Archives for Organization

Three reasons for conservative online organization

online organizationGiven that politics is all about people, it’s a natural fit for the Internet and online social networks.

In many ways the Internet is the ultimate “precinct” in America’s politics, in that everyone “lives” there.  The overwhelming majority of registered voters have online access, and huge (and increasing) percentages of them regularly access political information online, which puts them only one step away from taking action – if someone offers them the knowledge and the opportunity.

That’s where you come in.

The fact that so many people are using the Internet for political information and activity means that you should see it as a natural extension of your activism. And while the Internet is becoming an increasingly effective tool, it’s also becoming easier to use, which puts everyone on a more even playing field.

All of the fundamental elements of politics, (identifying, informing and mobilizing), have been impacted by the Internet. And as technology continues to change it will have increasing political applications, which means that you need to make an effort to use that technology in order to be as effective as possible.

Three benefits of online organization:

1) Easy organization:

The Internet can aid your organizational efforts by allowing your supporters the opportunity to engage with your cause or campaign without having to come to a headquarters or go to a meeting. It makes it easy for you to be “found”, allows them to participate on their own terms, and lets them easily and more effectively “spread the word” to others they know.

The Internet also makes it incredibly easy to do one of the most important preliminaries to grassroots organization – identification and recruit supporters. You can’t really do much in the way of organizing people until you have identified “who” cares about your issue, and you get this done with simple sign-up forms on a website, or even with free online petitions.

2) Easy communications:

Communications is key to being able to inform and mobilize supporters to take action. Whether it’s websites, social media or email newsletters, the Internet makes it easier for you to provide important information to your supporters, and makes it just as easy for them to share it with others.

This also better enables you to inform bloggers and members of the “mainstream media” that may want to cover your efforts or provide “rapid response” to misinformation. The more of YOUR information that’s available online, the better you can help fill a factual vacuum that would potentially be filled by your opposition.

3) Simple fundraising:

Online organizing can aid with fundraising simply by providing a central place where supporters can make a contribution.

Once you’ve got a fundraising page, you can link to it in email, on printed material, on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Services like GoFundMe are great for most ad-hoc campaigns, or others like Anedot offer a cheap but more professional looking option for more involved efforts. They can also make fundraising viral, as it’s easier for your supporters to share a fundraising link with others, along with a message encouraging them to make a donation.

What to do?

You can approach online activity in one of two ways: either as an addition to what you want to do with an “offline” organization effort (such as precinct or church based), or as your only method of organization.

Good online efforts can help enhance and increase the productivity of your “offline” efforts, such as recruiting volunteers, sharing information, coordinating action and raising funds.

Whichever route your organizational efforts may take, you should plan to use the Internet as an integral part of your communications, organization and fundraising efforts.

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(Get more tips like these in my “Grassroots 101 Training Series“.  Check it out!)

Three methods for conservative grassroots organization

grassroots organization

Whether you’re organizing for a campaign, a group or just an issue you care about, there are three areas where it pays for conservatives to focus their time.  And each area has different benefits and challenges.

1) Precinct Organization

Organizing by precinct is more geographically focused and as a result can have a more direct and greater potential impact on a specific area.

Political power in American flows from the precinct level upward, because precincts are the building blocks of the American political system.

Virtually every election district, from the school board on up, is a combination of various precincts.  They’re like the small pieces in a bigger jigsaw puzzle, which means that if you’re organized in the precincts you can influence an election – or have influence on an elected official who is interested in running for re-election.

2) Church Organization

Organizing in churches allows you to work with people you’re probably more familiar with, and are likely to have more in common with.  As a result, you may be able to get things moving more quickly.

Since a typical church’s membership may be spread across multiple precincts, focusing on churches also has the benefit of helping you “sow seeds” of activism in more than one area, (which means church organization can quickly feed “precinct organization”).

3) Online Organization

Online organization can exist on its own or as a compliment to church and/or precinct organization, (ex. online “groups” via Yahoo, Google, Ning or Facebook; or online petitions and campaigns at AktNow – or a combination).

And when you organize online, you make it easier to share information with others and for others to find you.

Online organization is also a great way to being to build a list of supporters that you can contact and keep informed.

Where to Focus Your Time?

In order to determine where you should focus your time and efforts, ask yourself the following questions:

  • What specifically do I want to impact or accomplish? Is it more educational and/or issue related, or is it more political?
  • Where do I know the most people who think like I do, and who are willing to help? (Hunt where the ducks are!)

Whichever type of organization you plan to focus on, remember that it all comes down to people. Politics is people.  And when you get enough people together with a common purpose, you’ve got grassroots organization. 

Real grassroots organization leads to political impact!

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(You can find tips like this and much more in my “Grassroots 101: Grassroots Training Series“.)

Mobilizing Conservatives for Action

mobilization 2An old Chinese proverb says that “To know and not to do is not to know”.

The whole point of identifying and informing conservatives politically is so that they can ultimately have an impact on something they care about. It’s one thing to get people riled up about something, but it’s another (more effective) thing to point them towards an outlet.

In other words, mobilizing conservatives for a specific shared purpose.

Organize to Mobilize:

An essential element of mobilization is organization.  Once you’ve got a group of people identified and informed around a particular issue, the larger the group (or the scope of action), the more you need to break things up into manageable chunks that specific people can be responsible for.  The same goes for areas you might be working on or want to keep tabs on, (such as different state or local government meetings, etc.).

When you keep things simpler and smaller, you keep it more organized. 

People may have good intentions, but they’re more likely to “do” when someone is specifically tasked with following up with them. They will feel more accountable to do what they’ve said they would.

Find a Trigger:

Depending on what issue (or issues) you’re involved with, this could be specific government meetings (such as a local school board), a petition effort to change text books, a fight over a local bond referendum, or lobbying state legislators over a specific piece of legislation.

A trigger needs to be directly and understandably relevant to the overall reason people are involved to begin with.  They need to be able to directly see and understand how taking a specific action will have an impact on the thing they care about.

The more specific, simple and direct the “triggers” are the better results you’ll see.

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People are busy.  Part of the reason they’ll join with you and others is that doing so provides them a service, or a “shorthand” way of letting someone else do the investigating into what needs to be done, how, when and where. So give it to them.

They’re ready to take action.  Just make an effort to give them the details.