DO: Approach key local and regional groups before the strategy is set. Tailor efforts to the culture and politics of individual communities. No state is one community. Incoming organizers should seek synergies with existing work.
DON’T: Bait and switch. Be clear and honest with grassroots organizers about intentions and objectives.
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“When it comes to electoral organizing, it’s not news that the surge isn’t working.”
To start off The Project, our 2008 multi-media civic engagement project, PBN is publishing a few critically important pieces that look at the importance of sound investment in effective civic organizing.
This article by PBN co-chair Robby Rodriguez is the first piece. Download the full article at the bottom, and check back every day for updates.
After the Surge: Investing in Civic Organizing Tactics that Work
–By Robby Rodriguez
It’s the thick of the 2008 election cycle, and all around the country legions of “Paratroopers” – well-funded, well-trained young organizers from New York or DC-based national organizations – are dropping down in Louisville, Kansas City, Las Vegas and my own hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico to help get out the vote.
Sinking enormous resources into short-term electoral campaigns has been the accepted modus operandi for the past few election cycles. Trouble is, it overlooks the fact that Louisville, Las Vegas and the rest of us have already invested years of hard work in building organizing infrastructure that too often gets ignored and supplanted to the detriment of everyone involved.
When it comes to turning out voters and winning elections, it’s not news that the surge isn’t working. In state after state, grassroots groups are banding together to form local, regional and national partnerships, including the fast-growing Pushback Network, to focus on what works.
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Check out this great new publication from SWOP!
“We are so pleased to announce the publication of a new book on Generational Change and Leadership, co-authored by SWOP Executive Director Robby Rodriguez in conjunction with colleagues in the Building Movement project.” Working Across Generations: Defining the Future of Nonprofit Leadership, written by Building Movement Project authors Frances Kunreuther, Helen Kim and Robby Rodriguez, offers a comprehensive approach to looking at leadership and generational shifts in the nonprofit sector. The book includes:
Thanks to the wonderful folks at Activists with a Purpose for a great day of voter engagement!
Keep up with The Project and don’t miss a thing!
