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Presenters: Dalal, Erenberg, Merino Mullin

Saurabh Dalal
President, Vegetarian Society of DC; Deputy Chair, International Vegetarian Union

Saurabh will explore the common themes from several major Eastern religions as they relate to animals and consider approaches to engage their community members for greater animal advocacy and incorporation of veganism.  He will include concepts from social marketing and use his experiences with the Jain community as an example.

Debra Erenberg
Amnesty International

In this session, I’ll focus on the three things that I think are key for building a group that’s sustainable over the long-haul:

1) Constant Outreach combined with a solid strategy for newcomer orientation and initiation
2) Productive Meetings, and
3) Leadership Development

A primary theme throughout this presentation will be our responsibility to make sure that our groups’ norms of behavior reflect the same values that we’re trying to create in the word, by equalizing power and creating a space where all are encouraged to actively engage, listen, speak and act with respect.

1) Outreach:

Outreach is important:

• educate people
• gets people engaged in your campaigns,
• gets you petition signatures and donations, and
• increases your visibility in the community.
• Most importantly, brings new people and energy to your group. 

Look for every possible opportunity to set up a table, canvass a crowd, make a classroom announcement, go door to door, or otherwise get out there and engage your community. 

The more diverse your outreach tactics are, the more diverse your group can become.  It may take some time to make inroads in some new communities, but the more you show up and talk with (and more important, listen to) people, the more they’ll hear what you have to say.  It’s an investment in your organization over time.  Think about partnering with a group that the community might be more familiar with to get a friendly introduction and look carefully at your messaging to make sure it’s inclusive and appealing to this audience.

When you do outreach, always have something for people to sign that will get them onto your email list.  Send them a welcome message before they forget why they were interested.

If possible, invite these new folks to something your group is doing right away.  If you hold a regular monthly meeting, you could have a newcomer’s orientation in the half hour before the meeting each month to welcome new folks, fill them in on what you’re working on, and explain what’s going to happen at the meeting.

Another good way to make new folks feel welcome is to assign them a buddy who will introduce them around, explain strange acronyms to them and make them feel like they belong.

Remember, people first show up because they care about the issue, but they keep coming back because they care about the people.  If new folks feel like they’re coming into a group where everyone’s in a clique and they don’t fit in, they won’t come back.

2) Running a productive meeting

Another reason people don’t come back is because the meetings are LONG, BORING, CONTENTIOUS and DON’T ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING.  Sound familiar?

Respect people’s time by setting time limits for agenda items and sticking to them.  Respect people by establishing norms of behavior that the group agrees all members will follow and hold each other accountable to.

I want to spend some time talking about power dynamics in groups.  Even though animal rights groups actively work to eliminate oppression against other animals, we still need to be aware of how power and privilege can create oppressive dynamics where humans are concerned.

[refer to key points from handout]
3) Inclusive forms of decision making and leadership structures

Radical groups = consensus and “we’re all leaders”
But w/o a clear understanding of consensus, we get bogged down in discussion without action.
Without clear roles, we’re all leaders can mean nothing’s getting done.

• Formal consensus process
• Assigning roles and developing leadership as people are ready for it

And whenever you give someone a new responsibility, make sure that they have a clear job description, and all of the training and support they need to succeed in the role.  Nothing is more disempowering than being given a lot of responsibility that you’re not prepared to take on.

At every meeting, make sure it’s absolutely clear who is agreeing to what tasks.

Have someone who is accountable for holding everyone else accountable.  Celebrate “The Group Nag”

Finally and most importantly,

HAVE FUN! 

We’re dealing with serious, upsetting issues – and the best way to stay in it for the long haul is to have a group of people who support and appreciate each other.

Carolyn Merino Mullin
National Museum of Animals & Society

What’s in it for your organization?

• Oftentimes, interns are more reliable than volunteers
• With additional help, an organization is able to get special projects done
• Provides employees or integral volunteers with support and a chance for them to allocate tasks effectively
• The organization is exposed to fresh, new perspectives and ideas
• increases visibility of an organization within the schools/communities of its region
• Allows your organization to observe a prospective employee or permanent volunteer before hiring them

What’s in it for the intern?

• Opportunities to:
• gain professional experience
• meet people in the field of their interest
• reinforce their school work with practical application of knowledge
• develop their skills
• bolster their resume
• gain insight into career paths of interest
• participate in a personally rewarding activity
• find potential employment with the organization or networking in the field

Planning for Success

• Job Description
• Determine your need and create an intern job description around that: duties, qualifications.
• Who will be the intern supervisor?
• How will they keep in contact if there is no central office? At NMAS, although interns work remotely, they meet with their intern supervisor once a week by phone or at a coffee shop.
• How should an intern apply? Is there an on-line form or are you accepting resumes, cover letters and writing samples at a particular e-mail address?
• Post internships on free sites
• Idealist.org is a prime one
• College databases is another.  Usually once you’re plugged in with one, they automatically update the other college listings. www.lacnjobs.org
• Local paper? Craigslist?
• Be timely and responsive
• Don’t keep interns hanging.
• Make a standard reply for when you receive an application, letting applicants know what the next step is.
• Do the same if you decide not to interview a candidate or after an interview.
• The Interview Process
• It’s somewhat of a science.
• Start off with ice breaker questions: What are you doing now? What do you plan to do with your degree? Why are you interested in an internship with us?
• Some questions are designed to tease out certain qualities or traits about an intern without their knowing, so for NMAS I’m trying to evaluate whether intern applicants can work well independently, without much supervision, and still deliver. I also want to know if they know anything about the Museum. This seems pretty basic, but it’s incredible how many applicants don’t even know that we’re solely an on-line/mobile museum.
• One question I’m a big fan of is “If you could do anything or learn anything in an internship what would that be?” Personally, I’d like to know what floats a particular candidates boat and perhaps they have a genius idea that would suit our organization really well. This could also be an opportunity for you to discover any new talents, skills or interests the candidate may have that would be useful to your organization.
• To level the playing field, use the same set of questions for all the candidates of a particular internship.
• Tailor your questions for the different internships.
• Talk about time commitments, availability and wrap up with a summary of the next steps.
• During the internship
• Make the experience a valuable one; the more you put into the program, the more you'll get back. And when you create a rewarding and positive mentoring experience, you'll attract top candidates and get great work in return.
• Always thank, praise and provide thoughtful feedback on the intern’s work
• One-on-ones
• Check-in to see how
• projects are going. Assess the development of a project or task, see if the intern needs additional support, resources or guidance.
• the intern is feeling. Many interns are students and have external pressures that may affect their performance, so keep that in mind and keep tabs on your intern.
• Great time for you to update them on what else is going on in the organization; developments, upcoming events, etc. This is especially important if you don’t have regular staff or volunteer meetings. It helps the intern feel like a part of the bigger picture.
• End of an internship
• Evaluation
• Sincere thank you letter and gift
• Add them to listserve, if not already on it, so that they can stay in touch and abreast of the group’s activities. Interns can turn into some of the loudest and proudest advocates and member recruiters for your organization.
• Options to hire, keep on as a long-term volunteer, or simply end on a friendly amicable note?
• Other things to consider
• Should you have a contract with the intern
• A waiver of liability in case they are actively doing something for the organization
• What do I do about an intern who isn’t performing well or just isn’t suiting the organization?