Build a campaign team
Building for the demo shouldn’t be a one person effort – many hands make light work and will help you be more successful in bringing as many students along as possible. Not only will recruiting a campaign team help you to mobilise more students, it will give you a great opportunity to develop existing campaigners in your union.
Top tips for building a campaign team
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Identify who to target. Map the students who you think would be interested in leading your campaign. Target club and society chairs, course reps, volunteers and students who already campaign with you. City College Norwich are supporting class reps to sign their classmates up to the demo, as they’re best placed to understand what the issues are.
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…but think beyond the usual suspects. This is the perfect time of year to get new and existing students involved in your union. Give students the opportunity to get involved a little or a lot. Hallam Union are giving students a range of ways to get involved when they sign up. Don’t forget, you can use http://www.demo2012.org.uk/ to get students signed up too.
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Give your team meaningful things to do. Your campaigners will be more engaged if they can see the impact they’re having. Let your team know how many students they’ve got signed up and how they are contributing to the wider target.
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Use everyone’s skills. Your campaigners will have a range of skills so make the most of them. Allocate tasks to the people who are most able to do them.
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Don’t forget to thank your campaign team. Make sure they know the part they played in supporting the demo and how they can continue to be involved. Northumbria Students’ Union are using their volunteer database to give existing volunteers the chance to help with campaigning and making sure they get recognition for their efforts as they would with other union volunteering opportunities.
How are YOU planning for the Demo?
Over the next few weeks we’ll be sending out tips on how to raise extra money for coaches and how to work with the local media so let us know what your union’s doing and you could well be starring in a future tip of the week. Drop us a line at campaigns@nus.org.uk
Don’t forget, you can access all the demo briefings here and download adaptable materials here.
8 WEEKS ‘TIL THE DEMO