Relational organizing is the most accessible and effective tool that organizing teams have at their disposal. In its simplest form, relational organizing only requires strong relationships and an interest to learn more. But at the heart of all successful relational organizing efforts are best practices that organizing teams can use to secure success for their cause.
Any organizer seeking to level up their tactics can leverage these resources for relational organizing best practices:
1. Impactive’s Relational Organizing Best Practices
This guide by Impactive’s Ilana Kaplan, VP of Client Strategy, is filled with tips for organizers looking to grow their relational network. It’s great for organizers that are curious about how to get volunteers engaged in relational organizing and achieve success based on campaign needs. Use these insights to scale relational organizing efforts and increase engagement within the campaign!
Find the toolkit here: Want to Grow Your Network? Here’s Your Relational Organizing Toolkit!
Impactive also offers webinars on various organizing best practices, from relational organizing to fundraising. In this webinar, Leveraging Relational Contact for Year-Round Organizing, guest panelists from Community Change Action discuss proven methods of building successful relational organizing programs. This webinar also includes a discussion on The Analyst Institute’s study on relational organizing, which found that outreach from a friend or family member is much more effective than peer-to-peer outreach for getting someone to take action.
Watch the webinar here: Leveraging Relational Contact for Year-Round Organizing
2. National Democratic Training Committee’s Relational Organizing 101 Course
New organizers can enroll in this free course on relational organizing basics. Created by the National Democratic Training Committee, this course uses videos and activities to make learning more interactive and digestible. With the knowledge from this course, new organizers can learn how to mobilize personal networks, manage relational organizing programs, and ultimately build their own relational organizing best practices.
Find the course here: Relational Organizing 101
3. Climate Advocacy Lab’s 6 Evidence-Based Insights for Relational Organizing
Looking for ways to jumpstart conversations about climate advocacy? This tipsheet includes six insights for environmental advocacy organizing teams looking to expand their relational organizing strategy. Also, this resource offers specific ways to upgrade relational organizing strategies and conversations. Although this resource focuses on climate advocacy, any organizing group can leverage these relational organizing best practices to expand their outreach and engagement.
Find the sheet here: Tipsheet: 6 Evidence-Based Insights for Relational Organizing
4. Arena’s Relational Organizing Podcast
Check out this podcast to hear experienced organizers discuss their experiences and successes with relational organizing for Democratic elections. Highlights from this podcast include a discussion on the power of relational organizing and how non-activists are extremely essential for voter turnout due to their relational networks. The podcast also discusses the use of relational organizing in the context of other political organizing tactics, like door-to-door canvassing.
Listen to the podcast here: Ep 4. Relational Organizing by Arena
Impactive’s Relational Organizing Suite
Impactive is the leading relational organizing software for electoral campaigns, advocacy groups, unions, and nonprofits. With Friends and Family Messaging, organizing groups can create structured and smart relational organizing programs; this texting tool allows organizers to set up messaging scripts for volunteers to reach out to their relational contacts via text, email, or even social media DMs. Plus, volunteers can fill out reports through Impactive to provide insights on their friends and family back to their campaign instantly. Then, organizers can sync this information back to CRMs like NPG VAN.
Ultimately, relational organizing is a tactic that all organizers should use to build people power for their campaign or cause. Use these resources for relational organizing best practices to gain power and maximize impact!
