● SBA Roundup: Grassroots activism across Massachusetts ● Aiming at Georgia ● Communication skills ● Join the team ● All In for NC monthly meeting ● A wakeup call from behind the lines ● Activist training: Recap! and Google Sheets and Zoom
Celebrate Grassroots Activism Across Massachusetts
Sunday's Swing Blue Alliance All Volunteer Roundup will introduce you to dozens of local grassroots group leaders from Western Mass to Cape Cod. Swing Left Director of Grassroots Organizing, Matt Caffrey, will be the lead speaker.
Join us and you’ll receive a directory of the most active groups in Massachusetts. One lucky attendee wins a Swing Blue Alliance mug!
We all experienced the wonder of Jan 2021, when voters in Georgia stood up for a Democratic Senate. SBA is honored to support Reclaim Our Vote to build upon that momentum.
Reclaim Our Vote, which is a campaign within the Center for Common Ground, has sent more than 10.4 million postcards to increase voter protection and participation.
Here’s an opportunity to protect the hard-won gains on Georgia. Host a postcard distribution. Your volunteers will send postcards to encourage voters in the upcoming Georgia primary for the midterm elections. Hosting is a straightforward task:
Place your order for postcards on the SBA eStore
Invite friends and family (and/or post your event online to expand your pool of volunteers)
Pick up and divide the cards into packs of 25
Make the cards available for postcard writers on any day you choose
As usual, SBA provides whatever you need to be successful. Sign up now, so your volunteers will have plenty of time to get the postcards in the mail by April 25.
You've probably heard about open-ended conversations, active listening, and now deep canvassing. If so, you might be wondering what it’s about and where you can learn how to use these approaches.
SBA's class on Communication Skills for Volunteer Recruiting will teach you the art of engaging others in fruitful conversation. This workshop includes one-on-one practice and handouts that will increase your confidence.
You’ll be able to apply your new skills to a good cause: participating in the Volunteers Taking Back Democracy (T*B*D) Calling Corps. This SBA campaign recruits experienced volunteers in swing states. We’re reenergizing these volunteers so they can get voters the information they need to register and vote.
Prepare yourself to build a strong Democratic infrastructure in states that need it most.
Did you ever teach at the elementary, high school, or college level? Perhaps you wrote documentation or developed curriculum?
If so, you'd be a great addition to SBA's training team. Here's your chance to encourage and support SBA volunteers on all aspects of activism.
Last week, several eager volunteers replied to our volunteer opportunities with enthusiasm. Join them and put your skills to work in support of democracy!
At the All in for NC monthly meeting you can hear about redistricting and progressive messaging from Blair Reeves, Executive Director of Carolina Forward. You’ll also learn about recruiting candidates for 2022 from Durham's State Rep. Vernetta Alston.
All in for NC and local activists are going 'all in' to take back North Carolina. They’re laying the groundwork for a Democrat to win the open Republican-held US Senate seat as well as take over the state House and protect the Democratic majority on the state Supreme Court.
That’s the subtitle of David Pepper’s book on the dangers of autocracy. Come hear from the author himself! Pepper will be speaking at the Indivisible Mass Coalition (IMC) Statewide Call, and you can get his perspective for free!
This event is cohosted by IMC, which supports the work of more than 50 Indivisible groups and their allies across Massachusetts, and Act on Mass, which focuses on education, advocacy, and organizing to build a functioning democracy.
Learning Corner
Activist Training: Recap! and More
Recap!
Have you attended any of the Activist Training sessions? Or are you curious about what the classes covered? Here are links to presentations that recap what people have learned so far!
If you're an organizer, you won't want to miss these upcoming sessions:
March 26: Google Sheets II with Mail Merge!
In Google Sheets I, you learned how to work with columns and rows and format the worksheet to look more attractive.
The Google Sheets II workshop will cover how to put the power of this powerful database tool to use so you can easily organize and tabulate data, plus send emails to large lists of people. You'll learn how to:
Merge and sort lists
Make sure there aren't duplicates in your list
Use YAMM (Yet Another Mail Merge) to send and track email to everyone on your list
Filter your list to send to a portion of your list
Both sessions are co-hosted by Indivisible Acton Area, Swing Blue Alliance, and Indivisible Mass Coalition in collaboration with volunteers at the MAssachusetts Grassroots Information Center, a Slack workspace for exchanging information, encouraging connections among groups, and building activist momentum across the state. Join the News-MAGIC Slack space today.
Our Mission
Swing Blue Alliance (formerly Swing Left Greater Boston) is the largest all-volunteer Democratic grassroots organization headquartered in Massachusetts. We use proven methods to protect our Democracy, work on competitive local and national elections, and strengthen the Democratic party at the grassroots level.
