[COMM-ORG] Organizing post-election

Wed Dec 10 12:08:56 CST 2008

[ed:  Apologies to Jayne for missing the rest of her message.  Jayne 
integrated comments into Paul's message and I missed that until she 
pointed it out.  Here is the full message.]

From:
Jayne Cravens <jc at coyotecommunications.com>
Date:
Mon, 8 Dec 2008 08:52:33 +0100

To:
colist at comm-org.wisc.edu

This is something I've been thinking about a lot myself. Glad you have 
brought it up. You might want to post this as well to CYBERVPM , which 
is a national community of volunteer managers all over the USA.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybervpm/

>  >>But as organizers, shouldn't our response be more, well, organized?
>
>>> What would it take to provide the folks energized by this election
> access to a diversity of organizing training programs, opportunities to
> slot into existing organizing efforts and support/mentoring to organize
> new projects?

I think each community needs to address this in their own way. As you 
said, your group in your community is very diverse, and already has many 
different ideas on how it wants to proceed. This is true of communities 
all over the USA.

>  >>Can we imagine pulling together some of the major funders of civic
> engagement and organizing with representatives of large and small
> organizing networks around the country to work out the details?

I can't imagine this at all -- right now, money is tight, and will stay 
tight for at least the next nine months. I don't think what's needed is 
money; what's needed is getting existing local efforts that involve 
volunteers to start working to involve former political volunteers 
looking for "what's next".

Firstly, will the Obama organization allow for communication with these 
local supporters via its existing network (whatever online avenue it 
uses), or will a second network (YahooGroup, list, GoogleGroup, 
whatever) need to be set up for those political volunteers who are 
interested in knowing what their options are for "what's next"? Keeping 
in contact with these political volunteers is key in getting their 
energy and talent channeled into a new venture.

I think that every volunteer center, DOVIA, social justice organization, 
advocacy group, etc. in your community should be approached about making 
a "pitch" to these supporters, and then letting individuals go where 
they feel most drawn to. There are opportunities all around them for 
their talent and energy -- but they need to know how to access such. And 
these potential supporters of other efforts also need to know that these 
local organizations do not have the massive amounts of money of the 
Obama campaign; they need to know that the work to be done has much less 
resources supporting it.

These organizations that are contacted through the local volunteer 
center, DOVIA, as well as those contacted directly, also need to know 
how to leverage these people, since they may be very different than 
their current volunteers. This is a great opportunity for these 
organizations to tap into expertise regarding, for instance, online 
organizing/online networking. Perhaps the local volunteer center or 
DOVIA would be willing to host a workshop specifically on reaching out 
and involving former campaign workers.

Individuals should also know about http://www.volunteermatch.org, 
http://www.idealist.org and http://www.change.org as ways to channel 
their energies into new areas.

I'd be careful about only reaching out to Obama volunteers as well; as a 
courtesy, you should reach out to the volunteers of other Presidential 
candidates as well.

-- 
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc Bonn, Germany

http://www.coyotecommunications.com

Volunteer Coordinator
http://www.aidworkers.net

www.ivisit.com id: jcravens.4947
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Discussion list for COMM-ORG wrote:
> --------
> This is a COMM-ORG 'colist' message.
> All replies to this message come to COMM-ORG only.
> --------
>  
> [ed:  thanks to Jayne for replying to Paul's thoughts.]
>
> From: Jayne Cravens <jc at coyotecommunications.com>
>
> This is something I've been thinking about a lot myself. Glad you have 
> brought it up. You might want to post this as well to CYBERVPM , which 
> is a national community of volunteer managers all over the USA.
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybervpm/
>
> *************************
>
>
>
> Discussion list for COMM-ORG wrote:
>   
>> --------
>> This is a COMM-ORG 'colist' message.
>> All replies to this message come to COMM-ORG only.
>> --------
>>  
>> From: Paul Terranova <paul at lcecmadison.org>
>>
>> Organizing Post-Election
>>
>> I have been thinking about what we as organizers should be doing with 
>> the amazing surge of interest in civic engagement and organizing that 
>> has come with the election of the country’s first community organizer 
>> president.
>>
>> Here in Dane County (Madison-area), Wisconsin there is an amazing 
>> network that was built around Obama’s election and is meeting now to 
>> figure out how to proceed. More than 40 teams of people of all stripes 
>> (except staunch Republicans) are struggling with the question of what to 
>> do next.
>>
>>  From my limited vantage point, this group looks quite diverse. There are
>> those who want to focus on the next election, those who want to work on 
>> local issues, those who want to be a part of national efforts hold Obama 
>> accountable for his election promises and those who stand ready for 
>> Obama’s call to mobilize for his agenda. There are some inspired by the 
>> call to find common ground across traditional ideological divides, and 
>> some who want to agitate to push Obama left. And there are probably many 
>> who overlap a few of these categories.
>>
>> I am guessing that this may be the case in many communities around the 
>> country. Hopefully these local leaders will see the power of this 
>> diversity and not let the discussion turn into a fight over what the one 
>> best thing to do next. That would undoubtedly turn ugly and leave many 
>> (particularly the newly energized/reenergized) demoralized.
>>
>> Of course those organizers among us who were not deeply involved in the 
>> electoral work should offer our assistance – insofar as it is wanted by 
>> those who did the hard work and provided the leadership over the past 
>> two years.
>>
>> But as organizers, shouldn’t our response be more, well, organized?
>>
>> What would it take to provide the folks energized by this election 
>> access to a diversity of organizing training programs, opportunities to 
>> slot into existing organizing efforts and support/mentoring to organize 
>> new projects?
>>
>> Can we imagine pulling together some of the major funders of civic 
>> engagement and organizing with representatives of large and small 
>> organizing networks around the country to work out the details?
>>
>> Can we imagine a few million dollars (five? ten?) to allow newly 
>> energized citizens to choose from a training opportunities from the 
>> Center for Third World Organizing, the Industrial Areas Foundation, the 
>> AFL-CIO Organizing Institute, Grassroots Leadership, Direct Action & 
>> Research Training Center, ACORN, the United States Student Association, 
>> Midwest Academy (and a bunch of others I’m forgetting or don’t know about)?
>>
>> Can we imagine supporting folks as they come out of training by 
>> connecting them with local mentors, organizing apprenticeship programs, 
>> local organizing projects, etc.? I mean really, this is not rocket science.
>>
>> I know that many of the major organizing networks have long standing 
>> rivalries. I know that there are tired old arguments still floating 
>> around about who is doing “real” organizing and which is the best model 
>> to create “real change.” But it seems to me that most of my peers have 
>> moved beyond that to a more “ecological” view of organizing… one that 
>> realizes that we need a “biodiversity” of organizing approaches, 
>> philosophies and cultures to create a healthy democracy.
>>
>> So is really too much to imagine putting some real organized money and 
>> organized organizers behind an effort to support the thousands of folks 
>> who feel their lives have been changed by this election and are 
>> searching for what to do next?
>>
>> If you all want to meet somewhere in the middle of the country and talk 
>> about it, Wisconsin is beautiful in the winter time.
>>
>> Paul Terranova is the director of the Lussier Community Education Center 
>> in Madison, WI and can be reached at paul at lcecmadison.org.
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