Progressive Organizing and Campaigning Manual 2019.11 Edition 14 detailed how-to guides on cutting-edge approaches that draw on the combined knowledge of over 100 kickass progressive campaigners, organizers and groups that tried and tested these strategies across the world. Guide reviews from our community: “Fantastic initiative and a bunch of very valuable resources, thank-you!” - Crina “A thousand thank-yous and ! This is awesome!” - Eugene “Incredible intel + insights and practical” - Mel Join us: blueprintsfc.com Write us: [email protected] Blueprints for Change Progressive Organizing and Campaigning Manual Back to main Table of Contents Welcome: Please read This manual was put together thanks to the volunteer efforts of over 100 progressive campaigners, organizers and groups. Each guide contained within compiles the experiences and perspectives of several thinkers and doers and has been revised and edited by our helpers and invited contributors. These guides are never considered “finished” and they are constantly being updated in google doc form on our website: blueprintsfc.org. This manual will also be updated at least once a year to reflect guide updates and also to include new topics. If you would like to participate in this project or see something that should be corrected or added in any guide, please contact us at [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International 2 License. Our full library of how-to’s and more info can be found at: www.blueprintsfc.org Contact us at: [email protected] Blueprints for Change Progressive Organizing and Campaigning Manual Back to main Table of Contents Table of Contents About Blueprints for Change 4. Section 1. New Organizing and Campaigning Strategies 5. Guide Summaries 6. Building networked coalitions 7. Distributed organizing 26. Persuasive conversation campaigns 44. Section 2. Tactical online-offline approaches 54. Guide Summaries 55. Crowdsourcing ideas and content from supporters 57. Canvassing and door knocking 70. Support and coaching techniques for remote groups 81. Texting campaigns 88. Volunteer-led phone banking 101. Section 3. New tools and how to use them 112. Guide Summaries 113. A/B testing for sendouts 114. Apps and digital tools for organizers 125. Using Facebook Groups for organizing 132. WhatsApp uses for campaigning 142. Section 4. Self-defense for organizers and campaigners 154. Guide Summaries 155. Dealing with disinformation 156. Digital security basics for campaigners 167. Appendix A: Full list of helpers and contributors 175. Appendix B: Project intent and IDEL values 177. Appendix C: Editorial approach and guidelines 180. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International 3 License. Our full library of how-to’s and more info can be found at: www.blueprintsfc.org Contact us at: [email protected] Blueprints for Change Progressive Organizing and Campaigning Manual Back to main Table of Contents About Blueprints for Change Blueprints for Change is an open library of advocacy how-to’s put together by campaign innovators in order to help progressive organizers and groups up their game more quickly. The “blueprints” we are talking about are collaborative how-to guides designed to capture, communicate and inform innovative campaigning strategies and tactics. This project focuses on how-to’s drawn from campaigning practices that are emergent (new and not yet fully documented), in demand by campaigning groups and field-proven (have been applied with success in prior campaigns). >>See our full editorial guidelines and process in the Appendix Our guide topics are sourced from community requests and are then co-created and peer-reviewed by a dedicated crew of volunteer helpers as well as a network of practitioners, organizers, and researchers who have experience bringing this work to life. >>See the full list of our helpers and contributors in the Appendix The goal of this project is to co-create useful resources that help organizers and campaigners around the world "up their game" quickly. With more agile strategies and execution, we’ll be better equipped to make progressive social change happen at a time when we really need more of it. We want to compile knowledge and direct experience to make shared best practices freely accessible for as many progressive campaigners as possible. We also want everyone who contributes to feel respected and empowered in the process. >>Find our complete values statement in the Appendix We’re always looking for more good people to help with this. Want to join us? Write us to find out how at: [email protected] This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International 4 License. Our full library of how-to’s and more info can be found at: www.blueprintsfc.org Contact us at: [email protected] Blueprints for Change Progressive Organizing and Campaigning Manual Back to main Table of Contents Section 1. New organizing and campaigning strategies The widespread adoption of digital tools in many areas and the new habits and instincts that have emerged as a result have led to the growth of new approaches to organizing and campaigning. Mostly, these take advantage of ways to organize and mobilize people power at scale and in ways that were beyond our reach in the past. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International 5 License. Our full library of how-to’s and more info can be found at: www.blueprintsfc.org Contact us at: [email protected] Blueprints for Change Progressive Organizing and Campaigning Manual Back to main Table of Contents New Organizing and Campaigning Strategies Guide Summaries: Click on titles to go directly to the guides BUILDING NETWORKED COALITIONS When multiple groups and organisations come together to work on a campaign, they often opt to collaborate together in a coalition. Coalitions, however, have garnered a reputation for causing campaigners headaches due to their frequently slow, bureaucratic and top-down decision-making processes. In this guide, we look at an alternative way of building powerful collaborative campaigns. Networked coalitions, also called “networked campaigns”, harness the power of networks to develop more agile, dynamic and distributed campaigning coalitions that have proven themselves to be remarkably effective at building and channelling collective power. DISTRIBUTED ORGANIZING Distributed organizing (as opposed to community organizing or traditional political organizing) activates a network of self-starting supporters/campaigners in multiple locations, which can spread across geographical boundaries, interests and cultural groups. It draws on the initiative and energy of volunteer organizers to start groups and lead teams with varying degrees of autonomy. Though more horizontal when compared to traditional “command and control” leadership, distributed organizing often relies on a central coordination group to launch the network and to drive it towards common goals and milestones. When done properly, it can help a movement or campaign scale rapidly and channel huge amounts of collective power. PERSUASIVE CONVERSATION CAMPAIGNS Persuasive conversations, also known as values-based conversations, are exchanges between advocates and their peers or members of the public that surface personal attitudes and perceptions around social issues to shift existing positions or at least open people to a new perspective. These conversations are typically held around polarizing issues — think marriage equality in the United States circa 2008-2015 or Australia more recently — where wider shifts in attitude could result in beneficial policy changes. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International 6 License. Our full library of how-to’s and more info can be found at: www.blueprintsfc.org Contact us at: [email protected] Blueprints for Change Progressive Organizing and Campaigning Manual Back to main Table of Contents BUILDING NETWORKED COALITIONS Summary of: Building Networked Coalitions 8 Why do we need to do coalitions differently? 8 Who’s doing networked coalitions well? 8 What do networked coalitions look like and how can they benefit a campaign? 9 When Networked Coalitions might not work for you. 11 What Networked Coalitions requires (people, resources, etc.) 11 Setup steps/ stages: Networked Coalitions 16 What success looks like for a networked coalition 19 Tricky parts/ fixes: Networked Coalitions 20 Further resources: Networked Coalitions 23 Attribution: Networked Coalitions 25 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International 7 License. Our full library of how-to’s and more info can be found at: www.blueprintsfc.org Contact us at: [email protected] Blueprints for Change Progressive Organizing and Campaigning Manual Back to main Table of Contents Summary of: Building Networked Coalitions When multiple groups and organizations come together to work on a campaign, they often opt to collaborate together in a coalition. Coalitions, however, have garnered a reputation for causing campaigners headaches due to their frequently slow, bureaucratic and top-down decision-making processes. In this guide, we look at an alternative way of building powerful collaborative campaigns. Networked coalitions, also called “networked campaigns”, harness the power of networks to develop more agile, dynamic