Defensive Organizing Strategy - Presentation for Salsa Lab's Third Thursday

Third Thursday Workshop: 5 Tips to Galvanize your Base to Confront the New Congress 

Ellie  Klerlein  Shayna Englin 

1. Be Honest 

Don’t set your supporters up to fail or pretend they can win battles that are

impossible.

2. Target Narrowly 

•  Focus on who you can move/where you’ll have impact

•  Prioritize based on your organization’s future plans

•  For tough targets: go directly to the voters/donors

3. Learn Jujitsu 

•  Be creative about ways to turn short term losses into building for long term wins

•  Mobilize on negative messages

4. Amplify 

•  Match communications/media strategy with online advocacy

•  Use media to amplify your message •  Use the correct messengers, police or

business community as examples for immigration messengers

5. Tell Relevant Stories 

•  Think less about messages and policy ask, think about the story you want to tell.

•  Use 0-10 scale of audience opinions/emotions

•  Segmentation of list and engagement ladder

Now you… 

•  What’s working for you? •  Q & A / Discussion