No Excuses: Real Recovery Now. Our families, our economy, and our democracy are in crisis. This Recovery Recess, we will show up together to demand Congress go bold and go big, no excuses, and no exceptions. It’s time for Congress to urgently deliver jobs, care, justice, climate solutions, respecting indigenous tribal sovereignty, and real democracy for all of our people.
During February Recess Indivisibles made a huge impact. Indivisibles met with key Senators, had virtual Letter to the Editor writing parties, dropped off Valentines for their Senators and overall got really creative. We’ve already seen the impact that this recess had with firm commitments to overturn the filibuster from Senators Padilla, Klobuchar, and Smith and renewed pushes by Indivisibles on some key holdouts like Senator Sinema.
Let’s keep it up for the next recess: March 29 - April 9th. We have to sustain and escalate that pressure to make sure MoCs who committed to be Democracy Defenders maintain their commitment and that we keep pushing those who are faltering. HR1/S1 prevents voter suppression through automatic voter registration, same-day registration, fights racial and partisan gerrymandering at all levels of government and institutes public funding for elections to reduce the power of corporate money in government.
This recess we’re adding in a focus on bold recovery. The American Rescue Plan just passed but we know that the work is not done. We need Congress to immediately pivot to bold recovery based on the THRIVE Agenda, followed by Democracy Reform. Our vision is to use this moment to radically reshape our economy with a plan to create dignified jobs for millions of unemployed workers and support a better life for the millions more who remain vulnerable in this pivotal moment. This recess, we’ll be pushing our MoCs to support the THRIVE Agenda, and Democracy.
This toolkit includes all the basics to get started with your planning. You’ll find here our key asks, strategy and step by step support for planning your events. This time around we’ll be working with several partner organizations, such as Sierra Club, SEIU, Indigenous Environmental Network, and MoveOn, and will be collaborating on a number of things, including our tools. So, once you finalize your event, make sure to register it on the MoveOn map. Your Indivisible Organizer will be on hand to support you with your preparations -- or reach out to supportteam@indivisible.org if you don’t know your Organizer.
This recess our ask is focused around Democracy Reform and recovery (specifically the THRIVE Agenda). With a Democratic Trifecta we have the opportunity to tackle this all head on. We’re asking MOcs to:
Below are some handy videos we’ve created to help you get acclimated to the policies, and to share with your groups, friends and family:
If you took action over February Recess, this is an important opportunity to build on that success and develop your escalation plan. If you’re just diving in for the first time over this upcoming March Recovery Recess, this is still a great time to get started. The specific tactics you employ will likely depend based on what your group (and other groups in your state) has already done and how your MoCs have been responding so far.
These tactics may include:
We are approaching recess just a little bit differently this time around. We have three separate but complementary strategies to move these crucial pieces of legislation over the finish line: 1) direct pressure on key Senators and 2) educating our communities about these important issues, namely the THRIVE Agenda (recovery) and Democracy (3) building a national narrative for action. We are asking you to take specific actions based on your state.
There are eight Senators who could use a bit of extra pressure from their constituents to support our asks. Your goal is to get them on the record supporting our asks.
Our key Senators for D.C. Statehood and the filibuster are:
Our key Senators for the THRIVE Agenda (in addition to the ones above) are:
For these key Senators, the most impactful thing you can do is host a virtual town hall or lobby meeting with your Senator (or their staff if you can’t pin your Senator down to a time this recess). This will give you the opportunity to directly address your Senator, explain your position, and give them a chance to commit to building a truly inclusive democracy.
This is no small feat. And most likely, your Senator will not commit to too many town halls or lobby meetings during March recess. Your best bet is to join forces with other Indivisible groups in your state for one powerful event. Here are some tips and tricks for hosting a virtual town hall meeting.
Important Note: If you are in a priority state, there is a good chance your organizer and other Indivisible groups are hard at work on a town hall or a lobby meeting. Before you go any further, please reach out to your Indivisible organizer to connect! If you don’t know your organizer, you can fill out this Ask an Organizer form or reach out to supportteam@indivisible.org.
We gain our power in our communities. To build the world we want, we need to educate and empower our neighbors, friends, and co-workers to take action with us. So, as you are planning your event, be sure to include a call to action where you ask people to reach out to their MOC’s office or write their own letter to the editor.
Here are some tactics that are effective when trying to inform and mobilize your community:
Remember, there is power in numbers. The more people we get involved, the more influence we will have to push forward important legislation that impacts each of our daily lives.
The remaining Senators are either already with us or already against us. So we need to build a national narrative in the media that motivates our supportive MoCs and quiets our opposition. Like all effective narratives, this starts at the local level. Your mission is to generate earned media in support of our asks.
Earned media is the most important and strategic way to push MoCs on our priorities (remember, the first thing they do each day is read the news about them). The best way to get earned media is through a small district office visit with a 51 star flag, a large handmade poster, or a car rally. The media loves a visual.
If you want to do something virtual, the most effective event you can set up is a virtual Letter to the Editor writing party.
Whether you have the most progressive or the most conservative MoC, creating national momentum around Democracy Reform will help move our priorities forward.
The THRIVE Agenda is a framework for our recovery that acknowledges that we are not just facing one crisis with COVID-19, but the intersecting crises of catastrophic climate change, racial injustice, public health, and economic inequality. Our vision is to use this moment to radically reshape our economy by grounding it in climate, jobs, and justice.
The THRIVE Resolution outlines eight key frameworks that any COVID recovery package must work towards. They include:
Check out this video from The Green New Deal Network for more on this vision You can also check out this one pager for more information.
To learn more about how THRIVE Agenda meets these needs and ushers in a new era for American workers, join us for one of the sessions below. And, leave equipped to talk to anyone about THRIVE and why we must rise to this occasion and support this agenda. You can find the dates, times, and registration information below:
Our democracy has been rigged from the very beginning to benefit rich, white men. HR 1, HR 4, and the DC Statehood bill would work to undo many of the racist legacies of our founding institutions. And, the filibuster is a Jim-Crow era relic that was popularized by conservative senators primarily to block civil rights legislation, including the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. To this day, the filibuster favors the preservation of the status quo instead of change, making any structural reform -- like Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, or any racial justice reform -- next to impossible to accomplish. Now is the time to stand up and fight for these issues that are going to affect many generations to come.
During this period of physical distancing, we’ve all been learning that most events or actions that occur in person can in some way be adapted to online. While we may lose some elements of in person events by bringing them online, there are some we gain too - like making events more convenient and accessible for some folks to join.
We have developed some resources to support groups with hosting virtual events. You can see our Hosting Virtual Events resource for some creative ideas and best practices. Additionally, we have a few guides for new hosts or attendees on Google Hangouts and Zoom that you can see below:
For larger scale virtual events, it’s really important that you take the time to make sure you understand the technology you’re using, clearly communicate expectations/directions to attendees and speakers and do a run through before. We’ve baked some of these important steps into our event planning step by step in this resource.
Adding a virtual event to this campaign helps include people with disabilities. Planning these events are an opportunity for folks with disabilities to lead or show up when they might otherwise be excluded because of lack of accessibility. When we host an event, especially when people with disabilities have ownership in the planning process, we can make sure to address the needs of folks across the disability spectrum and include people who might not be able to take action.
When you’re setting up your event, here are some accessibility recommendations to think through. Please reach out to your organizer or to supportteam@indivisible.org with questions.
If you’re new to hosting virtual events, check in with your Indivisible Organizer or supportteam@indivisible.org and we’ll be able to help talk you through it and provide more resources.
While there are some key differences between planning an in-person event and a virtual event, don’t forget you still need to put plenty of time into planning. You may not need to deal with some of the logistics like booking a venue or arranging chairs, but there are some important additional steps when planning a virtual event.
Consider the scale of your event. There is a lot on everyone’s minds right now and individual groups are assessing their capacity. Before diving into an event, spend some time thinking about what makes sense for your group -- a big scale event, medium, something small? It’s also important to consider what you think will be more effective with your particular Senator. Are they someone who already needs a lot of public pressure at a town hall or do you want to start with a more intimate event?
Coordinate with other local Indivisible groups and other progressive groups. This is also a good opportunity to join forces with other groups in the area and strengthen regional coordination. This will make it more likely that your MoC will say yes to, will help distribute the work and will improve your regional coordinating ties.
Invite your Senator. Start reaching out to your Member of Congress as soon as possible! Their schedules fill up quickly, so sooner is better. Plus, if they say no the first time you can keep up escalating pressure until you can get a commitment.
Pick your platform. Based on the scale/scope of your event and what your group is accustomed to using, you can determine your platform. Check out some of the resources above for details on different options. You can also talk this through with your Indivisible Organizer! While this toolkit is mostly focused on virtual events, your group can also consider other safe, physically distanced events as well. We’re looking forward to seeing the creative ideas that emerge!
Set a date and time. Start by figuring out when you’re going to have your event. Most likely you will need to coordinate with your Senator’s office before confirming a time. Remember to check in with group members and potential speakers to see what’s most convenient before finalizing a time. As always, consider what times will be most accessible for folks in your community particularly around work and parenting or care-taking schedules.
Register your event on the MoveOn map. Once you have your event set, register it on the MoveOn map. You can find the landing page here, where you can search for your event. That way we can help push out your event and help recruit attendees.
Delegate and determine roles. Any event is a great opportunity to develop leadership within your group and empower folks to take on new responsibilities. Depending on the scale of your event, you may want to create teams or just have one point person for specific duties. Some areas that you can consider delegating include: tech, recruitment, new member follow-up, speaker recruitment, press liaison, and visuals.
Start recruiting. Even though you aren’t asking folks to show up in person, it’s just as important as ever to really invest time in recruiting. Indivisibles know the best practices by now and what works in their communities. Make calls to invite members/new members, send emails, send out texts, make a Facebook event, etc. This is something you can get your full group involved in too by reaching out to their networks or all taking a few potential new members to reach out to. Compliance note: Depending on how you message your event, spending to promote your event may have campaign finance implications. We recommend sticking to email and unpaid social media to promote the event unless you consult with a lawyer or are already familiar with political spending.
Set your agenda and invite speakers. A town hall or lobby meeting tends to follow a relatively typical agenda: Welcome and Introduction (this section should include an overview of our priorities and a direct ask), MoC Introduction, MoC speaks, MoC takes questions. But you can get as creative as you want with how you set up your town hall and what creative hooks you include.
Pro-tip: Make sure you coordinate with your MoCs team on how much time they’ll join for and how many questions they’ll take. For additional support, your organizer can connect you with our policy team for more information on where your Senator stands on our key priorities.
Prepare with event support volunteers. You’ll likely need some time to check in with everyone who is helping make the event happen to ensure all bases are covered and everyone is clear on their roles. This may be best accomplished in a briefing with all volunteers or in separate check-ins.
Invite reporters. Invite reporters who have covered your Senator. Read recent stories about them looking for the “bylines” of people who’ve written them. Check in with any guest speakers to make them aware media are invited, and see if they can offer any help bringing them. If reporters are able to make it, mention at the beginning of the event they are there, so participants are aware. If they can’t make it, send them the press release afterwards.
Do a run through. A run through or multiple run throughs are absolutely critical! This is an opportunity to make sure you work out any tech issues, that everyone knows their role and that there won’t be any surprises on the day. Ideally, a full run through should include everyone who will be speaking and supporting the event (so try to get outside speakers to join too even if just for part of it and see if someone from your MoCs staff can join). Mimic conditions of the actual event as much as possible. That is, use the same technology, run through the sections as if it’s the real thing and test out any tricky technical elements like live streaming or polls.
Confirm your attendees. How many times have you RSVP’ed for an event and then forgotten about it? Don’t let that happen to all the attendees you spent so much time inviting to the event! Send a reminder email, make phone calls and send text messages.
Finally, the day of the event has arrived! Hosting a virtual event, like an in person event, is a lot of fun and at points can be stressful.
Have your event volunteers and speakers arrive early. This is a virtual event, so it’s likely you’ll have to troubleshoot some technical issues -- ask your volunteers and speakers to arrive 30 minutes early to work out as many of those as you can before other attendees join. You can make sure everyone’s mics/cameras work, confirm volunteers are clear on their roles and get folks excited for a great event.
Confirm your attendees. While event volunteers and speakers are arriving, this is a good opportunity for a final round of texts or emails to remind folks about the event. Especially since they don’t need to go anywhere, that final reminder may get them to open up their computer.
Welcome event attendees. As attendees join, you can welcome them and let them know when the program will get started. Depending on the scope of the event and the platform, this can be an opportunity to build community and for attendees to introduce themselves in the chatbox.
Go through the event agenda. Once you hit the time of your event, you get to watch all your hard work happen.
Thank attendees for joining and ask them to take action. At the end of the event, don’t forget to once again thank everyone for being there and provide clear calls to action. Some ideas include:
The thing that distinguishes the great organizers from the good organizers is follow up!
Send a thank you email. It’s a good practice to send a quick follow up email a day or so after your event to reiterate your appreciation for joining, share any resources that came up during the event and remind folks about your call(s) to action.
Thank speakers and volunteers. Send a specialized follow up and thank you to your event volunteers and to any special speakers you had at the event. This can be a handwritten note, phone call or email depending on what makes sense in the circumstances.
Follow up individually with attendees. After you do outreach to all your attendees, make a plan to follow up with folks individually -- especially those who haven’t been to events with your group before. Recruit others in your group to help call through the attendees to thank them for joining, build a relationship and see how they want to get involved in your group.
Send reporters a press release, photos/screenshots, and stories. Even if no reporters make it, which happens, you can package up some highlights for them afterwards in case they can use them in their coverage of the race later. Write a press release. Get quotes from any guest speakers. Send screenshots. Transcribe and share constituent testimonials. One long email with a bunch of attachments is OK.
Every MoC has one or more local offices, but generally constituents don’t visit them. Over the last few years, that’s changed quite a bit with local Indivisible groups showing up (often once a week) to district offices all over the country. Showing up at district offices seems simple, but it can have an enormous impact. It also demonstrates to them that you- their constituents- care very much about the issue you’ve come in to speak about and that you’ll be watching what they do going forward.
Please note: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, we recommend keeping district office visits and any in-person events small. Design your events for 3-5 people and make sure that everyone involved commits to wearing a mask and practicing social distancing.
Check out How to Have a Successful Office Visit for more tips and troubleshooting common challenges.
Delivering your 51 star flag to your local Senate office is an impactful and direct way to put your support for DC Statehood in front of your senator, whether it’s in person, or in another formal capacity if office closings don’t allow.
We’re eager to tell the story as a movement of how widespread support for D.C. Statehood is around the country: that rural and suburban and urban dwellers, from red states and blue, near and far, do care about what happens to the District of Columbia. We’re specifically trying to help counter a narrative that the public is indifferent to what happens to D.C., outside of the region. The wider we can show that support is there, the better.
How the Indivisible Project may these videos:
Lawmakers’ offices are often formally presented with symbolic gifts by constituents. Whether your senator or MoC is for D.C. statehood or against it, it can be a powerful way to put them on the spot, and a powerful extension of your groups’ ability to tell this story.
However, the pandemic means many offices may not be open in person, and norms may be different. The best way to proceed may vary, but in general a good first step may look like this: Call the office, ask their policy for gifts, when they say they’re closed, send a formal letter or pile of letters and make a video explaining when their offices open, you’ll be excited to present them with this flag
If a group is open, and you and your group are delivering a flag in person, here are some more creative approaches to making the most of that visit:
Over the course of election season, Indivisibles hosted thousands of virtual phone banking, letter writing and other voter contact virtual events. Hosting a virtual Letter to the Editor writing party or advocacy phonebank has a lot of similarities! These steps are meant to support those who are entirely new to hosting virtual action events and those who are trying out a new type of action.
A well planned event will ensure that you have the greatest impact and that attendees want to come back again.
Set a date and time. Pick a time (or times) that would work well for your group members and would be convenient for new folks to get involved. If there’s really varied availability, consider planning two events are different times.
Pick a platform for your event. If you’re new to setting up virtual events, check in with your Indivisible Organizer or reach out to supportteam@indivisible.org for help. We’ve developed some resources to support groups with hosting virtual events. You can see our Hosting Virtual Events resource for some creative ideas and best practices.
Publicize the event. Update your group and get commitments. Use this activity as an opportunity to bring in new folks too. Make calls to your neighbors, post in various Facebook groups, ask every group member to bring a friend. Event registration information is forthcoming - check back here for details!
Prepare your materials. Spend time the day before making sure all materials are ready -- even though you won’t be together physically, you want to make sure to have everything ready. Take some time to prepare your agenda and any necessary training.
Confirm your attendees. Don’t forget to do a few rounds of confirmation calls, emails and texts.
This is the most fun part -- event time!
Welcome your attendees. Have a plan to sign folks in when they join the virtual event. Some video platforms will keep track of this automatically, but others may not.
Start with an icebreaker/introductions. It’s always a good idea to take every opportunity to continue to build your group community and relationships across members. Depending on the size of the group, you can have everyone go around or for a larger group ask folks to respond in the chatbox.
Share the plan for the evening and get a temperature check. Go through the agenda and explain the goal for the evening (ie* submit X number of LTEs or call Y constituents). Ask some questions to understand how familiar folks are with the action they’ll be taking and to make things interactive. Have folks write in the chatbox or answer a poll about if they’ve phonebanked/written LTEs before.
Do a thorough training. Your attendees will feel more comfortable and have more success after an intentional training. Take some time to explain why this action is effective, how to do it and for phonebanking it’s also always a good idea to model a conversation/do a role play. If you need some support or are not quite sure how to get started with preparing a training, reach to your Indivisible Organizer or supportteam@indivisible.org.
Dive into action. It’s time to get started! There are a number of ways to write letters to the editor/make calls “together”. You can have everyone stay in the main room and mute themselves while communicating in the chatbox, you can split folks into breakout rooms or folks can go their own ways and come back at certain intervals to check in.
Close out with a debrief. Once everyone is done, first things first thank everyone! Then take some time to debrief. Ask folks what went well/not so well. Did phonebankers have good conversations? Difficult conversations? It’s important to celebrate success and talking through the things that didn’t go so well may make folks feel a bit better about them.
Share your success. Don’t forget to take pictures, post on social media and celebrate the great work your group is doing. Tag @indivisibleteam on Twitter so we can help amplify your work -- you can use #RecoveryRecess.
The follow up steps are mostly copied from the other tips in this toolkit!
Send a thank you email. It’s a good practice to send a quick follow up email a day or so after your event to reiterate your appreciation for joining and share any follow up steps.
Follow up individually with attendees. After you do outreach to all your attendees, make a plan to follow up with folks individually -- especially those who haven’t been to events with your group before. Recruit others in your group to help call through the attendees to thank them for joining, build a relationship and see how they want to get involved in your group.
Send reporters a press release, photos/screenshots, and stories. If you think highlighting your event in the press could be beneficial to your strategy, you can package up some highlights for reports. Write a press release. Get quotes from any guest speakers. Send screenshots. One long email with a bunch of attachments is OK.
The pandemic continues to pose tons of challenges to our organizing. Though getting media coverage whenever we can always increases our impact, many tactics we’re proposing this recess are effective and impactful on their own, but also, may not very natural for press to cover,
That said, events should be only one of the ways we engage with the media in our area. Ideally, your Indivisible group is staying in touch with the key reporters who cover your MoC, responding with reactions to what they do, and being an ongoing “source” and point of contact for those reporters.
- If you are holding an event with an in-person component, whether it’s visiting an office or projecting something on a wall, we’d encourage you more than ever to contact the media and focus on getting coverage. We have sample press releases and media advisories and guidance to make this easy. Also check out: Press in a pandemic, our training from the People Lead mobilization in January.
-If you’re doing a virtual tactic like a phone bank or LTE party, use this template to send personalized “hello” email to a couple key reporters in your district. You can mention the event in passing -- it’s an example of the type of strategic work you do -- but inviting them doesn’t need to be the goal. Building a relationship is. Once again -- contact your organizer for support.
-If you’re having a non-public meeting with your congressional office, most of the time, bringing press in isn’t an appropriate goal. Talk with the office about their thoughts on inviting the media. If it’s not a fit, then, again-- take some time to say a personalized hello to reporters instead of inviting them.
If you’re having a traditional action with an in-person component…