
• LinkedIn: 2

Reason for Initial Contact: Of the 706 inquiries,

• Housing (including housing leads or requests for housing & nursing homes, housing provider passing along their info): 197
• General Inquiry (Incl. those unsure what they needed or needed clarification): 116
• ICoN (newsletters): 63
• State-Specific Info: 49
• Information Sharing (tips, news, suggestions): 47
• Other assorted categories: 47
• Registry law questions: 45
• Jail/Prison/Parole/Probation issues: 33
• Your Life on The List Book: 33
• Activism (How to join movement): 30
• Legal Assistance/ Lawyer referrals: 21
• Thank You messages: 10
• Harassment Issues (targeted by vigilantes): 9
• Treatment-related issues: 6

Inquiries by Month:

• January: 77
• February: 79
• March: 80
• April: 62
• May: 55
• June: 41
• July: 35
• August: 60
• September: 66
• October: 65
• November: 38
• December: 38

Inquiries by state (When Known): 44 states, DC, Puerto Rico, & one foreign nation (Panama)

• 66: IN
• 65: WI
• 35: TX
• 33: FL
• 25: IL
• 24: CA
• 20: MO
• 16: AL
• 15: UT
• 14: OH, PA
• 13: KY
• 12: KS
• 11: GA
• 10: MI, MN, ND, NY
• 9: SC, WA
• 7:AR, CT, OR, VA
• 6: CO
• 5: AZ, NJ, OK, TN
• 4: NM
• 3: DE, IA, NE, NV, WV
• 2: DC, LA, MS, SD
• 1: AK, ID, MD, ME, ND, NH, Panama, PR, WY

For those who are curious: Because we offer a special info pack for WI, and we have a private housing list for IN, UT, and KS, as well as being featured on the AL 211, these states have more inquiries than average compared to states of comparible size. 

TOTAL NUMBER OF LETTERS BY MAIL: 269 (down from 296 from 2023, -27 or a 9.9% decrease)

Total Corrlinks Subscribers:

• Federal: 952 (down from 1005 in 2023; -53, or a 5.3% decrease)
• State/Other Facilities: 399 (almost all are in WI, down from 446 in 2023; -47, or 14.4% decrease)
• Total: 1381 (down from 1451 in 2023; -70 or 4.8% decrease)

Donations to OnceFallen were the lowest since 2011, with a 30% decrease from 2023, which in turn was a 44.5% decrease from 2022. Contributions in 2024 were only 38% of what they were two years ago. 

Once Fallen has, in response, scaled back its operations further, including refraining from traveling at all for activism events. If not for a visit to Omaha for a visit with Nebraskans Unafraid in November, Once Fallen would not have traveled at all for activism efforts at all for the first time since 2011. Fundraising efforts largely fell flat, tempered only by few needs this year. 

OnceFallen is pivoting away from anti-registry activism in the next year and towards resource-gathering, including a renewed focus on housing searches.