Murder suspect George Zimmerman today announced plans to ramp up fund-raising, writing on a website that if you act now, he'll send you a thank you card "personally signed by George." 
 
 The fund so far has raised an estimated $340,000, but Zimmerman announced today it's nearly exhausted. 
 
 Zimmerman is the 29-year-old former Neighborhood Watch volunteer free on $1 million bail while he awaits trial on a second-degree murder charge. 
 
 He killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, in Sanford Feb. 26 after he spotted the teenager, described him to police as suspicious then got into a fight with the high school junior and shot him once in the chest. 
 
 He says he acted in self-defense. 
 
 Zimmerman began raising funds via the Internet a few weeks after the shooting and for a time was netting $1,000 a day, but fund-raising has since fallen off sharply. 
 
 Several weeks ago, defense attorney Mark O'Mara said defense costs were outstripping income and he might be forced to have Zimmerman declared indigent. 
 
 Zimmerman is living in hiding in Seminole County and does not have a job. 
 
 Today, a new post appeared on the legal defense fund's website. It says the fund needs more money, so in December, it's being transferred to a new fund manager – one Zimmerman will choose - and he'll make "more affirmative fund-raising efforts." 
 
 He promised a new statement to supporters plus thank you notes to contributors. A photo on the webpage shows an understated note card with the words "George Zimmerman" on the front and inside, "Thank you for your support." 
 
 It is signed, "Your Friend, George." 
 
 "We are, of course, maintaining the confidentiality of donors," the website says. 
 
 The money will go to pay Zimmerman's living expenses first, then for costs associated with the case and lastly to defense lawyers O'Mara and co-counsel Don West, who have not been paid, the site says. 
 
 The announcement reflects a shift in control of the fund. O'Mara ordered Zimmerman to surrender all defense funds to him in April then placed them in the hands of an independent manager. They now will be managed by someone picked by Zimmerman, according to the statement. 
 
 Exact fund-raising totals are hard to come by, but it appears donors have contributed about $340,000. 
 
 According to a letter O'Mara wrote to Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. on May 18, Zimmerman had netted just under $200,000 when O'Mara had Zimmerman surrender control on April 27. 
 
 Today's announcement says that since May 3, it has raised an additional $140,000. 
 
 rstutzman@tribune.com or 407-650-76394. jeweiner@tribune.com or 407-420-5171. ||||| George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer facing second-degree murder charges for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, is being sued by an Orlando private company claiming they are owed $27,000 for private security services. 
 
 The Miami Herald reports that Associated Investigative Services Inc. filed suit against Zimmerman and his attorney, Mark O'Mara, for failing to pay in full a $66,000 security bill for 21 days of protection —about $3,100 dollars a day— even though Zimmerman was still in Seminole County Jail during seven of those days. 
 
 The security team helped plan Zimmerman's exit of the Seminole County Jail, outfitting the defendant with concealed body armor while protecting him with an armed guard. He drove off in a rental vehicle that was checked for any secretly placed GPS tracking devices, the Herald said. 
 
 The team planned the "jail escort plan" that eventually had Zimmerman dressing in disguise and changing vehicles on his way to a safe house. 
 
 Zimmerman's lawyer, O'Mara, claimed last week he paid the company $40,000 and that the charges were exorbitant and that he never signed a contract, according to the Herald. 
 
 The attorney representing the security company, Stephen Milbrath, says Zimmerman and O'Mara are bound by an oral contract. 
 
 The Trayvon Martin shooting caused national outrage and raised racial tensions at rallies across the country who believed the shooting death of the teenager was unjustified. Zimmerman has said the shooting was in self-defense. 
 
 The suit says the private company put together a plan that included a seven-member team of bodyguards that would watch over Zimmerman, his wife, other family members, and even O'Mara himself. 
 
 It is unclear whether the plan was fully carried out, the newspaper noted. 
 
 Zimmerman is currently under private security protection provided by another company at the cost of $700 a week, O'Mara said. 
 
 Follow us on twitter.com/foxnewslatino 
 
 Like us at facebook.com/foxnewslatino
– George Zimmerman has raked in an estimated $340,000 in donations since Trayvon Martin's death, but the money is running low—so he's trying a new tactic. Now, if you donate at his website, you'll be treated to a card "personally signed by George." The second-degree murder suspect, currently out on bail, is no longer raising the $1,000 a day he once was, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Court costs are now outweighing Zimmerman's income, says his lawyer, adding that he may need to have Zimmerman declared indigent. The website announced today that the fund will get a new manager next month. "We are, of course, maintaining the confidentiality of donors," it says. Those who put a little something in the kitty for the jobless-and-in-hiding Zimmerman will be helping to cover living expenses, court costs, and pay his lawyers, in that order, according to the site.