The Time to Grow Stronger Is Between Elections

This paper, based on a presentation at the Third Annual Democracy Fest in 2004, discusses some of the things that grassroots activists can do between campaigns to strengthen their groups and enhance the position of progressives in their communities. These actions, which incorporate marketing concepts, fall into four areas: (1) expanding and diversifying a political group’s membership; (2) strengthening the group’s position and influence in the community; (3) increasing individual activists' knowledge and effectiveness as political players; and (4) learning how to become more effective when talking about politics with others.

The cyclical nature of politics tempts us to focus disproportionately on the campaign season and elections.  Looking more broadly at politics, though, we can see that developing influence in one’s community and strengthening one’s own abilities can be ongoing efforts.  They take time, and the “down time” between election cycles is the ideal time to devote to these longer-term efforts.

The staff at the Commonweal Institute have spent considerable time studying what has made the conservative movement so successful over the past 30+ years, and what we progressives can do to turn the tide and take our country back.  Clearly, the conservative movement has spent a long time to gain the ascendancy they now enjoy.  Progressives would do well to take advantage of that precious time between elections, in order to level the playing field.

One of the key elements of rightwing political success has been their use of marketing principles and techniques to advance their ideas, and attract and retail followers.  Progressives can feel comfortable using marketing, too, if we remember that fundamentally, marketing is about understanding the other person (our “market”, “buyer”, or “audience”).  If we want that person to “buy” or accept what we have to offer, we should understand what is important to them, and what they care about and need; present what we have in ways that are appealing to that person; and, if necessary, redesign what we have to offer so that it will better meet the other person’s needs.   

I’ll be addressing some of the specific things that grassroots activists can do between campaigns to strengthen your group and the position of progressives in your community.  These fall into four areas:
1. Expand and diversify your political group’s membership
2. Strengthen your group’s position and influence in your community
3. Bolster your own knowledge and effectiveness as a political player
4. Become more effective when you are talking politics with others.

I’ll refer at times to marketing concepts so you can see how useful the marketing framework can be when thinking about how you can be more effective.  In particular, I’ll refer to the simple framework known as “the four Ps of marketing”: product, place, price, and promotion.

Expanding and Diversifying Your Membership

Grassroots groups often want to expand.  From a marketing perspective, you are offering membership or participation in your group to individuals (the “buyers” or “market”).  Factors in this transaction will be the details of what you are offering (your “product”), where they will be able to learn about and enjoy the benefits of membership (“place”), how you present the benefits to your potential members (the “promotion”), and the dues and other tradeoffs they may have to make in order to enjoy those benefits (the “price”).

Here are a few general rules that can help you expand your membership:
1. Make it a priority
2. Identify specific targets
3. Listen to those you’re trying to attract
4. Make newcomers feel welcome, and
5. Have something meaningful for them to do

Let’s look at these in a bit more detail.

1. Make membership expansion an explicit priority of your group.  If your group is already fairly large, you may have a committee to work on membership, but all of your members should also discuss the topic together, to get buy-in, as an expanded membership may change some of the qualities of the group and the process will likely involve other members, in addition to those on the committee.  In these discussions, share ideas on whom to try to attract as new members, how you might do this, who would be involved, and how to work features into your programs and activities that will help potential new members feel like they want to join and can be an active part of what’s going on.

2. Decide whom you want to attract.  That decision may be based on age, skill, race/ethnicity, geographic location, or other factors.  And then start thinking about those people—what their lives are like and where your members are most likely to meet them.  It helps to talk with people of the type you would like to attract, so you can find out more about them, their interests, concerns, and preferences. In essence, you are deciding on the market to which you want to appeal.  You may find it easier to focus on just one or two types of individuals at a time, rather than trying to present your group as being all things for all people.

For example, since I knew that many grassroots groups are interested in attracting younger members and having greater ethnic and racial diversity, I did some “market research” as background to writing this article.  I talked about political group participation with a number of young adults, and with Black, Hispanic, and Asian friends and acquaintances.  Notes from those conversations appear at the end of this article.

3. As part of that spirit of inquiry, when you and your members talk with those prospective new members, find out what they are interested in and what motivates them.  A person will be more likely to join your group if they feel that
- they are personally appreciated, 
- there are things they can do that interest them, 
- they can interact with other people whose company they enjoy and with whom they can share laughter as well as serious purpose, and 
- factors such as timing and location of meetings, transportation, etc., are not going to interfere with their participation. 
The information you gain in this step will help you decide on your “promotion”, the place where activities may be held, and how to avoid making participation “costly” in terms of such things as inconvenient location or conflict with Monday night football games or other events.

4.  Make newcomers feel welcome by making sure folks greet them and start conversations with them.  This is an important way in which everyone in your group can participate in recruitment—being friendly to newcomers, asking them about themselves and their interests.  You’ll be offering the newcomers one of the benefits of group membership—social connection—at the same time they’ll have a chance to do something politically meaningful. 

Also be aware of the newcomers’ comfort in an unfamiliar setting. Most people don’t want to stick out like sore thumbs—the only young person in a roomful of greybeards, or the only person of their ethnic group in a crowd of a different makeup.  This goes back to why it helps to be specific about whom you’re trying to attract at a particular time—if at the same time you bring in several new people who are similar to each other, as well as to others who are already group members, the newcomers’ comfort level will be greater.  By doing this—paying attention to the composition of your meetings or activities in order to make them more appealing—you may be slightly redesigning the “product” your group is offering to the newcomers.

5. People feel like they’re doing something meaningful if they can be part of the planning as well as the execution. And that means being in on the planning and execution from the outset, not just brought in at the last moment.  You’ll get greater buy-in, more enthusiasm and loyalty, and build new leadership this way.  You’ll be offering a “product” that people will want to have.

For example, if you’re planning GOTV activities, let the young adults recommend how best to appeal to their contemporaries.  They may decide that a cell-phone and instant messaging (IMing) blitz would be far preferable for reaching the youth vote than leafleting at the local supermarkets, and that the whole youth outreach effort should be planned and carried out by young adults.  That’s great!

Another aspect of engaging new members who are different from your usual group, and giving them an opportunity to take responsibility and develop political leadership skills, is to commit your group to working on an issue that is of particular interest to the newcomers—e.g., a local school or transportation issue, planning for a ballot initiative, or holding a public event with a progressive political speaker on a topic of interest to the newcomers.  The “down time” between elections is particularly good for activities of this sort.

Strengthening your Group’s Position and Influence

Think of the time between elections as also offering an opportunity to strengthen your group’s position in your community, expand your influence, and increase public support for progressive values and ideas.  I have suggestions in four main areas, which are further detailed in an attachment at the end of this article:

1. Get the voices and opinions of your members, as well as the organization, out in public more often.  This is essential for increasing public awareness and acceptance of progressive ideas. The channels you use can include local media, public speaking, film events, blogs, and other mechanisms.  Commentary and informational pieces that appear in organization newsletters may be adaptable as op-ed pieces or serve as the basis for public presentations.  Your organization may want to start a politically-oriented Toastmasters group; you may even set a goal that a certain percentage of your members be able to do public speaking and then promote their availability as speakers to local civic or religious organizations.  Your members may organize to write letters to the editors of local newspapers and magazines, or to call in on talk radio programs.  You may want to take advantage of the growing popularity of blogs (online diaries or “Web logs”) by having some of your members track and contribute to national, state, and/or community blogs.  If you make communication of progressive ideas a priority, you’ll be surprised at how many opportunities you can provide.

2. Set up mechanisms for protecting elections in your community. There is growing recognition of the problems with our flawed election system and how its current operations may be rigged to disadvantage progressive candidates.  Don’t let your group be in the position of having done all the hard work of voter registration, campaigning, and GOTV, only to lose at election time because voters were turned away, their ballots were “lost”, or their votes weren’t counted.  Check online for information about election problems and links to the websites of organizations that work in election protection and election integrity.  Other actions for election protection include getting familiar with local election officials and the procedures and equipment used in your county; recruiting and training your members to be vigilant pollworkers; and preparing to call for immediate post-election audits or recounts, if necessary.

3. Increase the ability of your members to be able to talk about their values as progressives, and do so in ways that connect with American values in general. The progressive tendency to talk about policies, ideas or facts, rather than values, often makes it difficult for others to relate to them on a gut level. Get together in small groups with other progressives to talk not only about WHAT you believe in, but WHY you believe in those things.  What values do you and your fellow progressives have in common?  Do they relate to your childhood experiences, family, religion, education?  In what ways are your values like those of other Americans, historically and at present? You’ll likely find it useful to check Google for “progressive values”, “progressive principles”, and the like. 
These conversations about values may take several months to bear fruit, but the practice of talking about your values and hearing others do the same will make you better able to express yourself in ways that will allow others to connect with progressivism on an emotional as well as intellectual level.

4. Develop and use social networks.  Have your organization develop working relationships with other groups in your community. This will give you a opportunities to talk with others about how issues of concern to your group may be of interest to them, too, and how you can help each other at election time. 

Political information and opinions shared with others within their natural social networks (e.g., among family members, with neighbors, or with colleagues at work) are exceptionally effective in influencing voting behavior.  We suggest you and your progressive political group colleagues read “It’s the Conversations, Stupid! The Link between Social Interaction and Political Choice” by Valdis Krebs, at http://www.extremedemocracy.com/chapters/Chapter%20Nine-Krebs.pdf.  Then brainstorm ways you can take advantage of your members’ social networks to increase your influence around issues and voting.

Bolstering your own knowledge and effectiveness as a political player

It’s always good to have a few tidbits of information available that you can drop into conversations—items that help establish your credibility as a political activist.  You don’t have to have comprehensive knowledge of every topic, but it’s worth having a general idea of a variety of areas so you can be an interesting partner in conversation and can pick up readily on topics that others are discussing.

You can find resources for political activists on the Commonweal Institute website.

Becoming more effective when you are talking politics with others

The Commonweal Institute offers workshops on talking about politics with people unlike ourselves.  Key points are:

1. People go through a series of steps as they’re getting ready to change their behaviors. Knowledge of those steps can help you recognize whom to try to influence, and how. It can also help you avoid making mistakes and turning people off. Recognizing who is most likely to change will help you decide where to concentrate your efforts if you want to win people over fairly quickly, or whether it’s just not worth wasting your time talking about politics with certain others.

2. You can find out a lot about where a person is by asking them questions—and then listening to what they say.  Don’t just wade in, prepared to make your case—find out what points will be most likely to win them over, where they are ignorant or have doubts or uncertainties that you can use to move them in your direction, and how to give them “space” to change their minds without feeling so pressured they start to resist you.

3. Don’t argue with people about politics if you want them to change.  In the process of arguing back against you, the other person will only become more entrenched in their views, and less likely to change.

4. There are a number of factors that can increase your influence over another person, and these are used in normal human interactions as well as sales situations all the time.  Learn what these factors are and apply them in your political interactions.

For a more detailed explanation of how to talk politics more effectively, see http://www.commonwealinstitute.org/talking-politics-training.

Summary

To recap, this article has described some of the specific things that grassroots activists can do between campaigns, individually and through their organizations, to strengthen the position of progressives.  These include:
1. Expanding and diversifying your political group’s membership
2. Strengthening your group’s position and influence in your community
3. Bolstering your own knowledge and effectiveness as a political player
4. Becoming more effective when you are talking politics with others.

Think of the time you have between elections as a precious opportunity to help yourself and your group become more effective in the political arena, by building your capacity and increasing your influence.  You’ll see the payoff when election season rolls around again.

 
Field Notes on Expanding and Diversifying Your Membership

Attracting new working members
• Don’t just talk to others—listen to them and what’s important to them. Learning about someone else’s perspective may change your own.
• Bring them in at the planning stage – ownership, commitment
• Let them shape it, change it, get involved
• Look at young people particularly—students, graduate students may be looking for internships, experience, mentors.
• Young professionals, retired people, and newcomers to the community are also possible members.
• Students and other young people may not have much money, may not have free time, and may not have cars—be aware of this.
• Figure out whom you’re trying to attract by name—not just generic.
• “We have not been good at attracting ----.  You seem to be a young leader. Will you come to one or two meetings and then let us know how it appears for you?”
• Many candidates go to Black churches to get votes, and Blacks are wary about that. An alternative: Talk to the pastor first, ask if you can address the congregation for two minutes.  Tell them what you’d like, ask to talk with anyone after the service who’s willing, to get their ideas and hear from them.  Tell them you’re trying to get them involved, not just get their votes.
• Find out an issue that matters to another group or individual, work together with them on it, then maintain the ties. When you work together on an issue, you not only have a common goal, but also a common opponent; this reinforces your bond with each other.  In working together, you also get to know each other as people.
• Have mixed participation on committees or work groups.
• If you have an event, invite the other group(s) and individual(s). 
• Meet-ups (e.g., in Dean presidential campaign) were very good for getting people together and involved.
• Ask people not only to attend fundraisers, but to volunteer at them. Give them real responsibility, a stake in the process, not just busywork.
• Groups outside of campus may be able to get students involved in planning for and staffing projects.
• People don’t like to stick out like “sore thumbs”. Have several people of the same type (or at least newcomers, even if dissimilar) present at the same time.
• Make a point of being friendly and welcoming toward newcomers.
 
Persuading people to become candidates
• Talk to specific individuals personally
• Find those who are already leaders to some extent in their own communities
• Just ask them to run for office, explain why
• Be aware that they may need to talk with others who are experienced in the political process to learn what’s involved, before they can make up their minds.
 

Notes on Strengthening Your Group’s Position and Influence

• Expand your group’s size and diversity
• Get more media coverage for the group itself; be sure you get your events in the local events calendars on radio and newspaper
• Get more of your members appearing in public and in the media
• Provide media and speaker training for your members; e.g., Toastmasters
• Have some of your members develop progressive values statements on timely topics; they’ll become more articulate about your values, more persuasive, and will be able to share their statements with others in your group.
• Organize rapid-response mechanisms for local opportunities—speakers, op-ed writers, a letters to editor group, a phone tree for action
• Respond promptly and articulately to biased reporting and negative events
• Write op-eds and letters, and give talks, on timely topics in ways that highlight the local implications of statewide, national, or international events; the local angle is likely to gain increased attention
• Alert the media to uncovered events, and be prepared to answer questions from a progressive perspective
• Take advantage of the brainpower you already have -- submit articles from your newsletter as op-eds to the local papers, daily or weekly; use them as speaking topics for community groups 
• Participate in local blogs (weblogs—like online diaries) and/or start a blog about political affairs in your community
• Place ads in local papers, if you can afford it; multiple ad insertions are cheaper than single ads, and the repetition can be beneficial
• Develop alliances with other organizations in your community for joint projects; this can also help you find potential new members
• Participate in joint e-mail lists for coordination, information sharing (for example, state-level), a calendar of events (can be done by list-serv)
• Check out Progress Now in Colorado – online at www.progressnow.org – to see what a well-coordinated statewide progressive network can achieve
• Follow up systematically with voter registrants to create a database and identify new members
• Get involved in election protection activities well before the election season; it takes time for folks to understand the problems with electronic voting and ways in which voters can be disenfranchised, and it takes time to pressure your local officials to be sure your local procedures and equipment will result in everyone who wants to vote being able to, and having their votes counted.
• Prepare for recount readiness, in case of a conflicted election result.
• Sponsor or co-sponsor a documentary film series dealing with topics of interest to progressives and people like those in your community; invite the general public, and be prepared to get names and e-mails, sign up new members, and take donations.  Have a member of your group introduce the film and lead a post-film discussion.

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