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Core Group Member Orientation

Goals of the Orientation: It's important to talk through your motivation, goals and the expectations for the work of a core group member, and to prepare to be succcessful.

This orientation can take place one-on-one between the Council Coordinator and a new core group member, or with a group of core group members.

Note: the core group member should be given and asked to read the following materials before the orientation:

Goals:

  • Get to know your core group member and their reasons for doing this work.
    • Talk about the:
      MoveOn Story
      Core group member Job Description
      CC/ core group member working relationship
  • Make a plan for their role within the group, and trainings that they should participate in.
  • Make a plan for how they will work to develop their organizing skills, using the Leadership Development Planning Worksheet.


Introductions -- 10 min

Kick off the orientation by talking together to get to know each other's motivation for your work with MoveOn and what you're excited about for your role. Here are a few questions to get you started.

  • Why are you a member of MoveOn? What motivates you to take action?
  • Do you have much experience with political work? Do you work with other organizations?
  • What have you liked about events that you've participated in?
  • What do you do for living? What's your family like?
  • What excites you about our MoveOn approach?
  • What have you noticed about the Council's organizing so far?

History of MoveOn -- 5 min

What do you already know about the history of MoveOn? What's been your experience?

MoveOn Started with Clinton impeachment in 1998

  • Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, two software entrepreneurs, were frustrated about Congress focusing on impeachment.
  • It all begin with an online petition. They created a website with a petition "Censure President Clinton and Move On to Pressing Issues Facing the Nation."
  • They emailed it to their friends, who emailed to their friends, etc. After a month 300,000 people signed their simple petition and MoveOn was born

Today, MoveOn's mission is to bring real Americans back into the political process.

  • For too long only the rich and well connected have been able to make their voices heard
  • Technology is offering us new ways to do this. Technology has offered new ways for busy but concerned folks to make a real difference—and it's even stronger when we're all doing it together

MoveOn is different from most other groups.

  • Outsider grassroots power: Not part of the DC establishment or beholden to the Democrats. Get our power from our members. From thousands of small donors, not big checks. Will go after Democrats or Republicans if they cross the line.
  • Member service: Primary goal is to provide a service for our members. Folk want to engage on the issues they care about, but it's hard to know how. So we provide that service. Means that we also only do things that our members want us to.
  • Multiple national issues: Work on the national issues are the priority for our members.

Our local Council:

  • What's our local council history and experience?
  • What events have we held recently?
  • How have we been successful, and what have been our challenges?

MoveOn Council Story and Current Campaign-- 10 min

Discuss MoveOn Council Story: (for the most updated version, click here:)

http://www.moveon.org/team/councilstory.html

Discuss current campaign goals and how the Council has been participating.


Council Coordinator Job Description -- 10 min

For the most updated version, click here:

http://www..moveon.org/team/roles/corejob.html

Now, it's important to discuss more about what we mean by leadership development.

In general, leadership development is always part of being a good organizer. Here are some general principles about leadership development:

  • Leadership development is about developing members to be organizers-- when members have the skills to organize locally, we increase MoveOn's capacity.

  • Leadership development is different then training leaders. Training is the first step in the process. Developing implies that we build skills by sharing our knowledge and experience in ways that foster self-reflection, critical feedback, confidence and growth.

  • Leaders at all levels have a responsibility to develop each other: Everyone has an important role to play to develop the leadership of those "above", "below" or at their own "level". Work to develop all the leaders around you.

  • Leadership development it is a fundamental part of council culture-- it should be a fundamental part of all of our events and our organizing.

  • Leadership development is movement building-- MoveOn leaders will not only lead MoveOn's campaigns, but also be leaders in the larger progressive movement.

 

Here's some questions for the core group members to discuss:

  • What questions do you have about the role of the core group member?

  • What excites you most about being a core group member?

  • What are you nervous/ will you find challenging?

  • How can the Council Coordinator best support the work of the core group members?


Working with the Council Coordinator and core group (5 min)

Commitment: You can expect to spend between 6-8 hours a month doing the work of the core group member. This varies depending on the actions that we hold over the course of the month.

Communication: It's important that we're in regular communication by phone and email. What are the best times to reach you? The best times to reach me are _____.
How can we best set up communication between our entire group group? Can we set a regular time to check in?

Training: We strive to build a culture of learning and improvement, and so participating in and helping run trainings with your Regional Coordinator and Council Coordinator will be a big part of our working relationship. In our experience, we've found that doing lots of practice or role plays is something that truly works. Does that make sense?

Delegation and Leadership Development: In MoveOn, we're not just holding events-- we're building the progressive movement for the long term. So, it's up to all of us to continue to bring new council members into the core group, and work to develop our own skills as council leaders.

 

Web tools -- 10 min

Core group members have access to a web page to manage their Council.

Your Council Page:

This is how councils stay in touch and work together locally. It's important to keep it updated, so let's make sure you understand its function. Here's how to: (walk through each section of the page together)

  • Add members to roster through the admin function on the Council page

  • Add and change members' roles

  • Email our Council: for example, sometimes we only send emails to council coordinators, core group, or just council members. If these folks aren't marked correctly on this page, they won't get the email.

  • Find Events listings

  • Sign up to host an event

  • Access Event Guide

Next Steps: 10 min

Next steps in the campaign-- what's your vision for how the campaign should move forward?

Training: What trainings have you already participated in, and which should you participate in next? For example, recruitment, media, delegation, facilitation, accountability?

Responsibilities: Talk through the next steps in the campaign. What are the responsibilities that you're committing to as a core group member? What role can you commit to?

Leadership development: Fill out the leadership development worksheet together, identifying the skills that the core group member is focusing on, and how they'll use those skills in the next steps in the Council's organizing.

Click here to download the Core member Leadership Development Worksheet

Thanks for being a member of the Council core group!

 

 

 

 

Paid for by MoveOn.org Political Action, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

MoveOn.org Civic Action is a 501(c)(4) organization which primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on important national issues. MoveOn.org Political Action is a federal political committee which primarily helps members elect candidates who reflect our values through a variety of activities aimed at influencing the outcome of the next election. MoveOn.org Political Action and MoveOn.org Civic Action are separate organizations.