Tip 10. Organize the grassroots way!

How often have we, as concerned activists, tried to communicate the same way over and over, yet wondered why we have not succeeded in reaching those we seek? No single approach works, so it is important to be creative and to measure progress by the number of faces that show up to volunteer over time.

Organizing is often a mix of two things: a physical location and an information or communication goal. Regular face-to-face contact is essential to encourage bonding with the target audience. For example, a group could get together on the first Saturday of every month, or every quarter in the same location, and vary the content to nurture activism, in our case, around climate change. If mobilization is “to access and deploy a person's resources”, then our organization should aim to build “new relationships”. These in turn can also become a source of leadership, commitment, imagination, and, of course, more relationships, to cite Marshall Ganz.

Avoid the five “no-no”s of organization: partisan politics, electoral politics, poaching, violence, and profit-making. Try to avoid a “we/they” situation, which generates antagonizing or victimizing those you disagree with or want to win over. It means going beyond mobilizing, to organizing and committing to working together toward a common goal.

As an organizer, show the community you are human, that you care and want change, and that you need the commitment of many. Remember that social media is dominated by fossil fuel interests and that one of the few successful ways to work around this obstacle is by reaching out to generate genuine, one-on-one, personal commitments. Showing your humility and creativity acknowledges commitment to the team.

Here are a few suggestions/ideas on how to reach out, have fun, and build your organization:

• Host live climate talks by a local speaker at a public location such as a library, church, coffee shop, or meeting place.

  
  

• Host a watch-gathering in a private home or public place to hear a talk, watch a video, or debate a burning issue.

  
  

• Show climate-themed movies at a local location, followed by discussion, especially with a qualified panel of experts or a moderator. For example, one group invited several popular teachers to show their favorite climate films.

  
  

• Position yourself at a public location and hand out flyers to passersby in a friendly way.

  
  

• Organize demonstrations periodically, but not too frequently, about a local concern.

  
  

• Circulate regularly as a group around town, gathering petition signatures, or offering a flyer coupled with a token commitment. Every Friday, for example, a group in one town simply encourages passersby to sign their climate concerns on the blank pages of a “guestbook”. Nothing more.

  
  

• Hold a party with a theme, such as “meet the climate freaks”. Yes, have fun, serve food, play music, dance, and get to know each other.

  
  

• Organize a public bike ride through town, quietly displaying what issues you seek or advocate, such as: more bike paths, stopping climate damage, and biking for the future. Vary the bike rides, perhaps inviting cyclists to come with their favorite stuffed animals or live pets (cats, dogs, hamsters, or a symbolic victim of climate change, such as a stuffed polar bear).

  
  

• Have a teach-in with other groups about a specific theme, such as how much climate change will hurt our community.

  
  

• Organize a specific, sustained campaign, such as neighborhood doorknocks. Pass out flyers, meet neighbors, gather signatures, hold a house gathering, or invite folks to an action focusing on the climate.

  
  

• Stand in front of a well-frequented location, such as a grocery store, a public park, a union hall, or even a major sporting event. Display a sign that unites the community around a climate-related theme. For example, in front of an open sports arena, if the warming continues as projected for decades, say 20 years, how many will attend, or how will teams play?

  
  

• Hold a community-focused drive that also highlights the climate effort. Around holidays such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, work with a local charity. One group gathered food for the local victims of a fire, placing the food in shopping carts that were visible to incoming customers, under a sign, “Help the climate victims.”

  
  

• Offer training sessions to improve your climate outreach work. Training can help make you more comfortable and effective in talking to people and soliciting signatures.

  
  

• Hold a study group to review current climate literature to address a problem, then plan appropriate action to apply what was learned. Coordinate with a student group or study group to talk about climate change. One climate group coordinated with the local priest to hold a study group focused on Laudato Si.

  
  

• Line up on a sidewalk with signs, stuffed or live animals, and an eye-catching message. For example, dress up as clowns with red noses, and call yourselves ‘clowns for the climate’, the next week as ‘dogs for the climate’, the next week ‘polar bears for the climate’. Bring the kids.

  
  

• Organize a group to write articles about how you feel about climate change. Send an article each month to local or national newspapers, magazines, or newsletters. The Fridays for Future Newsletter welcomes articles, such as those from students affected by the Palisades fire in Los Angeles, which came as a global livestream of their panel climate talk.

  
  

• Host a fun event at a well-frequented, open public space. On Halloween, one group portrayed ‘oil witches cooking the planet’ in a giant cauldron.

Send us your experiences of how you organize and bring people together!