10 Tips for Effective Organizing

by Apathy is Boring Intern Patrick Burkhard — August 1, 2007

    Organizing is no easy task.  Working within a community group or non-governmental organization may not be for everyone.  Don’t be mistaken though, if you are involved in a community group, or within any movement at all, you are an organizer.  That’s right, even if you aren’t the head of your organization.  You are still working within the same context and there is still a role for you to fill here.  So here are some tips and things to remember when doing community/social action work.   

1.    Reflect on Your Own Motives 

A favourite quote of mine has always been “If you don’t know where you are going, you’re going to end up someplace else”.  I know it sounds simple, but examining your own motives for getting involved can help your own direction and the vision of your organization so much.  Do you want to help people?  Are you trying to provide a service?  Are you trying to change the world?  This is like a mission or a vision statement – it is laying out a path for you.  Figuring out what your motive is will help you for your next step.

2.    Identify Clear and Tangible Goals

Once you have an overall vision of what you are trying to do, set some more specific and reachable goals.  The word tangible is used here to mean that these goals should be attainable, in a realistic way.  Your overall vision may be “to help save starving children” however this will not be achieved overnight.  Setting some smaller and tangible goals such as “hold a first fundraiser” or “raise $10,000” are good examples.  Large goals such as “end world hunger” are great, but make better inspirational posters then they do immediate goals.  Baby steps are needed – you’ll get there one day! 

3.    Engage People

This means talk to people about your work, your mission, your views, your goals.  Unless you share your vision with others, how are you ever going to get people on board for your group, organization, protest or whatever it is?  Don’t turn into a walking public relations advertisement for your mission, but selectively know when to share information about your organization. 

4.    Empower People

Central to any organizational effort is the need to empower people to act as agents of their own change.  Yes, that’s right, empower people to act and represent themselves.  You may have that fancy university degree or you may have 10 years of experience in organizing, but in order for any positive change to happen in this world, people need to become empowered.  Organizational work involves giving people the tools and skills so that they can speak up on their own behalf when they are being oppressed or when their voice needs to be heard.  Make this a strong principle in all of your organizational work.  Take on your leadership role, and then empower others so they no longer need you there!  I know it may sound like you are putting yourself out of a job, but if everyone in the world becomes empowered, our society would be much better off!

5.    Educate 

This completes the three “E”s of organizing.  In the same vein as empowering, part of organizing involves educating people.  This not only means bringing some sort of analysis to an issue, ie. “Poverty exists because of _______”, but also creating dialogue between people to get to the heart of issues.  Perhaps someone you are dealing with has never had a political conversation in their life.  What an amazing gift you can give them then.  So part of organizing is to engage people, educating them about the world around them.  This is a vital part of any community socialization process.

6.    Don’t Let Rules and Regulations Bring Your Down 

Organizations sometimes fall victim to being consumed with institutionalization, rules and regulations.  Maybe it is not always necessary in your organization to spend weeks in meetings to establish your organizational regulations or your voting procedures.  I am not discounting these methods at all, but rather emphasizing that one must assess where one's time is best spent.  If you and a group of neighbours want to start a group or organization to pressure a local slum lord or stop the construction of a stanky factory in your district, setting up all of these procedures, rules, and essentially trying to formalize or institutionalize your organization may not be of any benefit to you. 

7.    Work According to Your Capacity 

This principle is in line with good old number 6, right above.  If you only have 6 staff volunteers or if you only have a dozen people working on a campaign or project, then don’t try and extend your organization beyond that scope.  Funding is also a great consideration here.  So figure our what your capacity is in terms of financing as well as people-hours and plan projects and initiatives along these lines. 

8.    Don’t Be Scared of Change

This is often the most overlooked aspect of our lives.  We live as though things don’t change and often spend so much time and energy trying to control our environment and every aspect of our lives.  Change in an organizational context is no different.  Change is the only given in life – it will happen whether you want it to or not!  The same goes for any organization or movement.  You may get some strong support for an issue running for a few years and then at some point your entire fellow fighters stop coming out to protests or meetings.  Well, this will happen some times.  There is a natural ebb and flow to movements which occurs within issues, especially of a social or political nature.  Don’t take changes like this as a failure.  Society and its values change.  People themselves are never static.  Learn to be adaptive and you will be a much happier person, no matter what you face in life. 

9.    Leave Space for Reflection 

Every organization or movement needs to take time at some point to step back and take an objective look at their activities and operations to see what is working and what is not.  Often people get so consumed by their work that they lose the ability to be objective and to see the big picture.  Taking time out to reflect will help prevent burnout in workers as well as establish what is working in terms of tactics and what is not.   Reflection is something that must happen at least every few months: an organization that is constantly reflecting on its mission, methods and objectives will be ahead of the game.

10.    Keep it Light

I have to steal this mantra from one of my friends.  Big credit to Natalie out there for this one!  Keeping it light means remembering that life is short and we are here to live life with love in our hearts and smiles on our face.  We all face trials and tribulations, problems both personal and institutional.  Those who often succeed in life are those that did not allow themselves to get beat down by the mountain of issues they are facing.  No matter how bad or hard things can get or how hopeless a situation may seem, it really isn’t that bad!  Remember to keep things light, or insert any other inspirational slogan here to remind you to relax, smile, take a deep breath and keep plodding along.  Getting consumed by one's work can lead to being overwhelmed and eventually being burnt out.  No matter how dire the situation, remember that life goes on and you will make it in the end!