23 Mobilizing Stakeholders and Advancing Support

Once you have analyzed the power map, the next step is to recruit and mobilize stakeholders and identify tactics that will advance support for your issue or solve the problem you are engaging with. Based on the analysis of the map, the tactics you identify will need to:

• Increase the individual and collective power of those who support
• Increase support for those with the most power

Recruiting and Mobilizing Stakeholders

At this point, you should consider your stakeholders as existing in three different groups, each having a self-interest in the issue or problem.

• The core leadership group is the primary group of about 5-15 people who are committed to this community change effort to the extent that they are willing to show up regularly and engage.
• Accomplices are people who are not only invested in the community issue or impacted by it, but are willing to engage in advocacy and take some level of risk (political, economic, social, etc.). These are likely people who are impacted by the issue, not interested or able to attend regular meetings but can be counted on to take action. These are also people who not only care about the issue for their own self-interest because they are directly impacted by the issue, but also care about other people in the community and are willing to work for their benefit too.^[1]
• Supporters/allies are people who support your cause, recognize the problem, and would be interested in taking action, but likely not action that involves risk.

You will want to engage with this group likely in a few different ways, all focused on communicating with them and providing opportunities for them to be involved. People tend to get involved because they were asked, particularly if they have motivations to contribute to the resolution of an issue or cause.

Recruiting Stakeholders

There are a few primary ways that community organizers recruit and engage with stakeholders; always relying on listening as the primary skill. One of the ‘rules’ is the 80/20 rule; listen 80% of the time and do 20% of the talking^[2]. What you are listening for is how the issue impacts them, how the issue may impact their neighbors/family/friends, what their ideas are for change, and how they might be willing to help.

Recruiting often involves two main strategies:

• Door-to-door visits
  • When an issue is likely impacting a neighborhood or group of people who live in proximity, then going door-to-door can be very useful.
  • Be prepared to introduce yourself, explain what issue you are working on, ask 1-2 questions, and then just listen.
  • Bring a notebook to document where you have been, who has self-interest in the issue, and who could be recruited for the core leadership group, an accomplice, or a supporter/ally.
• One-on-one visits
  • When an issue likely impacts people across a community, then inviting people for one-on-one visits can be very useful.
  • Find a location that is convenient and does not require a significant financial investment (coffee versus lunch). The time and place should be decided by the person you are inviting.
  • The strategy is similar to door-to-door organizing, although you have already introduced yourself to the person in order to set up the meeting. So, more time can be spent asking them a few questions, listening, and documenting.
  • You should also bring a notebook to document their responses and whether they should be recruited for the core leadership group, as an accomplice, or a supporter/ally.^[3]

Mobilizing Stakeholders

• Communicate
  • Communicate regarding the cost/benefit of the issue, in a way that will resonate with them.
    • Create a policy brief
    • Use social media as a platform to communicate
  • Connect the issue with the person’s interests.
    • Hold a meeting or workshop for stakeholders
    • Use social media as a platform for communication and engagement
• Document
  • Communicate information about the issue or problem in a way that is understandable and relatable. Infographics, short issue briefs (no more than 2 pages), or a short video/social media message can be an effective way to do this.
    • Invite testimony
    • Gather stories
• Practice advocacy
  • Support stakeholders to share their own stories

Advancing Support

Once you have mobilized your stakeholders, you need to identify tactics that will advance support for your issue or cause and bring resolution. You need to go back to your power map and determine who to engage with and what tactics to use to advance support. These are broken into two goals:

• Increase the individual and collective power of those who support
• Increase support for those with the most power

Increasing the power of those who support is usually about building collective power, considering political, social, and economic power. As you analyze the map and identify the specific people or groups who need to be targeted, consider the following tactic options for your next steps:

• Leveraging political power by engaging in activities of political influence
  • Attending and speaking at public meetings
  • Letter writing campaigns
  • Initiating letters to be published in local print media
  • Initiating and circulating petitions to then be presented to elected officials
• Leveraging social power by utilizing influential social connections and networks
  • Use social media to educate others about the issue or cause
  • Access social media influencers (people who are particularly active on social media and have high levels of followers)
  • Present the issue and cause to organizations or networks that might be sympathetic and interested
  • Invite the media to profile the issue, ideally following the way your core group has framed it
• Leveraging financial power by using economic resources to bring attention to the issue
  • Invite economic influencers (business leaders, etc.) sympathetic to the issue to frame the issue publicly in economic terminology (financial risks and benefits)
  • Use collective financial power by either encouraging community members to direct their resources to businesses that support the issue or direct resources away from businesses that do not support the issue.

Community Organizing Successes Beyond Issue Resolution

There are many successes in effective community organizing, beyond the obvious one of addressing the issue which brought stakeholders together in the first place. They include:

• Engaging new stakeholders in the process and encouraging them to remain engaged in a variety of capacities going forward—running for elected office, initiating their own issue organizing, etc.
• Redistribution of power by systematically empowering those whose power was elevated during the community organizing process to maintain that power.
  • #PassTheMic Climate is a great example of this redistribution