Alliance for Nuclear Accountability > DC Days

Organizing at Home

Participating in DC Days is a very empowering experience for local organizations.

It gives a deeper meaning to the work we do as grassroots activists, a deeper sense of commitment to our community and world, and satisfaction in knowing that even one person can have an impact on public policy decisions. It just takes that one person asking a policy-maker a question or seeking an answer to a problem to make a difference. YOU can be that ONE!

Here are some ideas for helping you and members of your organization participate in DC Days 2010.

Send several people from your group

Find volunteers from your group to attend. This is a great way to turn individuals into a team of skilled activists. From figuring out how to raise the money to participate to reporting back to your community, activists will learn a broad range of skills that will be used over and over again. As you think about folks who would be good to send, consider the following:

Active volunteers
Board members
Staff
Young people, high school & college students
Representatives from diverse constituencies
Community or governmental leaders
Allied friends and organizations

All participants need to have some stamina for long days on Capitol Hill,
flexibility in dealing with changing circumstances, and a good sense of humor.

Fundraising

Since the cost of participating in DC Days can be as high as $1000 per person (including airfare, lodging and food), it is important that no individual has to raise the money alone. When local members band together to raise the money to send someone to represent your group, it adds to the interest and commitment of the community and participants. If you have ever fundraised for a cause, you know the thrill of learning that other people share your views and are willing to support your efforts. Suggestions for raising the money include:

Find someone to donate frequent flier miles or tickets
Find someone to host your members in DC
Dances
Art/service auctions
Raffles
Yard Sales
Spaghetti dinners
House parties
Bowl-a-thons or other 'a-thons
Phone bank your membership
Be sure to support attendees who might need childcare or someone to walk the dog when they are gone
Incorporate participating in DC Days into your yearly organizational plans, along with fundraising opportunities
Thank Your Donors

Reporting back to the Community

After you return from DC, take a few days to regroup, but remember, it is important to share the information you have learned with your organization and community. Contacting the media before you leave and while you are there can provide excellent local coverage for you and your group. A media consultant will be available in the ANA DC Days headquarters to help you work this out. There are several ways of getting your story out:

Write letters of "Thanks" to folks who helped get you to DC and describe your experiences
Write an article for your newsletter
Talk to a reporter at your local newspaper, TV station or radio station. Live call-in shows from DC or after you are home can be fun
Hold a community meeting and have all DC Days participants give a small presentation and then answer questions
Write articles for other organizations' newsletters
Give presentations to allied organizations. Churches are often good places to share experiences
Sponsor house parties where you share your slides or videos
Be sure to keep them updated on how you work went. If you won a major concession, be sure to let your donors know. Results speak for themselves
Write an op-ed for you local newspaper

Tips on Recruiting and Training DC Days Participants

Recruiting Participants

Recruit reliable volunteers
Reward your interns, donors, volunteers, or board members for all their hard work by sending them to DC Days.
Use your personal contacts to recruit or raise money for your trip
When recruiting participants, contact local high schools/colleges/universities with environmental, political and security groups.
Contact those who have written or signed opinions or written a letter on nuclear issues.
Contact lists of those who testified at or at least attended nuclear-related hearings.
Recruit influential and powerful folks in your community who support your work.
Your donors and members are good for more than just their money. Inviting them to DC Days is a great way to say thanks and to inspire them to continue to support our cause.

Training Recruits

Have the first meeting as a casual meeting or gettogether. Beer and popcorn or pizza is great. Possibly watch a video of your work or a related issue to get folks talking. Try "Amazing Grace and Chuck," a kids’ nuclear weapons protest film starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Gregory Peck.
Explain what the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) does and how your group ties into ANA.
Stress the fun things like visiting famous places, being a part of the democratic process, seeing famous policy makers face-to face, the pizza party, award ceremony, and all the other things that make DC Days great. DC Days is work, but it’s also really fun.
Second meeting. Go over past fact sheets of the major issues (they are available on the ANA website) and stress this year’s issues will be similar but not necessarily the same.
Explain the Sunday training and stress its importance. Go through each step (from previous years) with emphasis on works hops and meeting signups. Newcomers only have to sign up for a few meetings a day. Remove the fear factor and make all phases of the training fun.
Have each participant choose a field of "expertise" that they will feel comfortable exploring and researching. Emphasize that the meetings are short, so they only have to be a 2minute expert on their subject.

Tell each participant: You will probably know more than the aide or legislator you will be talking to. If you omit or forget something, there will be a team leader there to fill in the blanks.
If you really do not feel comfortable talking, every meeting needs a note taker and a timekeeper, but we encourage everyone to speak. You will be happy you did, and there is power in numbers: the louder we speak the more they have to listen.

Using the map of Capitol Hill from the packet, have all participants become familiar with the locations of all House and Senate buildings and know how long it takes to get from one side of the Hill to the other.

Remind them to always have lots of little bills or else they will often end up paying for all the other folks with whom they share a taxi. And for the sake of their feet, make sure everyone has shoes they can do a lot of walking in.

Try to find home- stays in DC. It is more fun and greatly reduces the amount of money needed for the trip. Contacts in DC are often willing to take in fellow traveling activists.
If you want to go, raise your own $. Don't forget to ask family and friends!
Start out rested and healthy, we work hard and play hard.
Try not to be stressed! The best way to get around this is to prepare. Spend plenty of time studying the fact sheets in the weeks leading up to DC Days.

Have Fun and Change the World!