Traveling across the state of Arkansas we have come across some truly effective organizations as well as some that are facing significant hurdles. One of the organizations that has really stood out as an example of a strong group is the Faulkner Co TEA Party. With well over 400 members and a monthly general meeting attendance of over 200, they are fast becoming an agent of change in their region.
One of the most exceptional aspects of this group is that they realized early on that there was a delicate balance they would need to strike in order to achieve their goals. They found that – if they built it – people really would come. They began one year ago this month, just a handful of people determined to make a difference.
Today they have members on the school board, city council and quorum court calling to ask for their input. They are building amazing credibility in their region and making a definitive impact.
To read Part One of this series: Click here!
Now, picking up where we left off….
2) Organization: Structure the way you want the organization to function by creating a leadership team and adopting by-laws. Don’t get bogged down in this. This wheel has already been created. Contact David Crow, Chairman of the Faulkner Co TEA Party and he would be more than happy to share information with you regarding their structure, as well as some best practices they have discovered.
3) Create committees: The reason for this is two-fold. It helps prevent any one person from becoming overwhelmed and helps people engage at their comfort level, using their skill sets. We are all useful in the process of holding our government accountable.
Here are some committee ideas:
· Watch Dog- these members will go to public meetings regularly. It is important to have many people on this committee so that the burden of weekly meetings does not become overwhelming. Also consider that many public meetings may be held at the same time. This committee will attend, take notes and report back to the general meeting. I would suggest a concisely written report that can be distributed to all members with information that pertains to your focal points: fiscal responsibility, free markets and limited government. This is also great fodder for an organization blog!
· Events – these members will be in charge of organizing and executing events. These will hopefully become one of your major recruiting tools and information dispensers. There are tons of people that will come to a special event that will not come to a regular meeting so you have to be sure special events are well planed and thoughtfully carried out. Make sure that you plan a way to capture the contact information of attendees! Even just asking for their email and zip code can go a long way in building your organization’s database.
Some effective event ideas we have found to be effective are: lunches, reading groups and candidate forums. Don’t allow your events to be monopolized by candidates or people will soon lose interest. Even the candidate forums should focus on giving citizens the opportunity to interrogate their potential representatives.
· Media- this is a fairly small committee and one that is usually run by the organization leadership. This insures that the image of the organization is consistent with the will of the organization’s general membership (assuming that the leaders of the group have been elected). A mission statement, goals bylaws will help make sure that leadership stays on course with the wishes of the larger organization. Remember: accountability is key, regardless of what kind of government you are setting up!
· Communications- this group will set up email chains, websites, facebook pages, twitter accounts, and blogs. They will make sure that content is frequently updated and on message. Effective communication is vital! This too can be a fairly small group but they need to be detail oriented. Make sure that everything is connected and that all the meetings, events and updates are posted in a timely fashion. American Majority has a wonderful resources page to help with much of this!
· Letters/phones- When your organization gets up and going this committee will help to engage people in letter writing and phone banking. This is vital in addressing issues, contacting representatives or even helping promote conservative candidates. Contacting your representatives both by phone and letters sends a strong message about the resolve of those involved. If you are involved in resolving a particular issue, a strong “letters to the editor” campaign can be quite beneficial.
· Education- These are the researchers, making sure that the facts are found. Nothing builds credibility faster than becoming a trusted expert and nothing loses it faster than promoting false information! When you step into the local fray you will realize that things are not as clear cut as they may have appeared to be, this is why it is vital to be a promoter of facts rather than of opinions. Helping people make educated decisions on their own should be the long term goal of the grassroots movement.
Educating should be a priority. Learning who your local representatives, city council, school board and quorum court members are is a basic step. Being that we are a Republic, a representative government, meaning instead of us having a “majority rules” mentality we have chosen leaders to make those decisions for us. The challenge has been that too many of us, including myself, have not been engaged in the process of communicating to our representatives, so they got use to doing things their way and not really asking or even caring about those they represent. We can change that!
These are just a few ideas. Feel free to add to add your own below in the comments section! The wonderful thing about the grassroots movement is that it is built on personal relationships and by contributing to the conversation we can help each other in significant ways!
