Meetings
Whilst every campaign group may choose to organise itself differently the main format by which you will coordinate your activists is by holding regular meetings. Regardless of whether these meetings are weekly, fortnightly or monthly the regular meetings of your new campaign group will be the mechanism by which your activists come together and work on the campaign. Your regular meetings may aim:
• To discuss and generate campaign ideas • To agree decision making • To communicate with your members and your committee • To monitor and evaluate the progress of your campaign • To carry out administrative duties • To organise or evaluate a specific event
There are generally four types of meeting which a campaign group will regularly hold, however these are very dependent on the size of your group and the longevity your campaign.
• General meetings General meetings are the staple, regular meeting open to all activists and supporters. This meeting gives the committee or the main organisers an opportunity to communicate and consult with members regarding new developments, news or upcoming events. These are the meetings that may be used for planning large events or for discussing and debating strategy and goals. It is often wise to vary these meetings to keep them interesting for your activists. This may entail inviting guest speakers who are relevant to the topic or by showing films. If your campaign group is small, it is wise only holding these sort of meetings until you have enough activists for specific teams or an elected committee.
• Committee meetings If you have an elected committee or a central core of campaign coordinators, then it is advisable to hold smaller regular meetings where administrative matters can be discussed and strategy can be debated before being presented to the rest of the campaign group at general meetings. It is important to hold these meetings prior to general meetings to give committee members the opportunity to report any developments to the activists. It is also important to increase the frequency of these meetings in the run up to large events such as a debate, a recruitment drive or an action week.
• Team meetings Depending on the structure of your campaign group you may delegate specific roles to a team of activists, such as a media team. If so it is important that this team meet regularly, with their committee member to lead and organise their area of the campaign. The actions of these meetings can then
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be reported to the committee and in turn to the assembled activists at general meetings.
• Annual General meetings
An AGM is a large open meeting scheduled once a year and is an opportunity for the committee to report the campaigns progress from across the year and to discuss and debate strategies for the year ahead. This is also an opportunity to hold annual committee elections that should be organised by the secretary and the chairman.
Conducting a meeting: agendas
An agenda is a simple way to organise your meetings, it gives a clear guide for activists to follow and makes it easier for the secretary to record minutes. An agenda should include the following categories:
• Apologies for absence: Anyone who should be present but could not be. • Minutes from last meeting: Attached so they can be recognised as a fair and accurate record of the previous meeting. • Matters arising: This is where any actions decided in the previous meeting should be noted and reviewed to make sure they have been carried out. • Committee updates: A series of short reports from committee members detailing the progress of their campaign area • Agenda items: Anything that has been agreed to be discussed at this meeting normally set by the secretary after consultation from committee and opportunity for input by activists. • Any other business: Open the meeting to the floor, an opportunity for anyone to raise anything that has not already been discussed. • Date and time of next meeting.
Your first meeting
The first, inaugural meeting of your campaign group is going to have to inspire and motivate your new activists and so requires a significant level of thought and planning. Your main aims for the first meeting should be to bring your activists together, to empower them and inspire them. This sounds like a tall order but to succeed you need only remember a few simple points.
• Create a welcoming environment This is one of the golden rules you should bare in mind throughout your campaign. Running a campaign is not like running a company, people will not simply do what you tell them to do, you’ll have to persuade them and if people are going to be working together with shared aims and values it certainly helps if they are also friends. A large proportion of your first meeting should be spent getting the activists to know each other, this is especially integral if you are starting with a very small group as you are going to have to rely on each other to keep motivated to avoid becoming disillusioned before you
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develop into a larger group. Achieving this can be straightforward, get your activists talking to each other, and get them to share their experiences and their thoughts for the campaign. Perhaps even tie in a small social event on the same day.
• Introduce your campaign ideas It is at this first meeting that you need to introduce yourself, and your campaign ideas. Don’t simply stand in front of your group lecturing them, if possible be creative, or at the very least ensure you have a variety of speakers. This links into the first point as you open this discussion up to the entire group, welcoming and encouraging everyone’s opinion. It is important for activists to feel that their opinion is worth something to the group and that their suggestions are considered. This gives people a sense of empowerment and inclusion, two vital factors you want to maintain to prevent disillusionment.
• Excite your activists Make sure that your activists have something to be excited about rather then angry about. Depending on the nature of your campaign you should consider holding a small scale event, such as an action day or a small demonstration. This allows people to feel that they are actually doing something positive for the cause, which turns their anger into action for change. You want your activists to leave your first meeting feeling that they are already building towards something positive and that they have joined the right group to achieve their aims.
• Don’t let it end there Remember that meetings are not an end to themselves but rather a tool to achieving the eventual goal. It is important that you follow up your meeting with something like an e-mail outlining what has been agreed as well as the date and time of next meeting. You want people to keep on coming to these meetings, so don’t let them disappear after the first one!
Recruitment
A recruitment drive should be your number one priority if you are to build and develop your campaign group from a small core of activists to a large, effective organisation as previously described. Assuming that you have started with a small group with a modest budget you are going to have to start with the simple, small but effective methods of telling people you exist. The trick is to focus your attention on people who have been affected by your cause or who are likely to share the same experiences as you. If your campaign is against the closure of a local school, then target houses in that school’s catchment area. At this state you do not have the resources or manpower to mount a large marketing campaign, so use what you have sparingly and effectively.
• Action Days
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An action day is the cheapest and most effective way of engaging with the public, collecting contact details, advertising your meetings and recruiting new members. All you need is a few motivated activists armed with some leaflets and a petition who are ready to talk to as many strangers as possible! Often an action day will comprise of a few activists setting up a stall in a busy area, such as a high street, or more strategically at an affected area, such as outside a hospital that is soon to close. It is the activist’s job to engage the public, explain the cause, collect contact details and invite them to your next meeting. More information on how to engage people during your action day can be found in the Campaign Communication chapter.
• Poster Campaigns & letter drops
If your budget is small ensure that any posters or letters you print are used in the affected area, where people will actually read it, understand it and care. The most important aspect is to include your contact details and the date, time and location of your next meeting.
• Website/Social networking sites
The Internet can be a cheap and effective way of reaching a vast amount of people in very little time. If any of your activists are savvy with computers then get them to create a website domain name and register it to a popular search engine, this way people will be able to find you which is far easier you searching for them. (taken from Ben Norman book)