Base-building and Leadership Development Trainer’s Guide Prep before Session 1. Get $10 bill 2. Write on flip chart before: a. What is the #1 job of an organizer? b. Write 5 tips for turnout c. Draw three leadership structures ahead of time? (a. Big base, narrow skyscraper up; b. pyramid with steep rise near top; and c. pyramid) Introduction ● I will give $10 to anyone who can answer this question: o What is the #1 job of an organizer? ● Two rules: o You have to get it exactly right o You only get 1 guess ● What does it mean to “build a powerful organization?” What does a powerful organization do? o Builds a base o Develops leaders ● As the title of this section suggests, we’re going to talk about base-building and leadership development. We’ll cover: o In terms of base-building--Understanding what a base is, who is in your base, and how to build your base with good turnout o In terms of leadership development--How to develop leaders, the difference between leadership traits and skills, and leadership ladders. You’ll also have time throughout different parts of this session to really think about your own organization--to assess your current base and leadership development strategies and think about what you could do to strengthen them. Intro to BB ● What is a base? o Soft: The people who put your organization in their values tree and take action on your shared values ● Who is your base? o Who is your organization? Who puts your organization in their values tree? How many people is that? o If someone claims people outside their base, make sure the use it to explain the difference between your base and a potential base/target demographic o What is the only way to truly know who is in your base? (go into action) ● Why is it important to know/be honest about your base?
o Does anyone know why Christians call the fourth book of the Old Testament ‘Numbers’? Because they take a census of the Israelites near the beginning and end of the book. King David takes a census of the Israelites too. Why? Because they needed to know their base. They needed to know how powerful they were. So that when they went to battle they were honest about what they could win. You’ll get more into this idea later today in Cutting Issues. (But when you count your base I suggest you don’t just count men who can carry a sword as they did then!) ● How do you build a base? o By building relationships! Bases are built 1 one-on-one at a time. When I was an organizer for CRS, I started with about 10 churches in my turf, and by the time I left, there were about 30 member churches in that turf. Where do you think they came from? They all started with a single one-on-one with the pastor or a key lay leader from each of those churches. o But another key tool to building your base that grows out of your 1on1s is action. o FINALLY, building a powerful organization—building your base and developing leaders—is only useful if you are going to move into action! o And we have a saying in organizing about the absolute necessity of action. “Action is to ___________, as ___________ is to the body. ▪ How long can you live without food? ▪ Water? ▪ Oxygen? ▪ o If you’re doing good organizing, doing lots of 1-on-1s, your actions should actually build your base. Why? (because your existing base is using those actions to leverage their relationships and add new people to the base) ▪ This is like worship in some ways for faith communities. Good worship will build your congregations. People will invite other people to be part of it, and when new people come they will want to come back. ▪ So, actions are an opportunity to invite new people to be part of an exciting experience, to energize them, and make them want to get more involved in your organizing o Later on today, you’re going to learn the basics of how to plan and execute an effective action. But the first key to an effective action is having as many people as possible there! So first, we’ll talk about some tips for how to do ‘turnout’ for an action. ‘Turnout’ is the term in organizing we use for the process of ‘turning people out’ to an action. So here are 5 rules for doing effective turnout? ▪ Rule #1: “Do you use that line on everyone?” ● You know those people on the street downtown who try
to catch your attention while you’re walking by to ask you to make a donation to some organization? Why are they mostly ineffective? o Because they have no relationship with you. And therefore they don’t know who you are and what your self-interest is. ● Well, the same holds true for when we’re making an ask of people in our own churches or organizations or neighborhoods. Not all asks are created equal! Canned asks get tepid responses. But if you are able to make an ask in such a way that clearly shows a person that you understand their self-interest and how their self- interest is connected with the ask you’re making, it’s much more likely to be successful. ● In other words, use Relationships and Self-Interest ● 1on1s are the building blocks of our turnout ● You can make an ask to an action at the end of a 1on1 if it’s appropriate for the person’s self-interest ● Or you can use the relationship that you’ve built with someone in a 1on1 to make an effective ask that ● So, Rule #1...use relationships and self-interest when making asks Rule #2: “One is the loneliest number.” ▪ ● Doing turnout by yourself is both draining and ineffective Turnout is a team sport. ● Set your turnout goal as a team and make a plan to hit your goal. ● Divide and conquer--make a list of everyone on your team, have people make commitments for how many asks they will make, and get specific with who each person is asking. ● With team doing turnout--make/keep up to date a list that everyone has access to or that you review regularly at your team meetings ● To hit your turnout goal, you need a plan. With clear steps and assignments for how you will reach your goal. ● So, Rule #2...make a clear turnout plan with your team and share responsibility. Rule #3: “But I put it on Facebook!” ▪ ● Indirect asks (bulletin announcement, e-blast, social media events/postings, newsletter article, and minute for mission) are good and you should use those that are part of your church/organization’s communications, but they are ineffective on their own ● Make Your Asks Count! ● Face to face is best, then phone call, then email
● Ask individuals--And while it’s good to make face-to- face invitations to a group (i.e. a committee), it’ll be even more effective to individuals ● When in person, making people actually sign up when possible--rather than just a verbal commitment--is helpful ● So, Rule #3...make your asks different ways--but face to face is always best. Rule #4: “Yea, I know I said I would, but...” ▪ ● The first step towards accountability is having clear assignments. Making that plan--having clear assignments. But then once you have that, it’s about holding one another accountable. ● Within your team--it’s about regular check-ins and reminding people of your team’s goals. Accountability doesn’t have to shame or become a time where everyone lists all their excuses about why they didn’t do what they said. It should be about people reaffirming their commitments and ● With those you’re asking--don’t be shy about following up. And be sure to have your team make confirmation phone calls or texts the day before an action. Some churches have found that organizing/assigning carpools ahead of time can increase accountability/turnout percentage. ● So, Rule #4...hold one another accountable. Rule #5: “What’s 50% of 70?” ▪ ● That’s what we call Organizer Math ● 100% of the people you sign up won’t make it… ● Things happen… ● Plus people just bail... ● So, Rule #5...use organizer math to avoid overestimating your turnout. o If you follow these steps, you will increase your turnout. And when you increase your turnout, you will grow your base. o Because remember, who is your base? (The people who put your organization in their values tree...who take action on shared values) o Plan and execute good actions, and those people will keep coming back! Intro to LD ● Ok--so that’s base-building. What is the other thing a powerful organization does, again? (Develop leaders!) ● These are the two core practices of all powerful organizations--they’re always building their base and developing new and existing leaders. It’s not enough just to build a big base...you also constantly need to be developing the
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