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Grassroots Organizing - Do Your Homework

August 10, 2008 - 12:31pm — Timlynn Babitsky

Tunnel vision is a real hazard of grassroots organizing. When you are passionate about an issue or focused on a specific agenda, your view of every thing else around it can get mighty cloudy. You might hear what you want to hear, see what you want to see and put on blinders to any competing information. The problem is that YOU may not see/hear alternative viewpoints, but others in your community will not be so blind or deaf. And, your credibility can be gained or lost forever if you are not well prepared with real information.

Perceptions based on incomplete information, personal bias, hearsay, and ill-conceived assumptions are a danger. Like the game "gossip" we played as children, the information that gets passed along to the next person tends to change with each new telling. No matter what issue or agenda you focus on, you have to do your homework.

You must gather all the information you can to support your own focus, but that's not enough. You will not be successful if you research only your side of an issue without fully understanding the many other sides that also make up The Big Picture in which your issue is embedded.

You must also be prepared for opposition and objections. There will always be opposition and objections. And, because someone disagrees with you does not make them "the enemy." No matter how absolutely "right and justified" you believe your particular issue to be, someone will be negatively impacted by it. You have to put on the hat of the person who stands to lose something. Understand what is important to them, and work hard to find a way so that you both can win.

Here are a few good questions you can use to inspire good homework:

  • What is the history of this issue (or agenda) and the underlying issues that led to it?
  • Are there any policies, laws or ordinances that support or constrain this issue?
  • Are there any other individuals or groups already working on this issue?
    • What have they done?
    • How have they done it?
    • Is there a niche in this issue space that no one is covering?
  • Is there conflict around this issue?
  • How much of the conflict around this issue can be attributed to misinformation?
  • What are the goals and interests of those who support this issue?
  • What are the goals and interests of those who oppose this issue?
  • Whose interests are being met if nothing changes?

During Step 3 background information is collected on The Big Picture. Seeing the larger picture in which an issue is embedded allows you to understand your own issue better. It also helps you to determine what part of the issue can be worked on with a good chance for success.

If there are other people or groups working on the same issue, you will be more successful if you join forces than if you try to compete for resources and media coverage. If there are policies, laws or ordinances that would have to change in order for your issue to be successful, you have to fully research legal areas first before proceeding to take on this issue.

Read up on the history of the issue in which you have interest. Know who supports it and who opposes it. Study news stories, press releases, research studies, and reports. Search for websites and blogs that cover this issue. Watch the news on TV. Learn all you can about organizations, policies, laws and ordinances related to your issue. Talk with others - supporters and resistors - and LISTEN, really listen to opposing opinions and other sides of The Big Picture. Check the facts of opinions you hear to see if they hold any water. Do your homework if you hope to be successful.

In Step 3, individual enthusiasm can build or disappear. The savvy grassroots leader will be able to preserve real passion for an issue. By doing some serious homework to find those real facts that support your position and real facts that answer resistance and objections your group will have a much better chance for success.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan is credited with saying: "You are entitled to your own opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."

Do your homework - early, deeply, and continuously!