Six Building Blocks of Distributed Organizing Campaigns

Introduction

Checklist with worksheets to make sure you have covered everything & asked the right questions in planning a distributed organizing program.

NetChange provides another valuable resource for directed-network campaigning and organising, a companion to their Networked Change Report. 

To support organizations rolling out distributed organizing efforts, NetChange have put together a new campaign design framework drawn from best practices of the dozens of successful networks they have advised or studied closely.

The tool is designed to convey the basics and to lead you and your teams to design or optimize your own practices by checking them against those of other leaders. These worksheets have been used in multiple live campaigning environments and as a learning tool in NetChange workshops.

These worksheets breaks down the six strategic elements and practices behind most successful distributed organizing campaigns:

• Worksheet 1: Establishing a people-powered theory of change
• Worksheet 2: Designing supporter paths and roles
• Worksheet 3: Establishing a recruitment and onboarding process
• Worksheet 4: Setting up coaching and support for distributed supporters
• Worksheet 5: Platforms and tools to support a distributed community
• Worksheet 6: Defining milestones and moments of a distributed campaign

Sample Worksheet

Worksheet 1: Establishing a People Powered Theory of Change TOC

The following are questions you can ask to design or optimize your own approach to this.

Questions
Framing: Does your campaign framing make it clear that people power is crucial for the win?
Framing: How can each supporter be a superhero in your campaign?
Are you publicly displaying your peoplepowered Theory of Change to potential and existing supporters?

Your Campaign Notes:

Download Worksheets

• Six Building Blocks of Distributed Organizing Campaigns (PDF 13 pgs)

Explore Further

• Distributed Organizing Guide
• The Definitive Distributed Organizing Guide
• Blueprints for Change: Sample Distributed Action Plan
• Blueprints for Change: Guide to Distributed Organizing
• Decentralised control
• How to Build a Team: Online Course by Marshall Ganz
• What is Organizing? An Introduction based on the Work of Marshall Ganz
• Movement Power: The Science of Nonviolent Direct Action
• Call to Action Worksheet
• Approaches to Organising: Decentralised, Directed Network and Strike Circles Models
• Interactive, Self Paced Mini Courses on Organising: Global Organizing and Leadership Development GOLD