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National
Call-In
Legislative
aides have consistently informed us that our grassroots lobbying
actions play a large part in a Representative's decision to cosponsor HR 808. By placing thousands of calls across
the country we can make an impact heard throughout Capitol Hill.
Please join us by gathering tons of people to make calls to Congress
in support of the Department of Peace!
Materials
Tracking
Calls
Once
you are done with Call-in, please go to the National Call-In tracking page and record all the calls made/brought in by your chapter!
Before
you get started…
We
recommend you do a messaging training with all the volunteers
involved in your action before you begin. This way everyone feels
comfortable messaging and answering questions about the Department of
Peace. Please check out our messaging resources and background
information to give to your volunteers.
Set-up
There are many ways to
run a call-in, the following are a few suggestions of ways to
incorporate a call-in with your International Day of Peace
activities:
Tabling
is the
most typical way that organizations participate in a call-in action.
This involves setting up a table display somewhere where there is a
lot of foot traffic, for example in your town square, student center,
or campus cafeteria. Tabling provides a
great way to spread the word about the Department of Peace and
Student Peace Alliance! It gives you an opportunity to interact with
other people, educate about the bill and answer questions. You can
table to raise awareness, sign people up for your list serve, raise
money, do a call-in action, or everything combined! Tabling is as
simple as it sounds, set up a table (check with your school because you
may have to rent one/get permission) in a busy area of your campus or
community with all the materials listed above. Make a banner that says
"Department of Peace National Call-In" to hang on the front of the
table and make sure that the table set-up is eye-catching with your
materials. Be outgoing! Call friends and acquaintances over to the
table or just announce into the crowd that you are calling local
representatives. The best tabling experience will be one where you are
confidant in your ability to raise awareness and connect with people,
so be sure to practice messaging ahead of time!
Dorm Storming is
a more interactive form for your call-in action.
This involves splitting up your chapter members/volunteers and going
around to the local dorms with information about the Department of
Peace and call-in scripts. Clip-boards and/or folders are handy for
volunteers to carry the information around as they knock on doors.
You know your community the best, so think hard about when the best
time for door-to-door is! You want a time when many people will be
home and not too busy (for instance, not dinner time). When a
volunteer knocks on the door, the conversation goes a bit like this:
SPA
volunteer: Hi my name is Bob and I’d love to talk to you
about a really cool piece of legislation in the House of
Representatives. Do you have a few minutes?
If
the Resident says No then…
SPA
volunteer: Thanks for your time, here is some information and we
would love if you took a look at it and made a call to your
representative later today in support of the Department of Peace!
If
the Resident says Yes then…
SPA
volunteer: Great! The World Health Organization
estimates that the United States spends on average more than $300
BILLION per year on the after-effects of violence--NOT including
war-related costs. I'm part of a grassroots movement to establish an
institutional platform in the federal government to help us master
the skills needed to reduce and prevent violence and resolve its root
causes--both internationally and domestically--to help eliminate this
tremendous human and financial waste. We feel the most effective way
to achieve our goal of making the reduction and prevention of
violence a national priority is to establish a U.S. Department of
Peace and Nonviolence. The Department of Peace is currently before
the House of Representatives in the form of HR 808, with 70
cosponsors. I work with Student Peace Alliance, the National Youth
Movement for a U.S. Department of Peace and students across the
country are participating in a National Call-in to members of
Congress to ask for their support! Would you be willing to call your
home representative or our local representative for here in
___________. We have an easy script you can use and it will only
take 30 seconds!
Resident:
Sure, I’d be willing to make a few calls. (if they say no, use
the same response for the initial “no”).
SPA
volunteer: Great, here are the call-in scripts and the U.S.
Capitol switchboard number (202-224-3121) that
you call to be connected to your Representative’s office. If
you don’t know your home Representative, we can check on your
computer at www.Congress.org,
or you can call our local Representative here.
Generally it’s
good for the volunteer to stay at the door while the individual makes
the phone calls, a) to assist in any way if needed and b) to make
sure they actually get done, for tracking purposes. It is also
helpful to have a list of the Representatives from your state and
their districts with you when you Dorm Storm. Please take a tally of each call made so you can later report it here.
Announcement at an
Event: If you are holding an event for International Day of
Peace, whether it is a concert, a poetry slam or a movie screening,
it provides the perfect opportunity to make an announcement about the
Call-in. After the main part of your event (hopefully once people
are excited about the Department of Peace), announce that Student
Peace Alliance is holding a National Call-in effort with students
across the country. We hope you will take a minute and make a call
to our local Representative in support of HR 808, the bill to
establish a U.S. Department of Peace.
Now you can either:
-
Direct them to a
table in the back with call-in information
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Pass around a
sheet of paper with call-in numbers and scripts, and have each
person call when the sheet of paper gets to them (ensuring
continuous calls to the local office). This is probably the
stronger option for getting people to make calls.
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