This is a topic that is important to me... and frankly it's a category under which the sort of work I do fits...

How might we best define this catagory?

I'm in on this team. I like your initial description. I'd pare it down a bit, perhaps.

This category would fund grassroots organizing efforts engaging community residents around local concerns.

One challenge I face (maybe two?) is the response: "not grassroots enough" and "too grassroots" applied to the same effort.... grassroots and local are a matter of perspective

(for what it's worth)

Michael, what kinds of people say "not grassroots enough" and what kind say "too grassroots"? Do either of those play into our work here? Are you suggesting we need to define our perspective?

Mainly I encourage wider "definition" ... in our use.

I'm pretty sure I'm fine with that. Could you give an example of a place where a narrower definition tends to be used in the world to the detriment of the work, where you also suggest our definition not have this limitation? Just to have some basis for agreement?

Perhaps it would help to define the words community by adding to Ted's description (which I like):

This category would fund grassroots organizing efforts engaging community residents around local concerns.

• Community: defined as any group of individuals that come together(physical or virtual)around a set of common concerns.

There are a couple of folks who have PM'd me about wanting to participate if this did not take up too much of their time.

I like Ted's simple description because a team can organize quickly and identify reccomendations and can monitor this thread once every 5 days to answer questions.

My hope is to discover a team method by which we can be effective and efficient in working with ON and O.NET.

I have been working through - in my own mind - the implementation of community conversations around the question:

What can We do to make Our community a better place to live.

If a grass roots organizer were to get a community involved in such a discussion in a format such as O.net, it seems to me possible that the organizer could also get business sponsors and support the organizing that way.

Perhaps Emerging Futures Network could undertake such a project.

David, Emerging Futures could act as a fiscal agent for an organizer such as yourself (or you could provide oversight to such an effort while working with another organizer) to do that kind of work. Friends of Elko Peace Park is one such effort being housed within Emerging Futures Network.

What are you thinking?

I just sent a PM to David Geihufe who is working on CivicSpace - Non-profit Open Source software, I know Brandon wants to develope certain tools for "community service organizations", and Arthur Brock's Geek Gene is developing parts of what I am thinking about for http://www.votelink.com.

To have the discussion - "What can We do . . ." seems to me to be about "holding space" as you say, rather than advocating a particular action, although the initial organizing might take place around a particular issue of interest to a particular community.

I was thinking more like Friends of Elko Peace Park could host the discussion for Elko, find local business sponsors to fund the site hosting, and support an organizer (such as yourself) and refine the tools to support a community coming together to improve conditions in the community. The $5K could be used for software development or other expenses in documenting a package that can be adopted by community organizers anywhere.

The value to the business community would be directly related to the percentage of community members participating in the discussion - so you would want to entice, governmental departments, special interest groups, businesses and ordinary citizens into the discussions.

Lots of details to work out - but ease of access and use on the web seems key - as an alternative to public meetings that few attend and advertising - as a way to get people involved and thinking about their mutual interests.

Does that make sense?

edit to add link to David's profile

Someone might want to invite Mark Dilley to this space.

As I commented in the other thread on digital access/connectivity ... the fact of my work touching upon this area... organizing ... means I would be very interested as a possible recipient.

That might not technically preclude anyone from being on a team, but I think some people still view it as a bit of a conflict and I'd want to avoid that.

Also... my general status is I am very deep in the actual work, so what would a team member have to commit to? I dont think I'd be able to provide my full value these next 2 months because of the urgency of my work and funding demands.

I'm interested in the role of "new media" such as Internet TV for inspiring and connecting grassroots activity... I'm playing with some ideas with Ethan Zohn, Survivor Africa winner who donated his prize winnings to Grassroot Soccer ... see his Do Something Moment presentation. I'm playing around with some ideas about ways of generating "viral videos" connected with grassroots activities. Ethan is focused on using his "accidental celebrity" for positive change, and happy to expose himself to innovative ideas.

I like Julie's idea and the words make sense to me. this is my first attempt to post anything ever on anything so I might get or be lost or off point. Please, just let me know!

Grassroots organizers can and do leverage getting the job done more efficiently. They are a sure bet for money going where it counts in the community. They can gage areas of greatest need sometimes better than larger charities. They usually are putting in lots of their own funds, time and heart.

It takes a lot longer to raise money and do the desperately needed volunteer work when efforts lack good organization. There are insufficient funds because the volunteer pool has to concentrate on fundraising while in the middle of constant emergencies. Also the grassroots organizers make things happen often longer and better than the larger non-profit organizations who don't support those on the front lines long enough to get the job done.

Example: Refugee resettlement and helping refugee families send money to relatives trapped in desparate situations. I'm still working with former Yugoslavia refugees while I'm just starting to join up with a group that has been working for a number of years with 25 Sudanese Lost boys and girls and 8 Southern Sudanese families. This latter has no end in sight based on the situation in Sudan.

David, I like your idea and would reccommend that we work with Michael over myself on this one. Truth has it that our Elko Peace Park group is a face-to-face hands on organizing effort.

We do have one technology component and three volunteers working (literally as we speak) on upgrading our web-site which will not only include the usual features but also be generating an on-line knowledge sharing repository that will be connected to the Park Kiosk.

The Kiosk will feature many things including a searchable database detailing 2000 rocks making up two geological rockwalls. The idea is to provide K-college data along with stories of place so teachers (local and regional)will use the Park for student field trips. On the surface this might sound mundane but if one of our larger ideas is how to uplift a shared knowledge repository for a global network... the idea becomes quite interesting.

Michael... say more about how you might work with David and perhaps other networking buddies (O.NETters and beyond)in organizing what's most needed next in your area of work. How could $5,000 or perhaps 3 or 4 awards of $5,000 each come together to support several initiatives to uplift around something they can't do alone?

As for you being on the team, KEEP FOCUSED... I think we can easily attract 5 team mates.

Welcome Betsy! You're so right about local organizers commiting their savings, heart and energy. It's hard work that delivers unbelievable benifits. And, it's work that is often undervalued or acknowledged.

Locally, I'm leveraging 5 Walmart volunteers (Walmart will give us $10 cash for each hour their employee volunteers up to $3,000 per year with us) to have them do a job that would cost us $2,000 (stuffing envelopes costs $10 per hour) which I can match with state funds $3 to $1 for building our Park! Turning 1 Walmart Volunteer hour into $10 + $10 X 3 = $60.00!!!!

As for being new to O.NET, I've gone ahead and created a link for you to share your Sudanese Lost Boys refugee resettlement project with us. Simply click on the this link and it will take you to a blank workspace where you can share more about the work you are doing. If you need help with formating or understanding how this works, send me a PM and I'll do what I can to help you learn the tools around here.

When you have something posted that you want us to read, you can put the URL or the link back into a comment in this thread for others to read.

Depends on if you are talking about something that supports grassroots organizing or whether we wish to support particular grassroots efforts

I'm working on a tool with some others to support organizing with regard to geography and political boundaries. This is a much needed tool, but I think that might better fit another category such as Arthur was thinking about.

With Tom, I'll also put aword in for new media and organizing. I've been doing interviews of people in Chicago and in field of digital inclusion/access ... and putting them on You Tube .. I'll be posting more links soon.

David B ... say more ... I havent yet grasped your model

I'll try and write up some more of my thoughts on particular grassroots initiatives and how they relate elsewhere...

at the moment we are advancing a cause in Chicago building on what Minneapolis has done... and they in turn had drawn from several sources... one being the community benefits movement, another being other city driven models such as Philadelphia, and coming full circle back to some of the Statewide organizing I had done in Illinois.

It's very exciting to see how grassroots organizers are connected through the movement ... regionally, nationally and globally ... but acting very locally...

we're in a very special place ... we're organizing around technology and sometimes with technology but reaching people who arent using technology (much) for a variety of reasons ... but for us it isnt about the technology. Still funders and other institutions have a very limited lens and often dismiss us as being about technology ... there is so much educating to do on these issues.

One thing we've talked about is a support event to catalyze regional and state-level organizing --- which would be networks of local organizers...

So many things going on!

Michael Maranda said:

it isnt about the technology. Still funders and other institutions have a very limited lens and often dismiss us as being about technology ... there is so much educating to do on these issues.

Michael, this is so true. Even though my world is NOT "about" developing technology... (although it is) I find in working to define, describe or illustrate what's needed to support organizers (both virtual and face-to-face)the listener often categorizes technology as a ridged data repository, library...

The need to educate is large. One of the fastest methods I know for busting through the diverse views is to bring together diverse stakeholders to accomplish what they can't do alone. Both Apprecitative Inquiry and Open Space are two excellent tools for helping to accomplish this. The trick is to have short wins where common language and trust can develop. Then build upon the short wins to co-create larger wins.

Your said,

One thing we've talked about is a support event to catalyze regional and state-level organizing --- which would be networks of local organizers...

BINGO! Although grassroots organizing doesn't need to be so defined (regional and state-level), I agree with the need to engage different levels of scale!

It will be interesting to see what the Connecting Networks for Action meet up delivers, as it is attracting networks of local organizers. Local defined by the participants of a given community.

What might a networks of local organizers project look like? Who would you invite? How could Q4 funding best evolve supports for networks of local organizers? What supports would such an event need to have in place to truely facilitate continued connections and collabortive action? How could Q4 funding also address this question?

wow! this is a great place! with the funding so close, i was despairing of finding a place to talk about local groups trying to improve thier lot.....perfect place for one so close to my heart....WORKING WOMEN!

now i know that children and water improvement are important subjects, but in the sense of 'more bang for the buck', i think the $5000. grant would be lost in the size of most of those organizations.

i think the grassroots idea is great! put that money to use with someone who will use it for many purposes, many little aids to thier community...children, water, hospitals, schools, libraries...for a small village, it doesnt really take a lot of cash to make a change....

i have been looking closely at the NEW WORLD WOMEN org lately, and i am so touched by these hardworking women who are trying to make a stand in the world.

thier men are off being 'wetback labor' in the usa, and there they are, alone, in desperate conditions...and what do they do? they create a workspace for themselves, and revive a wonderful artisan community for their traditional jewelry making!

not only have they faced desperate times, but they have succeeded in creating and promoting themselves and thier wonderful product, to the point that they have inspired thier community to fight the despondant influences!

they have provided income to improve thier local hospital, school, and library. THEY NEED HELP! there is so much more to do!

they are already set up as non profit, have an excellent track record, and would so much appreciate a little recognition for thier work, in the form of a grant!

lets get the NEW WORLD WOMEN on the board for the grants...i am not sure how to do it, any help out there?

Michael Maranda said:

David B ... say more ... I havent yet grasped your model

Michael,

The question, 'What can We do to make Our community a better place to live', is about bridging across idealogical division within a community to focus on practical solutions to mutual concerns. I see the role of the organizer as bringing diverse interests to the table to explore the possibility of working together - to accomplish more than any of the interests could accomplish alone.

To the extent that the organizer is successful in stimulating the conversation, they would also be creating an audience that local businesses would like to reach - meaning that the work could be supported through local business contributions - eliminating the need for grant proposals etc. Without the business funding, each organizer would be faced with the needs of fundraising - and a foundation might be able to fund a few such efforts but not for every community.

The scale at which organizing takes place can vary from place to place - here in Denver, we might start at the neighborhood level, and then have additional spaces for municiple and regional discussions - I haven't been to Elko but I'm thinking that one conversation for the whole area would be appropriate.

If the organizers are then collaborating on what works, successes in one community can be duplicated in other communities with similar needs.

I feel like I'm rambling so I'll stop here - what other part of the model can I clarify?

I think we need to get clear on whether the group is intent on supporting organizers or organizations. In my view it has to be the former, but that may just be my bias. Isn't the whole point of grassroots to make things happen outside of formal organizations? To also spark the organization of communities who are not formally organized as well as to connect isolated communities to their allies and larger communities of interest?

I'm also a bit ambivalent about engaging in this process at all. The amounts of money involved are so small in comparison to the need that it hardly seems worth it. How much time are you willing to invest in the possibility of allocated 10-20K$? These amounts of money will never make the a real difference in what grassroots leaders are doing. Any one of them worth their salt invests that much value in their own time every month or so.

Gerry, I agree that the 10-20K$ would not accomplish must if just added to the operating budget of 2-4 existing organization or given to 2-4 people currently engaged in organizing. I see it as developing something like a "business plan" for community organizers, and developing the tools to assist them in conducting and supporting organizing efforts.

For example, one of the tools that is yet to be developed is a way to screen comments for relevance.