ORGANIZING
A
DEMOCRATIC ACTIVIST DAY
A
TOOL KIT FOR LOCAL ACTIVISTS
MA
Democratic Party Field Services Committee
July,
2005
ORGANIZING A DEMOCRATIC ACTIVIST DAY
Table
of Contents
Introduction
Context: An
Active Democratic Party
What this Kit Is
What it will Help You Achieve
Conducting a Half Day Activist Meeting:
Suggested Agenda
Leaders’ Guide
Conducting a Full Day Activist Meeting:
Suggested Agenda
Leaders’ Guide
Suggested Breakout Session Questions
Suggested Ground Rules for Breakout Sessions
Guidelines for Conducting a Successful Meeting
Action Checklist
Contacts
Appendices
Introduction
Massachusetts Democrats are on the move. In preparation for the upcoming
Gubernatorial Election, the State Democratic Party is spearheading grass roots
organizing across the Commonwealth with the aim of having a precinct captain
working for the Democratic ticket in every precinct
state-wide.
The purpose of this kit is to give local activists
who would like to organize a Democratic Activist Day in their own area—senate
district, regional group, a city committee and adjacent communities, or a
coalition of local communities--a roadmap, a “how to” guide to success. The kit is based on our recent experience in
conducting two highly successful Activist days, one in
The kit is just a starting point. You are encouraged to tailor the event to
meet local needs and interest.
Our goal is to encourage local initiative and
foster maximum involvement at the local level. If you have questions, please
contact the Massachusetts State Democratic Field Services Committee at mdpfs@yahoogroups.com.
Suggested
Agenda for a Half Day Activist Meeting
Desired Results
Attending Democratic Activists:
·
Are up to date on state-wide Democratic activities
·
Are well informed regarding Victory 2006
·
Have discussed key issues of importance to the
district in breakout sessions.
·
Are energized for the next round of work
Agenda
Welcome
Background and Purpose
Recognize Sponsors and Elected Officials
Logistics
State Committee
Field Services
District Coalitions
Other
Set up Breakout
Sessions
10:15-11:00 Breakout
Sessions
Leaders’ Guide for Half Day Session
Desired
Results
When planning the meeting, specify the results you
want, that is, what you want to have produced by the end of the meeting. Include the desired results in pre-meeting
publicity and post them in the front of the meeting room.
Agenda/Schedule
Send out the agenda/schedule as part of the
pre-meeting publicity.
Post or distribute the agenda/schedule at the
beginning of the meeting. Keep the meeting moving at a brisk pace and stay on
schedule.
Have nametags available to help people identify
each other. If possible, have a few
round tables in the back of the room where people can sit, have coffee, and
network.
One person should be designated as the Host/MC of
the meeting. Here, that person will
welcome attendees, remind people how the meeting came about, quickly review the
outcomes and agenda, recognize sponsors (contributors) and elected officials
present, and review logistics—schedule, lunch, end time, and location of rest
rooms.
Have someone who has a good handle on party
activities, e.g. a state committee member who lives in the district, give an
overview of key activities. Democratic
legislators may also be appropriate for this section.
Have a brief presentation about Victory 2006
activities, or select an issue that is of particular concern to people in the
district. Ask someone who is well
informed about Victory 2006 (or your selected issue) to give a 10 minute
presentation and lead a 15 minute discussion about the issue. Save 5 minutes at the end, during which the
MC will set up the breakout sessions: Review the topics and ground rules (see
enclosed list of suggested questions and ground rules for breakouts). Send each
group to their breakout table. Each
group should begin by designating a person who will take notes and report out.
10:15-11:00 Breakout Sessions
Before the meeting
·
Select breakout topics of most interest
·
Decide how many breakout groups you will have—each
group should have at least 4-5 members.
·
Decide how you will form the groups
o
People self select and then adjust for size
o
Designate groups ahead of time—e.g. when people
register, give them a colored sticker that corresponds with the breakout group
they will be in.
During the meeting
·
Present the breakout instructions and ground rules
in a simple, clear way.
·
Post or hand out the breakout instructions and
ground rules so people can refer to them.
One person, e.g. the MC, should be designated to
facilitate the report out session. Ask
the representative from each group to give a 5-6 minute summary of their
conversation/recommendations. Have
Q&A and comments after all of the presentations are have been completed.
Summarize and wrap up the session. Thank people for coming and encourage them to
continue their participation in party activities. Underscore the critical
importance of their participation because of the gubernatorial race and the
need to change the national political landscape.
Ask people to gather at tables in the back for a
light lunch and continued conversation.
Suggested
Agenda for a Full Day Activist Meeting
Desired Results
Attending Democratic Activists:
·
Are up to date on state-wide Democratic activities
·
Are well informed regarding Victory 2006
·
Have discussed key issues of importance to the area
in break out sessions and workshops
·
Are energized for the next round of work
Agenda
Welcome
Background and Purpose
Recognize Sponsors and Elected Officials
Logistics
State Committee
Field Services
District Coalitions
Other
Out
Sessions
10:15-11:00 Breakout
Sessions
Leaders’ Guide for an All Day Activist
Meeting
Have nametags available to help people identify
each other. If possible, have a few
round tables in the back of the room where people can sit, have coffee, and
network.
One person should be designated as the Host/MC of
the meeting. Here, that person will
welcome attendees, remind people how the meeting came about, quickly review the
outcomes and agenda, recognize sponsors (contributors) and elected officials
present, and review logistics—schedule, lunch, end time, and location of rest
rooms.
Have someone who has a good handle on party
activities, e.g. a state committee member who lives in the district, give an
overview of key activities. Democratic
legislators may also be appropriate for this section.
Have a brief presentation about Victory 2006
activities, or select an issue that is of particular concern to people in the
district. Ask someone who is well informed
about Victory 2006 (or your selected issue) to give a 10 minute presentation
and lead a 15 minute discussion about the issue. Save 5 minutes at the end, during which the
MC will set up the breakout sessions: Review the topics and ground rules (see
enclosed list of suggested questions and ground rules for breakouts). Send each
group to their breakout table. Each
group should begin by designating a person who will take notes and report out.
10:15-11:00 Breakout Sessions
Before the meeting
·
Select breakout topics of most interest
·
Decide how many breakout groups you will have—each
group should have at least 4-5 members.
·
Decide how you will form the groups
o
People self select and then adjust for size
o
Designate groups ahead of time—e.g. when people register,
give them a colored sticker that corresponds with the breakout group they will
be in.
During the meeting
·
Present the breakout instructions and ground rules
in a simple, clear way.
·
Post or hand out the breakout instructions and
ground rules so people can refer to them.
One person, e.g. the MC, should be designated to
facilitate the report out session. Ask
the representative from each group to give a 5-6 minute summary of their
conversation/recommendations. Have
Q&A and comments after all of the presentations are have been completed.
Thank people for their participation in the
breakout sessions. State logistics for
lunch and announce time people need to be in first session after lunch. Remind people of the afternoon
topics/activities, and announce rooms in which workshops will be held.
Ask people to gather at tables in the back for a
light lunch and continued conversation.
Depending on number of attendees, you can have 2-3
workshops running concurrently in each of the time slots. Plan the workshops ahead of time and ask an
informed person to lead each one. The Democratic Field Services group can help
you identify speakers or workshop leaders.
Ask workshop leaders what materials they need, e.g. flipcharts, and have
the materials in their meeting room.
Possible workshop topics include:
-Presentation/Q&A session with candidates for
office
-Use of the Internet
-Voter Registration for Victory 2006
-Working Together, Regional groups and beyond
-Outreach for local committees
SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR BREAKOUT SESSIONS
In the two Activist
Days sponsored by the Democratic Field Services Committee, we had successful
breakout sessions during which participants discussed the questions below. You can use these topics and/or have
sessions on other topics of particular interest in your area. You can also have break out sessions in the
afternoon if you think these are more effective for your area than
workshops. Make sure each breakout group
has a handout with questions for their topic.
The questions themselves encourage local activists to think about how
they function in each of the areas. Even
if the topics are not discussed, it is helpful to get the questions in the
hands of participants. The approach used
by Field Services was to give each group all the questions, and assign to them
a specific topic area on which to focus and report.
ACTIVITIES – How frequently should a committee meet? In addition to meetings, does your committee
undertake other activities in your community?
Does your committee participate in non-political activities in your
community? What is the best activity
your committee has ever run? How does
your committee have fun - do you have social events like cookouts or
potlucks? Do you think that helps to build a stronger committee? Do you have a cable television show?
RUNNING A MEETING – How do you make meetings interesting and
encourage attendance? Do you invite and
publicize a guest speaker? Do you
distribute an agenda in advance? Do you
provide a written treasurer's report? How do you arrange the room? Would
circle arrangement be better than theater style? How do you handle
members who talk too long and too frequently? Do you provide food?
MEMBERSHIP – How many of your members participate regularly in your
activities? Does your committee welcome
Associate Members? Does your committee
honor twenty-year members with lifetime membership? How do you attract new members? Is your affirmative action officer a member
of the membership committee? Does your membership committee include youth
members? How many youth members attend your meetings? What have you
found to be successful methods of outreach to youth and minorities? In
the past five years where have your new members come from? Do you
advertise in your hometown paper? List some methods of effective outreach
and places where outreach could be effective. If you are conducting a
tabling outreach activity what materials should you bring with you?
COMMUNICATIONS – How does your
committee communicate with its members?
How do you let the public (including prospective members) know about
your activities? Have you utilized
e-mail and/or a web site to aid with communications? Do you utilize cable TV? Do you send
out press releases regularly? How many notices do you send to members for
meetings and events? Do you follow up emails with phone calls?
FUNDING ACTIVITIES – How do you fund your committee’s
activities? Do you solicit voluntary
contributions (dues) from members? If
yes, how much do you ask for? Does your
committee hold fundraising events during the year? If yes, what kinds of events have been
successful? List some effective
fundraising activities.
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES – How does your committee help build the party and
elect Democrats? Do you register new
Democrats or work to welcome unenrolled voters to our party? Do you work to recruit candidates for election
at all levels? What activities does your
committee organize at election time?
Have you set a long term goal to have a local campaign headquarters for
the next statewide or national election?
WORKING TOGETHER – Does your committee regularly work with other
Democratic committees or other like-minded groups? How does your committee utilize the resources
of the Mass Democratic Party? How could
the Mass Democratic Party help your committee?
Ground
Rules for Breakout Sessions
Review these Ground Rules when setting up the breakout sessions and post
them Ground Rules in a spot visible to all breakout groups.
Action
Checklist
What are the tasks you need to do before and after the meeting to help
ensure a successful session?
Before the Meeting
After the meeting
Guidelines
for Conducting a Successful Session
1.
Select a well known, convenient site for the
session
2.
Decide on your objectives for the day
3.
Have a clear agenda with estimated times.
4.
Start and end on time.
5.
Post objectives for day, Agenda for day,
Instructions and ground rules for Breakout sessions, a sheet showing where
workshops will occur (if applicable).
6.
Build some extra time into the agenda that you can
use for segments that run over the schedule.
7.
Allow plenty of networking and walk around time.
People often find the networking to be the most valuable part of the meeting.
8.
People’s attention span is short. Make sure no presentation lasts more than 15
minutes.
9.
Keep the meeting moving at a brisk pace.
10.
Give very clear instructions for each
activity. Hand out or post the
instructions so people can refer to them.