Huddles
Huddles are groups of around 10 people working on activism together, or encouraging each other’s efforts. They have weekly or monthly meetings and create or enrich friendships. They work on specific initiatives together – rallying, contacting Members of Congress, etc.: or they follow an action list such as 5 calls. We are setting up a mentor program to help Huddles develop and blossom. Please contact me for more details.
Here’s a quick outline of some steps you can take to recruit for your initial Huddle and any future Huddles that you schedule after the first if your group decides to expand.
Step 1:
Set a numerical goal for the amount of attendees you hope to have at your Huddle and
build your promotion plan toward achieving this goal.
Important note: You will want to make sure that every voice at your Huddle is being
heard to help facilitate a positive, inclusive, action-oriented and productive environment.
To achieve this, we recommend no more than 10-15 guests per facilitator.
Step 2:
Promote your event within your personal network and among stand out
volunteers/marchers that participated in your local Sister March.
Were there any volunteers that worked hard to organize and/or promote your local Sister March? Is there anyone within your personal network that has proven to be an outstanding ally within the movement for social justice and equality? Are there any local celebrities/well-known activists that have expressed interest and/or joined a Sister
March?
Consider using the following text message/Facebook message or email
templates to recruit for your Huddle:
Text Message/Facebook Message Template
“Hi {{NAME}}! I hope you are doing well. I am reaching out to let you know about a local event that I am organizing at {{LOCATION}}. Next Up Huddle {{CITY/TOWN}} will serve as a necessary next step to the local Women’s Marches that took place nationally and around the globe on January 21st. This Huddle will be a positive, inclusive, action-oriented, and productive space for local marchers and allies within our community to define our next steps and envision how to transform the energy we saw at Women’s Marches into local and national action to win back the country and world we want. As a {{MARCHER/ALLY}}, it would be great to have you
be a part of our local Huddle on {{DATE}} at {{TIME}}. Can you join us?”
Whether they say yes or no, be sure to thank them for their time.
If yes, send them the link to your ActionNetwork event page and ask them to RSVP.
If no, ask them if they can connect you with another marcher/ally that they think might be interested in joining your Huddle.
Email Recruitment Template
Subject Line: Can you join our Women’s March Next Step Huddle?
Body:
Hi {{FRIEND’S NAME}},
I hope all is well.
On January 21st, {{CITY}} joined hundreds of Sister Marches being organized nationwide and around the world in solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington. We marched in solidarity here in {{CITY}} to speak out against hate and celebrate the strength of our community We sent a powerful message to the world that we will continue to unify in defense of our rights and our values and hold our elected officials accountable for realizing religious freedom, human rights, climate justice, racial justice, economic justice, and reproductive justice in our society.
Can you join our Next Up Huddle in {{CITY}} on {{DATE}} and {{TIME}}?
RSVP & Event Details here:
As a {{MARCHER/ALLY}} committed to achieving social, economic, and environmental justice in our society, I thought you might be interested in attending our Next Up Huddle, where we will strengthen our movement by creating lasting grassroots connections, brainstorm ideas and best practices for civic engagement that can be shared with the Sister March Network, and promote our agenda with clear, actionable next steps.
The success of this movement depends on building powerful bonds within our communities and empowering a network of neighborhoods across the country to act collectively to resist social injustice. Please consider RSVPing to attend and let’s work together to show the world that this movement for social justice isn’t going anywhere any time soon!
Sincerely,
{{YOUR NAME}}
Step 4:
Recruit for your Huddle on social media. Post the link to your ActionNetwork event page on the discussion board of the Facebook event page for your local Sister March or the overarching Facebook Page that hosted the Sister March.
Facebook Post Template
“Hello {{CITY/TOWN Sister Marchers! I hope you are doing well.
I am reaching out to let you know about a local event that I am organizing at {{LOCATION}}. Next Up Huddle {{CITY/TOWN}} will serve as a necessary next step to our city’s Sister March that took place on January 21st. This Huddle will be a positive, inclusive, action-oriented, and productive space for local marchers and allies within our community to define our next steps and envision how to transform the energy we saw at Women’s Marches into local and national action to win back the country and world we want. As a {{MARCHER/ALLY}}, it would be great to have you be a part of our local Huddle on {{DATE}} at {{TIME}}. Can you join us?”
Step 5:
Be sure to follow up with guests that have RSVPed on your ActionNetwork page the day before your event is set to take place. Since your Huddle is meant to be a small, intimate event, there shouldn’t be many people on your RSVP list – consider enabling a field on the RSVP sign up form on ActionNetwork to collect phone numbers so you can all each guest to confirm their attendance. If you have too many guests to call individually, you can use the following email template and use ActionNetwork’s built-in mass email tool to remind everyone on the RSVP list at once.
Email Reminder Template
Hello,
I hope all is well.
I’m sending this email to remind you that we will be meeting tomorrow for our local Next Up Huddle at {{TIME}} at {{ADDRESS/LOCATION}}.
As a reminder, this will be a positive, inclusive, action-oriented and productive space for us to strengthen our movement following the Women’s March by creating lasting grassroots connections, brainstorm ideas and best practices for civic engagement that can be shared with the Sister March Network, and promote our agenda with clear, actionable next steps. Please come prepared to share your ideas for actions that our Huddle can take together as a group to help make our community and world more democratic, just, safer and freer. Please also bring {{ANY MATERIALS THAT YOU NEED GUESTS TO BRING I.E. SNACKS, PENS, NOTEBOOKS,
MARKERS, ETC.}}
Thank you again for RSVPing as a guest to our neighborhood Huddle, and I look forward to seeing
you there!
Sincerely,
{{YOUR NAME}}
Step 6:
At the conclusion of your event, ask guests in attendance at your Huddle to commit to recruiting one to five additional friends to join the Women’s March community and have them sign up for the 10 Actions in the First 100 Days days program on the website and also to join the next Huddle that your group schedules.