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 Welcome DFA Organizers!

DFA Organizers have the power to utilize DFA's online toolkit to create change in their community. Check out the links below for help on doing everything from sending a message using the DFA Community Tools to some things to keep in mind when planning a phone bank.

Still have questions? Feel free to give us a shout via phone or e-mail at any time.

DFA Field Team
field@democracyforamerica.com
(802) 651-3200 Ext 107

ONLINE TOOLS
Apply to be an organizer
Create groups
Manage groups
Create events
Manage events

OFFLINE TOOLS
Organizing a canvass
Organizing a constituent meeting
Organizing a house party
Organizing a phone bank
Delivering a petition
Organizing a rally
Organizing a news conference

DFA MATERIALS (Ready-to-Print PDFs)
DFA contribution form
Sample press release
Sign-in sheet

ONLINE TOOLS

Apply to be an Organizer
Go to www.democracyforamerica.com/organize and fill out the form.
Once you’ve completed the form on this page, a member of the Democracy for America Field team will contact you and set up an interview time to talk about becoming active in your region.
Note: It’s important that you fill in your City, State and Zip, or you won’t be able to create events and groups.
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Create Groups
Click on the ‘Community’ tab at the top of the page
Go to ‘My DFA’
Under ‘Groups you Organize,’ click ‘Start a new group’
Fill in all the details
Click ‘Create group’ and you’re done!
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Manage Groups
On the ‘My DFA’ page, click on ‘Organize/Edit’
From here, you can use our many online tools to promote your group.
You can message/email all your members, invite new members to join your group, edit information on your page and link your group to Facebook.
You can also edit your group settings, and decide who can post and view comments on your message board by clicking on ‘Edit group settings.’
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Create Events
Click on the ‘Community’ tab at the top of the page
Go to ‘My DFA’
Under ‘Events you Organize,’ click ‘Create a new event’
Select your group at the bottom of the page under ‘Hosted by’
You’ll be taken to the ‘Manage Event’ page.
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Manage Events
Click on the ‘Community’ tab at the top of the page
Go to ‘My DFA’
Under ‘Events you Organize,’ click on ‘Organize/Edit.’
You’ll be taken to the Event Management page.
From this page, you can edit and promote your event.
TIP: To invite people to your event, click on ‘Invite friends’
Here, you can send out a message to promote your event.
You can choose to add members of groups, campaigns and events that you organize, and you can import email addresses for non-DFA members.
When you write a message, don’t copy and paste it from Microsoft Word, or you’ll end up with dodgy formatting. Write the email in the browser itself, or in a plain text editor like Notepad.
On this page, you can also message all the attendees of your event, and download useful DFA guides to running your event.
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OFFLINE

Canvassing – walking a neighborhood, knocking on doors and talking with neighbors – is both easy and fun. It is also by far the best way to win votes in an election and educate people on an issue. Canvassing has a high impact on people because it allows for two-way communications between the campaign and community members. Our easy-to-follow canvassing guide shows you how to organize a successful canvass.
>>Download and print out or canvassing guide
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Organizing a constituent meeting is easy and it's a great way to get more people involved with Democracy for America and your local community actions. Constituent meetings have a high impact on elected officials because it allows face-to-face, two-way communication with the community members they're elected to serve. Our easy-to-follow constituent meeting guide shows you how to organize and run a successful meeting.
>>Download and print out our constituent meeting guide
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Hosting a house party is easy and it's a great way to get more people involved with your local DFA Group or Action Team. House parties have a high impact on attendees because it allows for face-to-face, two-way communication between the campaign and community members in a casual setting. Our easy-to-follow house party guide explains step-by-step the key points to plan and host a successful party.
>>Download and print out our house party guide
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Phone banking -- calling community members to discuss candidates and issues -- is easy and it's one of the best ways to contact people about elections and politics. Phone banking has a high impact because it allows for two-way communications between the campaign and community members. Our easy-to-follow phone banking guide shows you how to organize a successful phone bank.
>>Download and print out our phone bank guide
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Delivering a petition is the most influential part of the process to show your Senator, Representative, or other elected official the support your issue has from within their constituency. It also offers you a time to discuss the issue, why you believe it is important, and why they should take-on your perspective. This how-to guide will lead you step-by-step through the process of setting up and prepping for the meeting, to the follow-up after the meeting.
>>Download and print out our petition delivery guide
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Organizing a rally is a good way to emphasize widespread support for a particular local issue as a means to persuade or encourage your local leaders to vote on your side of an issue. Successful rallies are well publicized public events, sponsored by multiple organizations, with the media present. This easy-to-follow rally organizing guide will explain all the basic logistics and prep work for a successful rally.
>>Download and print out our rally guide
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Press conferences are a great way to get your message out to a wider audience and earn media coverage for your campaign.
>>Download and print out our press conference guide
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DFA MATERIALS

DFA contribution form
 Use this contribution form to ask for donations at events and meetings. Print it out and bring envelopes in which checks can be sealed along with the forms and then drop them in the mail, it's just that easy.
>>Download and print out our contribution form
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DFA issue guides
 Print out this quick issue guide to pass out at events and give attendees unfamiliar with DFA an overview of what we stand for. This one-page guide outlines our positions on achieving universal healthcare, solving the climate crisis, reforming the Democratic Party, and ending the wars.
>>Download and print out our issue guide
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DFA postcard
Democracy for America's all-purpose postcard. Print it out and use it to mail invitations to an event. Use it to write your local elected officials and congresspersons on important issues like healthcare. Use it to write "Thank you" notes to event attendees, members who have recently joined your local DFA Group, and more!
>>Download and print out our all-purpose postcard
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Sample press release
Alert media outlets in your area of major events you and your DFA Group are planning. Print out this sample press release and use it as a template for your own event. Then, send your own release off to local newspapers, radio and television stations in your area.
>>Download and print out our sample press release
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Sign-in sheet
 Your events and monthly meetings are a great way to build lists of progressive activists in your area for future actions. Print out this DFA Sign-In Sheet and have your event and meeting attendees sign in. Keeping good records will make hosting future events easier for you and other progressive activists in your area.
>>Download and print out our sign-in sheet
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