Year-Round Organizing Ensuring educator voices are heard
Our Framework
NEA's Year-Round Organizing Framework centers around key field strategies that naturally flow through each of the four seasonal components of a typical school year. Each campaign builds on the momentum of each other, helping members and staff work together to grow our union and create the change our public schools need.
The Five Key Field Strategies
Improve the processes and policies related to acquiring employee lists. Systematic list acquisition practices allow state affiliates to assess their member density and target their organizing resources. After getting lists:
- Enter lists obtained into a NEA Data Ecosystem
- Determine target districts based on number of new hires or potential members
- Share lists with local leadership, Building Representatives, Member Organizers, and worksite leaders
Engage with new hires, potential members, and current members throughout the year. Reaching out before the orientation and throughout the year allows Local Leaders, Member Organizers, and Building Representatives to initiate one-on-one conversations that establish the Association as a trusted resource.
Sample tactics:
- Train member leaders and Member Organizers on one-on-one organizing conversations and data tracking
- Build a membership ask and data tracking into all Association events
- Use the Year-Round Organizing card as a tool to develop engagement opportunities of interest to your members and potential members
Create a statewide plan to make a membership ask at every New Employee Orientation and Association Event. Make a game plan that helps local Associations approach, recruit, and follow up with potential members year-round.
Sample tactics:
- Support an Early Career Educator in sharing their personal union story from the front of the room during NEO and Association Events
- Execute one-on-ones and small group conversations, and address “what is a union?” “why do we pay dues?” and “why are we politically engaged?”
- Prepare to capture data electronically at NEO and other Association events via SMS short code, a short form that can be filled out on mobile devices, etc.
Focus on in-person follow-up conversations. Members are the most effective recruiters of new members. A strong follow-up plan supports Association Representatives, Member Organizers, and worksite activists in having targeted one-on-one organizing conversations with new and potential members at the worksite immediately following orientation and Association events.
Sample tactics:
- Assess new member, identified potential member, and outstanding potential member data to determine priority worksites and individuals for outreach
- Identify and/or create professional learning trainings that may be applicable or useful to educators based on their Year-Round Organizing card preferences
- Utilize Join Now “abandoner lists” list to follow up with potential members
Use data to drive decision making and resource allocation. The Year-Round Organizing Campaign survey data identifies opportunities to develop organizing campaigns, issue-specific education, and professional supports.
Sample tactics:
- Leverage NEA and state affiliate resources for data-informed follow-up engagements
- Organize Early Career Educator networking, professional supports, and other engagement opportunities targeted to YRO contacts and other Early Career Educators
- Utilize telephonic organizing and other digital/social media tactics to promote engagement events and use social media platforms to celebrate recruitment and engagement events
Tools to Help You Get Started
One of the most effective ways to build more meaningful relationships with our members and supporters is through content. We've identified key pieces of content streams that highlight the value of the union to potential members and develop processes to engage educators with those streams, capture data, and put them on a path to membership.
Year-Round Organizing Cards
Year-Round Organizing Grants
Organizing Resources at Your Fingertips
NEA's Text Program
Our text tool allows educators to connect with their union straight from their phones! All they need to do is text of these key words to 48744 to receive personalized resources:
- JOIN to find out how to join the union in your state
- CONNECT to fill out their state-specific Year-Round Organizing cards
- UNION to explore the ways members help educators nationwide
- ACTION to find ways to take action for public schools
- PRACTICE to connect with tips and tools designed to help them grow within their profession
You can make the most of this tool by putting the text number and keyword (i.e. Text JOIN to 48744) on social media graphics, in speeches, on event banners, podiums, and posters...Your creativity is the limit!
Union 101
More Tools to Help
Guide to Worksite Visits
Guide to Building Strong Lists
Guide to Transformational Conversations
Have Questions About Year-Round Organizing?
Please email [email protected] if you’d like to be connected with the AFSE Organizational Specialist assigned to your state affiliate who can assist you with developing an organizing campaign tailored towards your affiliate’s specific needs.
The Back-To-School Campaign
As educators begin a new school year, organizers have new opportunities to engage new hires and reengage members to remind them of the power of coming together through their union.
We have tools designed to help members and staff grow the union during this important time of year:
- Strategies and Tactics
- NEA's Guides to New Employee Orientation
- Messaging Guidance
The Winter Worksite Campaign
In between Back-To-School and Early Enrollment recruitment periods, Winter Worksite is a campaign that focuses on building union power by directly supports educator voice campaigns to grow and strengthen local and state affiliates.
Winter Worksite campaigns can create a policy agenda for local school board races, inform the state affiliate’s legislative priorities, and help shape the revenue demands that the affiliate will make of the state legislature and governor.
The Early Enrollment Campaign
The Early Enrollment Membership Program is offered to support your spring or summer membership organizing efforts by inviting First-Time Active members and Aspiring Educators to experience the transformative impact of being part of the Association for no immediate cost.
Between April 1 - August 31 educators can join without paying dues until the new school year starts.
First-time Active or new Aspiring Educator recruits will become members effective September 1 and receive immediate access to NEA Educators Employment Liability Program coverage (liability insurance) and NEA Member Benefits programs.
The Education Summer Campaign
The Education Summer Campaign (Ed Summer) supports state and local associations in advancing organizing campaigns, membership growth, and planning for new hire recruitment (NEOs). This includes:
- Strength Building Goals: Organizers work on building structural supports, including but not limited to the following: Contract Action Teams (CAT), school board action teams, political action teams, organizing committees, and early career educator committees.
- Organizing Building Goals: Building membership and structural organizing capacity are critical steps to prepare the union to lift educators’ voices, build power, and leverage this power to win for our students, educators, and communities. Examples of organizing goals include anti-privatization measures, contract campaigns, increasing public education funding, and passing progressive school board policies.
Important organizing resources
Downloads
- Surround Sound Toolbox
- Introduction Piece – Collective Bargaining
- Introduction Piece – Non-Collective Bargaining
- Conversation Guide – Non-Collective Bargaining States
- Conversation Guide – Collective Bargaining States
- Leave Behind Flyer – Collective Bargaining States [Spanish Version]
- Leave Behind Flyer – Non-Collective Bargaining States [Spanish Version]
- Leave Behind Flyer – Collective Bargaining States [English Version]
- Leave Behind Flyer – Non-Collective Bargaining States [English Version]
