grassroots organizing

The Sunlight Foundation has a great piece up on their blog about re-thinking that ubiquitous piece of 21st-century non-profit communication known as 'the advocacy email.'

Many of us working in non-profit/organizing/public policy world receive dozens of advocacy emails everyday, all bearing a remarkably similar format and asking us to complete a remarkably similiar task: read this background information and click here to take action.

So - its not entirely surprising that a few people would find this way of doing things somewhat...dull.

Check out the Sunlight Foundation blog to read how one email recipient, pushed to the brink, shared his ideas on an alternative way to format advocacy emails.

For individuals or groups looking to dive into the world of advocacy, the list of initial questions one must consider before taking the plunge can at times seem daunting. 

Is my agency legally allowed to lobby elected officials?

How do I go about forming a coalition?

What issues do we focus on?

How do we measure success?

If you are asking yourself one or more of these questions, you should take a look at this presentation.  It covers a lot of the most commonly encountered considerations eager advocates face.

Check it out.

The ongoing AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) crisis has spurred many across the country to become engaged in AIDS advocacy.  Shocking headlines and tragic statistics have raised the profile and intensity of AIDS advocacy efforts to the highest levels in years.  However, we as advocates know that avoiding the next ADAP crisis will require sustained and determined movement building and the long-term engagement of grassroots advocates.

One of most common barriers keeping non-profits from lobbying elected officials is the belief that it is illegal for 501(c)3 organizations to engage in this kind of activity. 

Guess what - not true!

Not only can 501(c)3 organizations engage in certain types of lobbying, its a right that is protected by law.

This presentation provides a general overview of everything non-profit leaders need to know about their right to engage their elected officials.  Find out the difference between advocacy, direct and grassroots lobbying, and what your organization can do to advance policies important to you and your constituents.

Check out this great resource!

NOTE: This presentation should not be construed as legal advice (we are NOT lawyers).  This is a general resource to help non-profits begin to learn their rights.  More in-depth information available from great organizations such as Alliance for Justice.

Despite our best efforts, our leaders in Washington are still dragging their feet. They have failed to respond to the skyrocketing number of people who are waiting for their HIV/AIDS meds.  The time has come to show our leaders the human face of the ADAP crisis.
 
Join us on Thursday, June 10 at 1 p.m. ET for a free online training on how to set up and carry out a meeting with your member of Congress right in your own home state. 

Go here to register OR email jmerrell@aidschicago.org for full details.

Download our new ADAP Crisis Factsheet (PDF).

View presentation slides from the ADAP In-District Meeting Training.

The domestic AIDS advocacy community has had all hands on deck in response to the unfolding ADAP crisis.  We’ve all been hard at work making phone calls, sending emails, and visiting local, state, and federal officials to get our message across:  ADAP is not optional.  Wait lists are unacceptable.  People living with HIV/AIDS demand access to the medications that keep them alive, healthy, and productive.
 
If you’ve already called, clicked, and rallied but are hungry for more action – there are still more ways to get involved.  Here’s how:
 

Dose of Change has been working in collaboration with the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) throughout the month of May to promote a series of webinars and online resources, called AIDS Watch at Home, intended to help grassroots advocates set-up and conduct in-district congressional visits in their home states.

Interested advocates still have the chance to participate in an AIDS Watch at Home training on Wednesday, May 26 at 1 p.m. Eastern.  To RSVP, email Jim Merrell at jmerrell@aidschicago.org.

While many of the messages included in the resources are focused on the 2010 landscape, advocates can find lots of 'evergreen' information from which they can draw for years to come.

On the surface of it, the idea seems simple enough.  Get a bunch of people concerned about HIV/AIDS policy to your statehouse and have them ask their elected officials to support a list of policy priorities.  Statewide lobby day - DONE.

If only it were that easy.

Love it or hate it, we can't escape it:  electronic advocacy is here to stay. 

Over the past decade, email and web-based advocacy tools have become the most conspicuous part of seemingly every advocate's grassroots organizing toolbox.  Whether you use software to manage a small network or you are a guru of list segmentation and A/B subject line split testing (whatever that is) - you're likely using some electronic platform to stay in touch with people tied to your issue.

With so many people clicking to 'take action,' demand for e-advocacy capability has provided fertile ground for the sprouting of a wide range of services catering to the needs of the netroots.  In the hopes of helping you, good advocate, sort through this dense jungle, Dose of Change has compiled a list comparing some of the many options out there - from freebie blogging to the fully tricked out legislative specialists.

NOTE: Text of this PDF is small so don't forget to ZOOM IN for easier reading.

So you know you need a group of people in your community, city or state to mobilize in response to certain issue...but how do you get started identifying and developing that network?  To whom do you reach out?  What do you have them do?

There are a lot of questions to consider when putting together an outreach plan aimed at building a grassroots network from scratch.  The guide attached to this post helps to outline some of the basics you'll need to consider: tools, stakeholders, messages, activities.  The information is split up so, whether your network has a full time organizer or is volunteer led, you'll be able to find out what works best for you!

As always, please tell us what you think!

In this post we share some strategies and resources advocates around the country are using to respond to the widespread AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) funding crisis.  Tell us what’s going on in your neck of the woods!

First, some brief background:

States across the country find themselves in the midst of an ADAP funding crisis as the economic downturn is devastating their ability to raise sufficient revenue.  Flat funding by the federal government and escalating drug costs are compounding the fiscal problems.

Demand is spiking as more people turn to safety net programs like ADAP as a result of becoming unemployed and losing health coverage.  Increased efforts to identify HIV positive individuals through testing are likewise adding pressure as people become aware of their status and are linked to care.