Networks in Action/Public Library
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Rev. Dr. William R. Murry
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) share rich traditions of strong support of social justice. We have long been a voice for progressive religious values. A Statewide Action Network offers a unique opportunity to expand this work by connecting churches that may not typically work together, offering opportunities to work in partnership with people who may not be part of our local communities and expanding the reach of local church efforts.
Selecting the Issues
One of the first lessons learned is to limit your issues. We are more effective if we focus on no more than 2 or 3 key issues. It is very hard to limit yourself. There are a lot of exciting issues that the churches in your state are already working. There are also a lot of passionate UUs eagerly looking to expand their work. Even after issues have been selected and the advocacy plan is in place, a new issue may unexpectedly come up – a crisis in the state, a back burner issue moves to the forefront.
First establish a process for selecting issues. The process should be clearly defined and easily explained. Consistent with our principles, the process should be to seek broad input, but also leave opportunities for us to explore our values. You also want to have the ability to act on immediate issues. Therefore, regardless of the selection process, you may want give the Board the ability to act in certain instances where the Board determines it is appropriate for UUs to take action on timely matters that may not be encompassed by the Network’s officially adopted issue(s). Additional information is available about issue selection in the Social Justice Empowerment Handbook available at http://www.uua.org/documents/aw/sje_handbook.pdf. Page 22 has an exercise for churches that can be easily applied to a State Networks.
Questions to be considered
1. Does the issue have authentic and deep Unitarian Universalist roots? Does it link to the current identity and theology/philosophy of Unitarian Universalists?
2. Is the issue of concern to marginalized groups in the congregation and in the community? Is anti-oppression built into the project and its way of operating?
3. Is there a match between the Network’s resources, aspirations, and ability to make a real difference?
4. Is there likelihood that the Network can be a respected participant in the public dialogue on this issue? Are there allies the Network can work with? Is this a “hot” issue and a good time to act? Can the Network make a real difference? Are there any UUA/UUSC resources that the Network can use or join?
Models for selecting issues:
1. Survey your congregations about their interest. The goal of surveying is to get information “from UUs in the pews.” Survey results are presented to the Board of Directors for final determination. (See criteria used by Boards)
2. Hold member meetings and vote the issues as part of the annual/legislative meeting. New Hampshire, two years ago, held a legislative meeting and presented several issues for consideration. An advocate of the issue presented each issue. The presentations were taped and copies sent to each congregation in the state (approximately 20). The churches were then asked to vote on the issues that they wanted the network to address. Issues were selected based on the vote.
3. In Minnesota, issues are determined by working groups that are organized at the grassroots level. Guidelines for organizing a working group are provided by the Network. Link to the guidelines will be provided.
4. Work on one collaborative issue. At the 2006 annual meeting of the UU State Advocacy Networks each network agreed to hold open a ‘collaborative’ slot on their respective agenda of issues. The networks selected the issue of ‘global warming’ because this is an issue where the UUA and UUSC are also working and could also collaborate with the Ministry for Earth. UUSAN also committed to continuing the use of a collaborative issue. The issue is reconsidered annually and may also include an incubator issue – that is, one for study only.
Resources:
Criteria for Selecting Collaborative Issues used by UUSAN at their annual meeting in 2006 (order based on brainstorming results)x signifies those criteria deemed most significant.
• x 2008 “hot issue” for UUs
• x 2008 “hot issue” for the general public
• Measurable goals with achievable opportunities for success
• x UUA and UUSC interest
• Appeals to voters of every age
• Appeals to voters under 40
• x Identify the issues on which allies are working
• Define funders interests
• Issue of interest to UUs
• Potential short-term impact
• Longer term impact- two or three years
• Good fit with UU theology and history
• Issue that builds alliances across race and class
• x Identify the issue(s) as liberal
• Translates into a state issue
• Offers numerous ways to participate
• Provides an opportunity for UU leadership
• Bring the issue(s) to GA 2007
• Provides an opportunity for intentional collaboration
• Statistical justification; survey
• x Education and spiritual UU foundation already exists
The UUA in its Social Justice Empowerment Handbook Section II http://www.uua.org/documents/aw/sje_handbook.pdf offers more details on issue selection. This handbook, which was written for congregational use, is easily adapted to a State Network.
Organizing your advocacy work
1. Look for partner. A partner is another organization that will help you do your work. A partner can be a coalition of organizations who have joined together to work on a particular issue. Or a partner can be another advocacy organization who shares your commitment and values. This work is hard. Partners can be invaluable in helping you to develop educational materials, do research on the issues, help organize events and be a sounding board for your own work.2. Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses as you look for partners. What expertise/report do you bring to the issue? How could you help other partners? Where are your skills weak? What help do you want?
3. Identify partner organizations. Some partners or allies are easily found. Many groups have had long working relationship with UU Churches, such as local interfaith groups. There is a natural affinity between UUs and many secular progressive groups. Identifying partner organizations is also an opportunity to work with non-traditional groups. You can find allies by talking to your legislators. Ask them which groups are working similar issues and which organizations are well respected among legislators. Attend meetings; listen to see who is active and what kind of work they do. Join mail lists so that you become familiar with the players and issues.
The UUA and the UUSC are also great resources. A list all of the UUA partner organizations can be found at http://www.uua.org/socialjustice/37179.shtml. Check to see if any of these have local chapters in your state. UUSC’s program partners are listed at http://www.uusc.org/program_partners.
4. Know how your state works. If you are not familiar with the formal and informal processes get a good mentor to help you through your first legislative session or find a volunteer to take the initial leadership role.
5. Build an advocacy plan –
- Establish goals – be sensitive to the need for compromise during the legislative cycle
- Develop your message/campaign name
- Prepare/obtain educational materials
- Identify strategies where you can be effective such as giving testimony, signing postcards, making calls, writing letters to the editor, registering voters, writing press releases, or maintaining databases.
- Identify potential legislators/respected leaders who will support this program. Contact them for ideas about making a difference
- Recruit and organize your volunteers
6. Assess the quality of your communication tools. A campaign requires the ability to reach your supporters quickly. Consider purchasing an email program, as this can be an effective tool during a campaign. Two programs to consider are Contact Contact and Vertical Response
7. Evaluate your work. At the end hopefully we are celebrating our accomplishments. Regardless of the outcomes, assess what you did well and what did not work. Share your results on our blog. This helps all of us to do the work better next time.
Engaging UUs
UU are independent minded, high energy and already engaged in a lot of other activities. There is a lot of competition for the work that you are asking UUs to do. Some strategies that have worked include:- Bring a lot of people to the table. State networks have used several strategies to expand the ‘places at the table’. In addition to the Board of Directors create other means to expand the number of people at the table. Some of the organizational structures used include; creating working groups around each of the issues, local church representatives, and committees which include members outside the board. The bottom line is that you want to expand the number of people who are invested in the success of the State Network.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate – keep your name visible among churches. (link to communications)
- Make participating easy. Be very specific about the actions that are needed. Make it simple, fun. Prepare toolkits to help lay members better understand expectations, procedures and programs.