Whether you're organizing for a campaign, a group or just an issue you care about, there are three areas that it pays for conservatives to focus their time. And each area has different benefits as well as challenges.
Organizing by precinct
Organizing by precinct is more geographically focused and as a result it can have a more direct and greater potential impact on a specific area. Plus, the American political system is built around the precinct. Meaning that elections are held in districts which are built on different combinations of precincts, and if you're organized in the precincts you can influence an election - or an elected official who wants to run for re-election.
Organizing in churches
Organizing in churches allows you to work with people you're probably more familiar with, and are likely to have more in common with. It also has the benefit of involving people across multiple neighborhoods (or precincts), which can "sow seeds" of activism in more than one area.
Online organization
Online organization can exist on its own or as a compliment to church and/or precinct organization, (ex. online "groups" via Yahoo [2], Google [3], Ning [4] or Facebook [5]; or online petitions and campaigns at AktNow [6] - or a combination). And when you organize online, you make it easier to share informatoin with others and for others to find you.
Where to focus your time?
In order to determine where you should focus your time and efforts, ask yourself the following questions:
- What specifically do I want to impact or accomplish? Is it more educational and/or issue related, or is it more political?
- Where do I know the most people who think like I do, and who are willing to help? (Hunt where the ducks are!)
Whichever type of organization you plan to focus on, remember that it all comes down to people. Politics is people.
You get enough people together with a common purpose, and you've got grassroots organization. And grassroots organization leads to political impact...which leads to legislative and policy success.
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(You can find tips like this and much more in my "Grassroots 101: Grassroots Training Series [7]".)
