Welcome to the Movement.

Running a campaign takes work, but there’s no need to worry–we’re here to help. Use the resources on this page to guide you from planning your campaign to passing a resolution in your community.

If you have additional questions or concerns that aren’t addressed in these resources, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

 

General Resources


Fossil Free Guide →
Step-by-step guide to running a local Fossil Free campaign and group.

Media + Press toolkit →
Learn how to use the news media to bring new people into your campaign, increase public support, and grow the movement.

Online Skill-ups →
Use interactive activities and multimedia to teach yourself skills you can use on organizing, movement-building, and climate change.

Graphics + Visuals →
Get all the fonts, icons, colors and templates you need to make clear and engaging materials.

Storytelling + Climate change →
Plan a digital storytelling project and get tips and tactics for conducting interviews and building an online story.

Resources For Group Leaders


Fossil Free Organizing Principles →
The list of principles that all Fossil Free groups agree to adhere to.

Campaign Planning Guide →
Successful campaigns take lots of planning. Here’s a template and guide to help you create a thorough plan for your resolution campaign.

Community Planning Meeting Worksheet →
If you’re starting a new Fossil Free Resolution campaign, you’ll need to hold a Community Planning Meeting first so you can outline what the campaign will look like. Use this worksheet to make sure you’ve thoroughly planned your campaign before it launches.

Research Worksheet →
Every campaign has a unique context specific to the area it takes place in. Use this worksheet to help you do preliminary research to help plan your campaign.

Coalition Building with Frontline Communities →
Everyone has a stake in the fight for climate justice, but the impacts of climate change disproportionately affect low income communities, communities of color, and many developing nations. This kit provides resources and ideas to help you build support with frontline leadership through your ongoing Fossil Free work.

How to Run a Meeting →
Check out our guide on how to run an effective meeting at any stage of your Fossil Free resolution campaign.

How to Delegate Tasks →
Your campaign can only be as strong as your team. Here’s a guide to delegating tasks effectively.

Planning an Action →
Everything you need to know about planning and executing a successful action.

How to Write a Resolution →
An overview of what a resolution is, why it matters, and how you can get one passed in your city or town.

Sample Resolution: Short version →Long version →
Check out these sample Fossil Free resolutions as you draft your own resolution.

How to Recruit New Members →
Fossil Free resolution campaigns are run on people power, so you’ll need to get as many people working with you as possible. Here’s a guide on how to recruit new members effectively.

Canvassing Guide →
To build local support, you’ll need to go out into the community to raise awareness of your campaign. Check out our guide to canvassing effectively.

Other Resources


FAQ →
Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page to find answers to common questions.

Divest →
Learn more about incorporating Fossil Free divestment into your work.

Additional Policy Resources →
More studies, examples, and research into policies aligned with our Fossil Free demands.

Steps to Winning a Campaign

There’s a lot of details that go into running a campaign. We know that figuring out the steps you’ll need to take isn’t easy, so we’ve created this resource to help you. This guide will walk you through the steps you’ll need to take to plan, launch, run, and win a campaign in your local community. Be sure to take time to read through this with your team before getting started.

Start convening a team of people who are excited about the campaign together, and always be inviting new people in.

     This is where you want to set the basics of your campaign. Things like your goal, and target.

From there, you can set up a petition using this petition tool to help you build public support for your goals (and to grow your list of people who may want to join your team).

     Get people to sign your petition.

Build partnerships with stakeholders in your community. Each place is unique, but here are a few good places to start:

      • If you’re not part of a local 350 group, check out this map to see if there’s an existing 350 local group near you!
      • The fossil fuel resistance map for active fights against local fossil fuel projects.
      • Look for organizations in your community working on climate or environmental justice (here is a list of the Climate Justice Alliance’s member groups).
      • Think about other local progressive organizations that may support your efforts. Are there local chapters of Indivisible, MoveOn, NAACP, People’s Action, Center for Community Change, etc.?
      • Are there any local faith communities who are active on climate or other justice issues?
      • Are there local colleges or universities with active student climate or environmental clubs?

Secure local commitments — statements of support from local organizations, faith communities, businesses, leaders, etc. One way to do this is with a sign on letter that folks can add their names to (we like using Google forms).

As you start to gather speed, start planning out your campaign longer term (resources linked above and below… that’s kind of what this guide is for!).

Announce your campaign. We suggest a press conference with your team and partners, followed by a day of organizing. This could look like sending folks door-to-door to collect petition signatures. Make sure to meet afterwards to close the loop!

Deliver your message to your target. Set goals for petition signatures and statements of support. When you reach them, bring them to your target to open the conversation! [Note: There’ll be other meetings, we suggest starting politely, but firmly.]

The sky’s the limit here! The goal is to grow your group, build visibility and public support for your campaign, and to make your ask as appealing as possible to your target. Think: fun and political education oriented activities.

Once your campaign has picked up some steam and has a public profile, consider planning events or actions that put direct pressure on your target[s].

Propose your resolution to your target. You may encounter some opposition – don’t worry, we’ve planned for that!

 

Action is critical to create public awareness, produce decision dilemmas for our targets, and to win. Don’t stop taking action until you’ve succeeded!

 

Make sure you don’t shy away from your demands — we need climate action at the scale of the crisis, not watered-down compromises. Listen actively to what motivates and concerns your target, but remember your goals, and stick to them!

Celebrate your success and start planning for the next phase of the campaign, whether that’s pressuring elected officials, taking the fight to the state level, or engaging in implementation plans with your community.

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