LULAC VOTER 2008: Organizing your Community

Grassroots organizing is among one of the most difficult, but gratifying civic tasks that LULAC members engage in. The following segments provide information to facilitate your organizing efforts. These suggestions and points of information vary for each situation that presents itself. However, they do provide a common point of departure for the organizer to begin.

There are levels to organizing. It is helpful to create a LULAC Voter 2008 Committee to set voter mobilization goals and strategies that are tailor-made for your community, as well as divide the tasks into do-able segments.

Use the internet to engage in the political process. By using the internet, LULAC Voter 2008 Committees can more easily coordinate grassroots members into initiating advocacy campaigns and voter mobilization. Get district maps that show the political districts in your city and county so as to target specific neighborhoods. Ask for e-mail addresses to begin a data base to send out reminders that voting day is approaching. Put an announcement on your Council's web-site. Work with your Youth and Young Adults. Help them earn school credit.

Make sure that your community is aware that you are leading a Latino voter crusade. Announce your efforts in the community and university newspapers, post signs in specially marked public areas at shopping malls and supermarkets that are frequented by large numbers of the Latino community. Call your local radio stations and ask them if they will announce your LULAC Voter 2008 drive during their news programs. Select a spokesperson to speak to the media on the importance of the Latino vote and Latino issues. Work with other organizations to spread the word into as many neighborhoods as possible.