New OrganizingYour Guide to the Political World

Leadership is taking the responsibility for enabling others to achieve purpose in the face of uncertainty. Taking the first step to empowering our communities requires that we challenge ourselves and others to make THE CHOICE to organizing in the face of these uncertainties we face every day. This lesson introduces you to the craft of organizing as it relates to the major movements in U.S. history and provides a framework for re-shaping our ideas about leadership.

How can you lead others if they don't know who you are, where you come from, and what your values are? Mastering the art of public narrative allows you to establish firm ground with your constituency in which to collaborate, lead and find common purpose. Each of us has a story to tell that can move others to action. Story of Self is the first part to public narrative where you will learn to convey why you are called to leadership in your movement.

Once your constituency understands why you are called to lead, it is time to motivate others to collective action. Learn to build power with others by mastering the second part to public narrative- the Story of Us & Now. Tell a story of the new community you’re forming together with others, and a story of the action you are asking others to join you in taking.

Organizing is based on relationships and creating mutual commitments to work together. In this lesson, learn to recast our individual interests as common interests, by building relationships and having one on one's and small group meetings to create the foundation for local campaign teams.

Volunteer efforts often flounder due to a failure to develop reliable, consistent, and creative local leadership teams. Research has revealed 5 building blocks necessary for creating interdependent teams. and in this lesson you will learn to structure leadership teams that encourage stability, motivation, creativity, and accountability – and use volunteer time, skills, and effort effectively.

In order to create change in the world we have to engage in action. But in order for action to mean something it needs to be guided by a clear, compelling strategy that lays out a believable path to change. The work of strategy and the purpose of this session is figuring out how to turn what you have into what you need to get what you want; how to turn the resources you have into the power you need to achieve a specific, measurable goal.

Your organization will quickly get into trouble if you want to engage in strategizing without putting equal time into the implementation of your strategy. Once you have your theory of change, the next step is to develop creative, engaging tactics that will turn the individual resources of many into shared power. This lesson reviews the steps to choosing tactics, making them sweet and then bringing them to life.

Since our power comes from our relationships with others and our shared resources together, we are weakened if we are not constantly inviting others to join us in meaningful, purposeful work. Getting into action requires that leaders engage others to make explicit commitments to us and to achieve specific, measurable outcomes. We are often afraid to ask to much of others and if we do, we are afraid that they won't show up. This lesson introduces the 4 C's of commitment as a way to engage others

We believe that every campaign and every action needs a strong theory of change. In this session, we'll cover what having a strong theory of change means in the context of an online campaign and how to create authentic and plausible actions. People have to know that when they sign a petition, their action has a path to creating real change or changing power. Through case studies and a review of the Theory of Change strategy session, you'll understand how to apply this thinking to your

As organizers we seek to communicate, connect and engage with people to make change in our lives and communities. With online tools, new media and social media we have the ability to tell our story how we want, when we want. This session will cover the basics of online organizing, the tools utilized, a strategic case study, and a primer for how to make decisions about how to approach your campaign and make solid new media choices.

Email is not dead. That's right, we said it. Email remains the backbone of any online organizing program to drive your organization's message, engage supporters and enhance everything else your program is doing. This session will cover the mechanics of writing a strong email, creating a straightforward landing page, and planning a message calendar.

Leadership in organizing is about enabling others to achieve purpose in the face of uncertainty. Coaching, put simply, is the act of enabling others.Organizing campaigns are rich with challenges and learning opportunities, but sometimes we are fish in our own water and we cannot see the challenges we are swimming in. Coaching in organizing helps to alleviate this problem. Coaching helps individuals to overcome motivational, strategic, and informational challenges that might otherwise hinder

Leading upfront trainings comes with the responsibility of delivering high quality, clear and thought-out trainings that set participants up for success in the field. This section provides some of the principles, methods, and tips for making your teachings the best that they can be.

To pull off an effective training you must have a diverse training team with clear roles. Small group work is a cornerstone of engagement trainings and this section will focus on the basics of being a Facilitator – a skill that is important for every member of your team to become comfortable with.

We all know that learning occurs at the edge of our comfort zones. When we got to 7th grade, they pushed us a little bit harder than in 6th grade, a good 201 class builds on the information we learned in the 101 class, ect. As trainers, our challenge is figuring out where that edge is for our participants, and then how to take them one step further. Consider this: you’re getting ready to train a group on Online Campaign Strategy and you’ve just downloaded a set of trainers notes from the NOI