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Grassroots Corner 12/7

KEEPING VOLUNTEERS ENGAGED WITH ACTIVITY

Imagine this picture. You find someone who likes the FAIRtax and wants to help. What now?  This problem highlights the importance of projects, programs and activities. If your new volunteer sees nothing happening, he or she will soon break away and go do something else.
 
Some immediate activities for the new volunteer to do alone can bring a sense of accomplishment. One activity might include talking to friends, family, neighbors and colleagues about the FAIRtax.

Another activity for the new volunteer can be to correspond with his or her Congress Member. All Congress Members have websites with a section for contacting the Member. It is important for the Member to know that the volunteer lives in the Member’s Congressional District, and the web page will probably require a zip+4 verification of address. The volunteer should identify the bill number (HR25 in the House and S18 in the Senate this year; probably still HR25 next year; check for the bill number in the Senate for next year) and then have the volunteer say anything the volunteer wants in support of the FAIRtax. Individually composed messages are more effective than “canned” messages, although we can give you suggested texts.
 
Meeting with one’s Congress Member (Congress Members have schedulers and will usually meet with constituents) is more effective than one may think. In the Member’s mind, a constituent taking the trouble to meet in person probably means that there are at least ten constituents, probably a hundred, out in the District who support the FAIRtax.
 
Meetings in the District are less rushed than meetings in Washington DC, where the Member might even break the appointment if called into a session - after the Volunteer has already traveled to DC. However the legislative tax aide may be in DC and not in the District, and sometimes the volunteer will be asked to meet first with the Member’s legislative aide. The volunteer will have to decide where to meet and whether to take a meeting with the aide. We have materials to help the new volunteer get ready for a meeting.
 
Never forget “print” media (most newspapers have online editions) and social media. A letter to the editor should be no longer than 250 words (use “Word Count” under “Review” on Microsoft Word) and contain no more than three bullet points about the FAIRtax.
 
If possible, try to get the new volunteer to report back to you when he or she has completed a task. A coordinated effort is more effective than an individual effort.

A new volunteer who does not demonstrate such a level of commitment would still benefit from being added to our list - and being asked to follow FairTax on Facebook and @FairTax on Twitter. Adding a volunteer to our list and getting the volunteer to follow us has a twofold benefit. First, the new volunteer receives reminders about the FAIRtax. It is said that the average adult needs about seven spread-out exposures to a message before a message registers. Weekly Chairman’s Reports, Grassroots Corners, and memes keep the message in front of the volunteer. Second, these measures help us to identify our supporters and to know where they are.
 
Coming Grassroots Corners will feature Illinois FAIRtax Leader, Marilyn Rickert and her activities at the national level, as well as some comments about group activities and educating volunteers. Let me have your ideas about volunteer activities.



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CALL FOR PICTURES AND WRITEUPS


We need MORE of you to send in pictures and news.  If you have anything to share, please send your material to me at jim.bennett@fairtax.org, or text me at (908) 578-4975, or fax me at (908) 598-2888. When others see your activity, they are inspired, and the process snowballs. When the process snowballs, Congress Members and Senators and, yes, even the President start to listen.