What Is It?

Organizing is bringing people-and in coalition building, organizations-together to develop a collective vision for their community and achieve a common goal, to win a battle that is more likely to be won if many stand up together instead of just a few. Throughout history, progress has not spontaneously occurred; it happens because people organize for change.

You can organize to have an effect in many different ways, from educating the public so people understand a problem and work together for an effective solution to influencing elections through increasing voter registration and participation. The focus of this section is on organizing to exert public pressure on a decision-maker to take the actions you want: whether getting an elected official to introduce new laws, an agency head to adopt new or different regulations, or companies to change the way they do business.

It’s worth noting that there are as many different styles of organizing as there are organizers. Volumes have been written on the topic. In this section, we attempt to capture the consistent themes, considerations, and challenges that cross these different styles.

Why Use It?

Organizing builds power. Bringing large numbers of people to the table allows you to wield the kind of influence that other people have as a result of large campaign contributions or their position in the system. It alerts decision makers to the political consequences of their actions. It reminds elected officials that you can affect how long they stay in office or whether they advance to higher office. Also, the media are more likely to take notice when you can draw a crowd.
Organizing gives you staying power. To achieve and maintain reforms requires sustained effort. Few organizations have the staff and resources to accomplish this alone. Organizing identifies and develops the leaders, staff skills, and resources you need to sustain progress over the long haul.

Finally, organizing can produce real improvement in people’s lives. Part of this, of course, is the tangible change that a joint effort achieves. Organizing also builds community through collective problem-solving and instills in people a sense of power to effect change. In that respect, the benefits are boundless.

When to Use It?

Almost always, whether alone or in combination with other strategies. Many other strategies rely on organizing for effectiveness, especially when combined with media scrutiny: lobbying for legislation, pushing an administrative petition, and winning a ballot initiative. Litigation can also benefit from being backed by mobilized communities, particularly when it comes to monitoring implementation of settlement agreements.