Outreach & Engagement Kit

We aim to amend the U.S. Constitution to restore our democracy. This is a long-term campaign, because it requires the support of a large number of legislators and because large corporations will resist. However, most people will support our efforts if we reach out to them.

This Volunteer Kit provides guidance and resources for new and seasoned grassroots leaders on how to:

Identify local events & opportunities to engage the community, educate about our campaign, and mobilize for actions
Connect with supporters & organizations through tabling, teach-ins, public talks, and other Move to Amend activities
Represent the coalition locally to community organizations and other potential partners to grow the coalition through endorsements and resolutions supporting the We the People Amendment

Bringing Move to Amend to Your Community

Polling shows that 80% of American public agrees with us that corporations shouldn’t have same rights of human beings and campaign spending should be limited, but they don’t know about our campaign or how to do it. That’s why we need to educate!

Organizing local events can be used to educate the public, to recruit members to your organization, to build relationships with other organizations, to get press coverage, and to raise money. Our grassroots leaders organize events like:

Public talks, teach-ins, and presentations to other groups to earn their support.
Petitioning and tabling at local events, rallies, etc.
We also stand in solidarity with marginalized communities and other groups by attending and sharing events they organize, building trust and authentic relationships in order to connect their causes with our cause to end corporate rule.

Tools:

Webinars:

Taking Move to Amend to Your Neighbors (Sept 2012)

Engaging Your Community & Organizations

As you grow your local coalition, we encourage you to reach out to a broad spectrum of people, and to refrain from involving members of only one partisan group. Remember that diversity brings strength to organizations, and work to create a welcoming environment for everyone. If your membership reflects the diversity of your community, you will be more effective and less vulnerable to opposition than an organization that reflects the views of only a few community members.

Take care in developing the group that will form the core of a new organization: making contact with people beyond your own circle and being willing to spend sufficient time in the development stage can pay off in the long run. Because our culture restricts our vision, it is important to actively reach out to the community to acquire diverse opinions and perspectives. Strive to create dialogue around how the goals of the organization will change as it is enriched by a variety of people bringing new opinions to the table. Expect resistance inside yourself to this process. When we passionately wish to begin a project, we are likely to be attached to our own vision of the goals, our methods and the contribution we make. This can make it hard to open up the process and collaborate, but doing this can lead to better responses to complex issues.

Tools:

Webinars:

Organizing with Students (June 2013)

Building Local Coalitions

If you are interested in bringing together a coalition of organizations, the first step is to carefully consider what role you expect the coalition to play. A coalition can be formed with a broad mission (such as working on Move to Amend issues generally) or to accomplish a specific task (such as conducting a resolution campaign). Of course, a coalition formed around a specific task may continue on after the task is accomplished and move on to broader, longer-term collaboration.

First, have a conversation within your own organization about forming a coalition. Then reach out to the leaders and members of other groups to present the idea and ask for their input. Explain the link between Move to Amend issues and each organization's primary focus, and describe clearly how participating in a shared effort would achieve specific goals. Once you have generated interest, set up a time for representatives of the prospective coalition partners to meet in person or conduct a conference call. Discuss the role of the coalition, identify goals and specific tasks, and create a timeline by which to chart progress. Select future meeting dates, decide how you will keep in touch between meetings, and discuss outreach to other organizations to grow the coalition.

Tools: