There are lots of kinds of power. Corporations have money. Governments have police and military. What is our power? People power — that means we build a base of people who are ready to be active. So how do we build a local base of support?
If we want to run effective, successful campaigns, we have to do good organising.
The cycle of success
Getting (and keeping) new people involved in our campaigns is crucial to their success. The most important and scarce resources in any grassroots movement are time and energy – with more people comes both. New people also provide fresh eyes, ideas, and the ability to view your campaign as an outsider.
New people help make campaigns exciting and successful, and when we run exciting and successful campaigns, it’s inevitable that new people will want to get involved and contribute! This creates a cycle of success, otherwise known as momentum.
Here are some resources to help your campaign organise itself successfully, and grow your support base:
Meetings
Meetings are the core of all group organising. When they’re done right, they can be efficient, empowering and fun. But bad meetings – ones which are boring, disorganised, or simply go round in circles – can suck energy out of your campaign. Here’s some tips on running awesome meetings…
- How to have a successful meeting
- Facilitating meetings: a short guide
- How to help a group make decisions
Volunteer engagement
Building a campaign isn’t just about carrying out action after action. To campaign effectively, we need to grow relationships, and people’s sense of power. For that, we need to offer ways to get more people more deeply involved. Here are some ways you can build your group power…