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Become an Organizer

Interested in starting a CODEPINK Action Team? 

Here are the basics to get you started!

 

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Being a CODEPINK Action Team Organizer means that you are:

  • Willing to organize actions or share information about events

  • Agreeing to be the contact person for a CODEPINK Action Team

  • Committing to create a space (via online or in-person meetings) and reach out to members once a month.

Your enthusiasm and excitement about taking on campaigns or actions will inspire others to join you. Use your first meeting to discover your interests and the kind of actions that appeal to your group.



Organize a gathering! 

  • A good first step is hosting a potluck dinner at your home or a gathering at local café for an evening of conversation about people's interests and skills.

Following your first gathering:

-Create a Facebook page for your Action Team

-Email [email protected] a link to the group you started so others can find you, and you can be added to the action team site.

-Take CODEPINK materials to local political events and report back.

-Take a small group to your congressional representative or senators local office to lobby about an issue of concern relating to a CODEPINK campaign.

What does it look like to have a strong Action Team? mainCPgroup.jpg

- Has their own Facebook page set-up that is current and active

-Has a local and up-to-date listserv

-Well organized Action Teams are engaged in actions  at least once a month pertaining to a CODEPINK campaign.

- There is an assigned person who monitors local media, pertaining to a specific campaign issue

- A strong team is constantly developing local media contacts.

 

What kinds of actions do we organize? See here!

  • Each of our CODEPINK local groups has its own spirit and flavor. Groups may pick a particular campaign to work on over time, such as a legislative pressure campaign, countering military recruitment, bringing the National Guard home, or an ongoing regularly scheduled vigil to distribute information about the wars and increase awareness around the number of soldiers and civilians killed. Groups may choose to take action around particularly important days, such as March 19th, the anniversary of the occupation of Iraq; October 7, the anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan; or Mother's Day, which was originally intended to be a women's day of protest against war. When elected officials who are refusing to take action against the war come to town, local groups organize to bird-dog them, pressuring them into changing their position with creative and fun actions and inside disruptions. 

IMPORTANT Non-Profit Information:
  • CODEPINK is a women-initiated peace movement, and is a tax-exempt nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.  While we are working to create political change on a single public policy issue—peace—CODEPINK can never endorse a candidate, fundraise for a candidate or say we are working against a candidate. We do not support or oppose any federal candidates.  Instead, we seek to call attention to their positions on those issues which are fundamentally important to CODEPINK's mission.
  • As a nonprofit issue-based organization, we are focused on peace, and on creating a voting bloc that will prioritize peace, not on electing particular candidates for office. We can educate people on the issues, but we cannot tell them who to vote for. In addition, we put pressure on elected officials post-election with actions such as pink slips and office visits.  Individuals from a local CODEPINK group are, of course, free to assist in candidate campaign efforts, but cannot do so under the banner of CODEPINK.
  • The benefit to having non-profit status is that people can make tax-deductible donations to our national CODEPINK organizing efforts. Local groups can also use our tax-exempt status for donations, but only if your funds are processed through our national account. Local groups may also seek to collaborate with another local non-profit for fundraising events.  
For more info about what is and isn't appropriate as a non-profit (c)3 visit the Alliance for Justice