THE BIG SHIFT GUIDE
THE BIG SHIFT GUIDE
An Audacious, Achievable Approach For Making A Big Pivot In A High-Stakes National Reckoning
INTRODUCTION
Shift the Country has the audacious, achievable idea that we can collectively change our country’s trajectory. We need a big pivot – for the 2024 election, and so we can better handle our formidable future after the 2024 election.
Shift the Country is set up to drive voter turnout with ideas people & groups can use for activities to raise a ruckus, to influence the narrative, & to get voters fired up.
We can do a zillion things in a zillion places to elect good people & to make changes that create a more equitable, resilient, & sustainable democracy.
This guide helps us do that.
It can be done. You make a plan and you implement the plan.
This post is our Big Shift Guide — a plan for catalyzing and ramping up a movement.
Join us. Any group or person can use this guide to do more things to help us collectively raise a ruckus, have mass action, drive the narrative, and get people fired up about taking this country in a different direction. The more people and groups who jump into this shift — the bigger effects we’ll have everywhere.
We’re in an unprecedented moment in the US — let’s build an unprecedented movement with ideas, coordination, synergy, attention, fuss, and ruckus like we’ve never seen.
Big Shift Guide — Contents
INTRODUCTION. Contents list, plus how to invite us to speak with people & groups to spread the word & the ideas here.
PART A: THIS VISION — WHAT ARE WE SHIFTING?
PART B: 5 STEPS & 5 THINGS AT THE HEART OF THIS SHIFT. Five basic steps to use our combined 5 Things + our Idea Lists (on the Take Action page) for action & events that anybody or any group can do anywhere.
PART C: HOW THIS WORKS USING SYNERGY, MESSINESS, & RUCKUS.
PART D: HOW THIS WORKS TO CHANGE SOCIETY.
PART E: CHECKLISTS FOR DOING THIS SHIFT. Informal guidance, resources, & considerations for executing & implementing action using this approach. Covers logistics, communications, coordination, volunteering, community, etc.
PART F: ABOUT THIS ORGANIZATION — SHIFT THE COUNTRY.
PART G: HUMANITY & WHO WE CAN BE — IN 3 VIDEOS. Heart, humanity, & vision to ground & inspire how we can shift this country. In other words, this section has 3 amazingly awesome videos that speak to this work & what we can bring.
SEPARATE POSTS: IDEA LISTS, posted on our Take Action page on Substack.
Idea List #1 — Basic Activity Types: a core list of basic activity/event types.
Idea List #2 & beyond: assortments of general & specific ideas.
FOR MORE: Follow the Take Action page for updates & new materials such as Idea Lists.
Invite Us To Your Group! Grow This Shift ASAP!
If you know of people or groups who can do neat things with the ideas here, please help us get connected. We can do talks, calls, zooms, & training to get the word out. Invite us to speak or to do a workshop. Email team@shiftthecountry.com, call (515) 375-9027, or book an appointment to talk as soon as possible. The 2024 election is coming fast.
There’s more! You can share this work both in-real-life (IRL) and online to help get the word out. Spread the ideas and the creativity! Help get people inspired and fired up!
We’ll need volunteers to help grow this, so sign up to volunteer here. We host regular online working zoom calls with our volunteers. We have a Facebook community space to help grow this shift. Shift the Country will help catalyze, nurture, coach, cheer-lead, foment, promote, support, grow, and incite this work at every level as we have the volunteers, capacity, and funding to do so — so give us a holler. Let’s do this.
PART A: THIS VISION — WHAT ARE WE SHIFTING?
Shift the Country seeks to energize the American majority with action and civic engagement that gets people talking, voting, and making change to catalyze widespread public pressure, to shift the zeitgeist, and to change where we're headed.
The national “zeitgeist”: Merriam-Webster defines the “zeitgeist” as “the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era.“ Wikipedia says the zeitgeist is the "spirit of the age… an invisible agent, force, or daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history.” In other words, the conscience of the country. So let’s shift the zeitgeist — and some other stuff too.
What we’re shifting: We can move the US toward a healthier democracy and away from far-right extremism. We can inspire and motivate people to vote in overwhelming majorities in elections to overcome structures that protect minority party power. We can grow a coalition of Democrats, independents, and ex-Republicans that leverages the power of the US majority to get government to do real problem-solving and to better serve this multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracy so we all have the opportunity to survive, thrive, prosper, and flourish.
Together we can catalyze a shift in all of those ways — and more. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s audacious… and it’s totally doable. What we have here at Shift the Country is a big picture strategic approach that we can all work on where we are with our people, with new people, and with teams and coalitions all over the place.
PART B: 5 STEPS & 5 THINGS AT THE HEART OF THIS SHIFT
This work is collaborative and creative. Don’t overthink it!
Go for forward action. Keep in mind the effects you want to see. Try not to get held up by by drama, by hurdles, by trying to be perfect, or by people who don’t think this shift will work. Just go for it. It’s a time for brave people + courage + creativity.
STEP 1: Find a partner or a team of people to work with — or make one. Get some people and maybe even some groups together and commit to do things together to make shift happen. Small groups in livingrooms are just as important as big coalitions and high-profile events. It can be friends, neighbors, people from a local political party, an advocacy group, or really anyone. Take a leap. Ask one or a few people to work with you. Decide together to set intentions, goals, or visions for the impacts and effects you want to create. Make some simple agreements or commitments to get started, and set any parameters to help.
STEP 2: Go through the Idea Lists (on the Take Action page) & pick one item to do or to work on. Most ideas on the lists can be tailored to focus on specific issues; like hot topics in politics. You may opt to narrow the focus of the idea, activity, or event you’re taking on because of you or your team’s chosen focus, values, or priorities. If you’re looking for topic lists to help you decide, this list of values priorities may help, or check out these 10 critical part of society. Then, start working on the idea with your people.
STEP 3: Do that one idea using the 5 Things approach as that approach fits the idea you’re working on & who you’re working with. Be flexible. Keep the big picture goals in mind as you work through options. The 5 Things:
STEP 4: Work outward from there. Use the flexible, synergistic approach here in the combined 5 Things + Idea Lists (on the Take Action page) to ramp up outreach, focus, attention, coverage, participation, & traction. This approach is different than lots of political work because it’s, well, messy. These pieces and parts are interrelated, interwoven, and interdependent. They can feed into each other and be more powerful when used together. That’s the synergy. You can choose what you want or need to use based on the goals and impacts you’ve set & how it’s relevant for what you’re doing. That’s the flexibility. You don’t have to use all of the 5 Things — just use what works for you and for the people and groups you’re working with.
STEP 5: Keep at it & go after more. Once you’ve done one thing, try another. Build from there. Be creative, open-minded, flexible, and adaptable. Incorporate what you’ve learned. Change people and coalitions where needed. Get reinforcements and resources as needed. Keep at it. The attention, reach, & impacts you have will likely increase & widen as you do the work & build on what’s already been done.
PART C: HOW THIS WORKS USING SYNERGY, MESSINESS, & RUCKUS
Shift the Country is pushing engagement, partnerships, & pressure to supercharge democracy. We can reach & energize Americans with activity that gets people talking, making change, making news, & voting. Together we can catalyze widespread public pressure to move the US toward a healthier democracy so we all have greater chances to survive, prosper, flourish, and thrive.
THOUSANDS OF INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS CREATE PHENOMENA. No one person needs to do all the things… but lots of us doing some of the things will get people talking; lead to more participation from individuals and groups; create more of a buzz; get more media coverage; inspire more action… and build more momentum to help us collectively shift public attention, concern, morals, policies, values, and attitudes. That’s how we ramp this up. We build on all that. Then we build on all that. And so on.
THIS IS HOW WE GROW A MOVEMENT. We start with a few individuals doing a few things, and some groups doing some things. We get started; we take leaps; we share what’s happening; we get more people involved; we do more. Coalitions build. Word spreads. Activity in one place inspires action in another. Courage inspires more bravery. Humans fighting for other humans inspires more beautiful and powerful humanity. Soon hundreds of groups are doing things in dozens of states. Soon thousands of people are doing things. The involvement of local people, online influencers, online groups, and big organizations spreads more buzz and can help get things to go viral. Media coverage helps things get traction locally and nationally. All of this fuss gets people talking. All of these sparks help the movement catch fire. Momentum builds.
LET’S TAKE WHAT WE’VE BUILT SO FAR TO WHOLE NEW LEVELS. There’s a lot already happening already up in this country to make shift happen. Americans have collectively done a whole lot already to hold this democracy together and get us this far… and also just to do good in the country in general… over decades and centuries. Let’s find neat stuff that’s in place; let’s find activity; let’s connect to it; let’s bring it together; let’s get more people and groups coordinating; let’s get way bigger coalitions; let’s connect more to individuals; let’s get more creative; let’s get more courageous; let’s go bigger on everything; let’s get louder; let’s build on what’s already out there. Then let’s build on all that. And then let’s keep building, growing, evolving, and expanding. We can plow through 2024 with all kinds of traction, action, reach, and momentum. We can create the beginnings of a phenomenon — and then we can go absolutely all out through the election year and beyond and make that phenomenon huge.
IT WILL HELP TO BE FLEXIBLE, ADAPTABLE, & RESILIENT TO DO THIS WORK. Focus groups and slick mailers aren’t going to win the hearts of Americans. Humans being human can win hearts. We’ll need to be flexible and adaptable. We’ll need to try new things to see what’s effective as the risk landscape changes and intensifies. We’ll need to iterate — a lot. We’ll need to get information out in its rough form instead of spending critical days and weeks turning it into what was acceptable in a different era. We’re in a new era. We can get more creative. We can be less structured with our action and advocacy. We can make more values-based arguments and show more moral courage. We can get more vulnerable and be more authentic. We can bring activities and events to our communities (like those on the Idea Lists) that help us be more vulnerable, and that help us better connect with our humanity.
We’re out here to change the zeitgeist. We’re working with humans. We’re asking people to take big leaps and to get big creative. At least some of that is going to not go how we’d prefer; despite our best intentions (see below) and parameters. Plus, it could change fast… especially as we work in teams to evolve it.
Overall, specifics don’t matter as much as it matters that we’re out here fighting for our vision and our values; about what we want this country to be; how we should take care of humans; and so on. The organic and messy bits are part of the beauty as well as the risk. Things are more likely to really resonate with the public (i.e., the US majority) if people and alliances pursue what they’re passionate about, fight for it, and speak authentically about it. The possibilities are endless.
GET READY. WE’RE IN A TIME OF TRANSFORMATION. THIS IS GOING TO BE UNPREDICTABLE, FAST-CHANGING, ORGANIC, & MESSY. IT’S NOT GOING TO BE PRETTY & POLISHED. The 5 Things approach for this work is synergistic, organic, and messy. The Idea Lists (on the Take Action page) are as messy as this entire approach. Pieces and parts will be intermingled, interdependent, and overlapping. In fact, the entire Shift the Country approach per this Big Shift Guide depends on the mess and the synergy from the interplay of the interrelated and interwoven pieces and parts involved.
The pieces can feed into each other and be more powerful when used together. That amplifier effect is absolutely messy… but potent, too. It’s part of the opportunity out there to build a rough consensus among a loose coalition of the majority of Americans that can truly leverage the power of the people. Together we can bring greater pressure to make great change than we’ve seen in decades — perhaps to make big pivots in a time when the stakes are increasingly deadly for millions. The stakes are deadly serious for millions. We can act like it and take unprecedented action like what this approach offers.
This shift is risky as well, and these efforts to make big shift happen aren’t going to go exactly how we’d like. Catalyzing change and large-scale action in society is not neat and orderly. It may be a little wild or volatile. Certain aspects may or may not resonate with the public. Other aspects may go viral or have unpredictable impacts and cascading effects. All of that can be both chaotic and uncomfortable, but so is fascism, so is ignoring climate change, and so on.
Overall, we’re after the big picture impacts and effects that help us collectively turn this country away from far-right extremism and toward taking care of people, toward taking action for the planet, etc. The idea is to make real, actual shifts… not to be perfect. It will absolutely be a great big hot mess if we do it right.
It will probably also be beautiful, touching, mind-blowing, and beyond our wildest imaginations. We won’t get there if we’re not willing to think differently, to operate differently, and to take a leap into the fray.
PART D: HOW THIS WORKS TO CHANGE SOCIETY
THE UNIQUE SHIFT THE COUNTRY 5 THINGS APPROACH HELPS WITH MORE THAN POLITICS. This work is grounded in science, history, and analysis. There’s more here about where this shift came from. This overall approach has tremendous potential — it’s a bit risky, and nobody’s tried this combination of things as a political strategy before. Yet the stakes are high. There are many good reasons to go for it.
The Shift the Country website has a deeper exploration into the reasons; including risks to the US democracy. The website’s ”About” page covers other benefits brought by the unique Shift the Country approach… including improving our collective ability to counter domestic violent extremism (DVE); to counter the domestic authoritarian movement; and to create a network of connections, community, and coordinated/creative action that can also help us collectively mitigate, navigate, and address the climate crisis at every level as the weather, disasters, and cascading effects intensify.
THIS APPROACH IS A BEAUTIFUL FUSION. These bullet points give more depth on how all the synergy and interconnected action in the Shift the Country approach can make shift happen in politics… but also in deep, fundamental, and potentially transformative — or at least stabilizing — ways for US society:
We can get groups & coalitions together that have helped us get this far… & do new & even bigger stuff together. We take everything we’ve built to get us this far to whole new levels of action, coordination, cooperation, creativity, kerfuffle, attention, ruckus, coverage, progress, & transformation.
We help people get connected, to build community, to expand coalitions… & to do way more with all of that than we’ve ever done in politics before. It helps us expand our permeation & reach in social networks in-real-life & online; it helps us be courageous & to empower each other; it helps us be resilient in the face of increasing intensity in the US; it helps us be in people’s lives day-to-day separate from the election; it helps us get connected as there’s an epidemic of loneliness; it helps us do good through volunteer & other action; & it helps us re-weave the social fabric to help strengthen the US majority.
We empower people to make change where they live in a variety of ways… through connection, through action, through events, through mass volunteering, through inspirational things, through solidarity, & so on.
We can help people actively work on change that’s visible now or soon in our communities, in our networks, & in the news — & we can get the community involved in that change so more people are invested, connected, engaged, & talking about it.
We can get way more visible with everything we do — in the kinds of things we do, in how we do them, in how we set them up, in what we focus on, in how we get the word out about it, & in how we share what happened or what we did.
We can get people talking in their social networks in-real-life & online in all kinds of US communities.
We can get way, way more media coverage of all kinds of things locally & nationally through action, events, volunteering, & activities that can help shift local & national narratives.
We can do activities & fight fights & raise issues & have events that help drive local & national narratives — over the long term & not just over a few news cycles. Of note, in so many areas of the US there isn’t much out there that counters the MAGA/FOX narrative. With this framework, we can drive the narrative.
We can counter the heavy mainstream news coverage of the Republican presidential race & the maelstrom that is Trump by creating news at every level & in many news cycles that also drives the narrative.
We can get more of our own stories, struggles, & successes online in writing, videos, podcasts, & the whole messy, beautiful mix of options. The more the better. The more stories & material out there… the more it floods the zone… the more news cycles it get… & the more odds that some of it will help drive the narrative or go viral or both.
We can do large-scale business pressure or partnerships to leverage the economic power of the US majority.
All of this activity & attention helps us leverage, activate, & energize the political power of the US majority.
We can be cheerleaders & empower-ers for each other as we grow our voices & our courage & fight for a different future than the path we’ve been on.
We can center our humanity, our values, & our vision… & find strength in that.
We grow connection & community that builds resilience & strength that can help us navigate this intense political situation & other rising instability.
We raise a ruckus, create a buzz, drive the narrative, & share what we’re doing everywhere.
PART E: CHECKLISTS FOR DOING THIS SHIFT
This section has more more about how to do the steps and the things… plus informal guidance, resources, and considerations for executing and implementing action using this approach. This covers logistics, communications, volunteering, community, and some coordination that can help. This section also covers some of the pieces that Shift the Country has in place so far to get shift going. We can build out from here.
Make This Shift Work For You — It’s Flexible
There are a ton of options for most things on the Idea Lists (on the Take Action page). The ideas are scalable and flexible. Adapt and use them as they work for you and your people and groups.
The idea is to be out in people’s lives and in communities doing all kinds of things. Get creative. Brainstorm. Think of new stuff no one’s tried before. Inspire each other. Be supportive. Help each other advocate and have moral courage. Try to keep the drama down as you work with people. Remember our humanity. Be prudent about risk and security. Try to be flexible and adaptable. Expect some of the unexpected; we’re in unprecedented times. Be ready to get uncomfortable. Be ready to be brave. Be ready to be emotional. We need all that.
There’s lots of flexibility here —
ADAPT IDEAS. The Idea Lists (on the Take Action page) are a starting point to give people ideas for things they can do. Pick stuff that you can make work for you or your group.
FOCUS ON A SPECIFIC TOPIC IF THAT HELPS FOCUS THE EVENT/ACTIVITY. For example only… you could have something like storytelling event & focus it on women’s health care, or have a moderated town hall about immigration & your community. If you need a starting point, check out our 10 Hot Values Messaging (Framing) Topics, or the 10 Critical Parts of Society That Need Attention (there’s overlap between these lists).
GET CREATIVE. Come up with new stuff! The sky’s the limit. As long as we hold the spirit & intention of what we’re doing collectively here to make shift happen, so much is possible. Bring neat people together & come up with amazing ideas.
RESPECT EXISTING SYMBOLISM. Don’t re-appropriate symbolism that’s already in well-established use to communicate a message. For example, taking a knee during the national anthem is already widely understood to represent certain things. We have big brains & can come up with new stuff.
LOCATIONS CAN BE ANYWHERE. We can do this shift anywhere — from small towns to ranchland to micro-cities to huge urban areas.
CAN BE IN-REAL-LIFE (IRL) OR ONLINE OR BOTH. Events & activities can be held online or in-real-life or in some combination — at the same time, or separately. Logistics will need to account for very different things either way.
CAN BE INDOORS OR OUTDOORS. Many of these ideas could happen either inside or outside. Outside stuff is great for mitigating COVID-19 spread & getting neighborhood/local visibility, but can have extra challenges with weather, potential pushback (like extremists with bullhorns), security, or other complications. We can also think creatively for indoor stuff, leverage indoor public open-access spaces, or have things in non-traditional places / underused spaces.
CAN BE SMALL GROUPS TO HUGE ALLIANCES. The work here can be as small as a tiny group where you meet at a coffee shop, a building common room or a livingroom… or it can be a huge big event with lots of organizations, businesses, & media involved.
The Basics For Doing This Shift
For activities, events, engagement, & pressure —
This checklist is for folks who want more guidance about how to pull together the pieces of a larger event or thing. It follows the basic structure approach for handling big emergencies but it’s super simplified here. Keep things simple where you can. Some events don’t need all this stuff — for example, a weekly get-together in a livingroom or at a coffee place won’t require all this thought.
PICK ONE IDEA TO START. Decide on one idea from our Idea Lists (on the Take Action page) that’s interesting to you, that resonates, or that the audience/community you’re targeting might be fired up about. Or make up your own idea. ON IDEA-PICKING: As noted above, you may want to focus the idea activity on one of our 10 values-based messaging priorities, or one of the 10 critical parts of society that need attention.
FIND PEOPLE TO WORK WITH. Get a partner or small group… or take the Idea Lists (on the Take Action page) to a team, group, or political organization you’re already working with.
COORDINATE WITH OTHER GROUPS & WITH BUSINESSES WHEN POSSIBLE. Get groups to work together in coalitions (Thing 2) if that’s relevant for the particular idea. Alliances can help for better support/coordination of planning, logistics, facilities, communication, technology, marketing, outreach, and funding to name a few. It’s easier to do bigger things & to have a wider reach with more groups involved. Include businesses as part of coalitions (Thing 3) as relevant for partnerships, sponsorship, and facilities.
NAME YOUR GROUP OR COALITION, IF RELEVANT. Clever or catchy names can help recruit folks or get the word out. A new alliance or coalition name may be helpful if several existing groups are now working together on a new initiative. Action names like “Stop the _____” or “Start _____” or “Create _____” can be good. Using “shift” in the title is another option, like “Shift Montana,” or “Shift Riverside County,” or “the North Boston Shift Crew.”
HAVE BASIC GOALS. This can be simple. Set intentions. Make sure the key players are in agreement about what you’re all planning to do & why. This can help to limit the scope & to keep things focused & on target as you pull it all together.
GET COMMITMENTS THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS. Get commitments from people who will work with you to do the thing — up front, & at various steps.
DO BASIC COORDINATION. Always plan a few next steps while everyone’s together, & make sure all involved have ways to communicate & follow-up.
PLAN. Plan the thing. Keep it simple where you can, & especially for smaller things. For bigger events that will involve lots of players/orgs/people… do some decent planning. Reverse-engineer it to figure out what you need to do to pull it off. Break it down & divvy up tasks, timelines, & commitments if it’s a big thing you’re planning. Assign roles & make sure folks agree to them & commit. Set regular check-ins or meetings to keep things moving. Keep track of roles & commitments for follow-up & for keeping progress moving. Minimize risk where possible as you plan the thing. Work through scenarios for big events to cover your bases. Be ready to evolve the plan in case situations change or unexpected stuff occurs — before or at the thing. Consider back-up plans or other contingencies if they would be helpful.
GET THE WORD OUT. Have good communications, marketing, & outreach to all the places possible, & to all the media possible when relevant. The idea here is to get people involved & talking — so the more the merrier (or the more fired up!). Make sure all the groups & parties involved are getting all of their folks fired up & involved. There are a zillion ways to get the word out so be creative & don’t forget the media. Did we mention the media? TV, radio, news, bloggers… find a hook to pitch why it’s important to cover whatever you’re doing to whoever you’re inviting.
ACT. Do the thing! Conduct the operations! Follow the plans!
UPDATE & ITERATE PLANS. Update & iterate as appropriate & as new information comes in. Be flexible & adaptable. Have provisions to track changing conditions & to update plans as needed.
FUNDS & FINANCES. Get commitments on funding from any partner groups. Consider business or other sponsorship if relevant. Designate people/channels to handle money stuff if it starts to get complicated. Make sure to follow campaign & nonprofit laws in coordination with coalition partners, especially for larger activities.
ACCESS & INCLUSIVITY. Consider hosts or sponsors to help. Consider facilities & technologies to facilitate inclusivity of any possible participants, including potential provisions for language, for captioning (online), for the hard-of-hearing (in person), and for ability to access facilities physically including in person & by mass transit or in areas with limited parking. Consider access & availability to food as well for all attendees; make provisions for any shared food events to include provisions for those who are not in a position to prepare or bring food to share.
LOGISTICS. Think through the logistics with any planning team so that the event works. Logistics can be anything from facilities to extension cords to handouts to chairs to water for the speakers to a sound system to all the stuff you’d need for a potluck. Make sure everything is covered before the event &/or that there are commitments for various aspects. Logistics includes tech & communications platforms & can involve quite a bit of detail & set-up. Be sure you can communicate with everyone who has a part in the logistics of the activity/event (see next). Consider hosts, sponsors, roles, or responsibilities to cover the full range of logistics for any event.
HAVE GOOD COMMUNICATION! Have ways to communicate with key folks who are a part of pulling off the thing (activity or event) & participating in the thing. Have ways to communicate with key people & with participants during the thing — especially if it’s a large-scale thing. Maximum clarity is the best. More communication is better than less. Redundant channels and more than one option can help. Communication failures are often the #1 thing that goes funky, sideways, & wrong in human endeavors. Steps can be taken to avoid communications trouble, drama, miscommunication, & shortfalls.
Things To Consider
For activities, events, engagement, & pressure —
MAKE FOLLOW-UP EASY. Get everyone who participates signed up somehow so that you can follow-up.
BE VISUAL! Plan for visual aspects from the very beginning when you are choosing what idea to use… all the way through how you go about implementing that idea. Plan visual aspects to events when participants &/or media will be sharing photos or video of the event. Visual elements can help if you want events to be highly visible in a community, or if you want media coverage, or if you want participants to share their stories, video, & photos from the activity.
OUTREACH/MARKETING/ADVERTISING. Do coordinated outreach/marketing/advertising for the event/activity. Run ads for events/activities if budgets allow. Be sure to involve media where appropriate (like maybe not for events in your livingroom). Be sure to leverage & use the mailing lists & all outreach capabilities of everyone in the coalition — from individuals to groups to businesses.
AMPLIFY EVERYTHING YOU CAN AMPLIFY. Consider relational organizing outreach/sharing approaches before the event, such as “please invite 3 people.” Consider follow-up actions from participants to “tell X number of people about this thing,” to share photos or video, or to share info with certain groups online or in-real-life. Consider asking participants to commit to follow-up actions especially including plans for next steps. Consider running ads to promote content, stories, video from the event/activity afterward; combine with asking for participant shares, shares from all coalition member lists involved in the event, & targeted sharing to groups or via influencers online.
BE WELCOMING YET SAFE FOR ALL. Create a space that’s welcoming yet with clear boundaries about what’s acceptable. We can be welcoming yet also be clear about what is unacceptable behavior including rudeness, yelling, hostility, intolerance, bigotry, disruptive noise, etc. We’re seeking to build a large US coalition of the majority; yet we also need to protect & support humans in all of our diversity who make up our majority. This may include guidelines for showing respect, for not being aggressive or hostile, for not “othering” or dehumanizing people, & for non-aggressive attire. The intentions section below & the parameters may help.
CREATE THE SPACE FOR CONNECTION & COMMUNITY. Plan on time for people to connect, to network, & to build community. Build time into agendas for this specifically, including with long breaks & with connection time before/during/after events. Explain the intention & give ideas or goals for how to do connection at each event.
HAVE VOTER REGISTRATION & VOTING INFO STUFF. Always plan to have voter registration info as legal & appropriate for your state. That may include handouts on processes or special provisions/advisories to help voters navigate processes & ensure all stay within current state/local/Tribal/Territorial laws. This can include absentee voting info too, &/or handling ballots for early/absentee voting. This is a main point to everything we’re doing so it’s helpful for everyone involved to communicate it well & to be up to speed on local voting specifics.
SIGNAGE & BRANDING. Coordinate with Shift the Country & any other involved individuals, partners, coalition, businesses, or sponsors for branding stuff like signs, banners, handouts, business cards, or any “bling” for events (see next).
BLING & MERCHANDISE. Consider giving away stuff at events when relevant; especially things with high visibility or that can help spread the word or that are tools people can use. Local groups/coalitions can create their own things for various events. Shift the Country will be creating high-visibility merchandise over the winter to give out at events & through other channels. Groups can use our logo etc. with permission; this is a work in progress (reach out at team@shiftthecountry.com) and more options are coming.
CONSIDER U.S. FLAGS! Involve an American flag or very many American flags if your people/group/coalition are up for it & interested. Reclaim patriotism. This country is supposed to work for the majority of its people — our flag is meant to represent that. US flags are great for visibility & background for a huge array of causes. Be sure to follow US flag etiquette when US flags are used. Like everything here, this is an idea — the people & groups hosting activities & events make the decisions on whether to use the idea.
RISKS & SECURITY. Make intentional, risk-informed decisions with teams & coalitions during planning & commitments. Take mitigation steps where possible &/or address risk mitigation & security with participants. Bear in mind that security is an illusion, we can’t mitigate all risk, & some risk in political work cannot reasonably mitigated when far-right extremism is well-established & condoned by one US political party. Risk discussions & decisions may involve balancing long-term risks with the direction the country is headed in vs. shorter term activities & events to help shift its direction. The risk landscape for events/activities could include security risks, cyber issues, trolls, false identities, troublesome or disruptive participants, hate groups, firearms risks depending on state laws, potential COVID mitigation steps depending on local/state laws, etc.
CONSIDER STEPS TO MITIGATE DISINFORMATION. Depending on the event, marketing, or communities… it may be necessary to address or mitigate disinformation, misinformation, or propaganda. Related, educating all partners, participants & coalition members on how to do effective, non-biased communication may be helpful.
Hold the Spirit & Intention Of This Work As You Go
As we raise our voices together, louder, and in more places… we’ll need to make decisions about how we speak and act. We can take some high roads and still have moral fights, still be respectful, still be decent, and still be kind. When we speak and act with integrity, it’s easier to live with what we say and do. If you’re concerned about what you’re saying or doing as we raise our voices together, check out our parameters or The Four Agreements. If that’s TLDR (too long; didn’t read)… one key point is not to take actions or to say things you’ll regret if they make the news, if they go viral, if your family hears them, or if your employer hears them.
We can make decisions about the actions we plan and do in the spirit/vision of what we want to see in/for this country and for the people in it. We can anchor or ground our actions and intentions in our own values, in the values of the Democratic party, and in the values we want for this country.
Like, we can be the change we wish to see in the world. We can center our humanity, our values, and our vision. We can choose to act in service. More on the spirit of this work is in the three videos in the last section below.
We can also build on work that’s already been started… and listen to those who have worked to advance certain causes for years or for decades. Civic engagement can be most effective when it’s done to complement, strengthen, and build upon what communities actually need, what they’ve been working toward, and what they’ve been successful at doing. We can respect what’s been built, listen, and help take it all to the next level.
PART F: ABOUT THIS ORGANIZATION — SHIFT THE COUNTRY
Shift the Country — Pieces & Parts
INVITE US TO SPEAK!! This is a “piece” because we need invites & connections to groups around the US to work our own approach to help grow this shift. Help grow our initial coalition-building & outreach & synergy by inviting us to speak to your people, your team, your group, your local party, or another organization or crowd you’re involved with. This will be a key to getting this work going in several local areas & states. Email team@shiftthecountry.com, call (515) 375-9027, call (202) 556-0317, or book an appointment to chat about this here.
Share our stuff! Help get more people & groups involved in this big picture strategy by sharing our posts & other stuff with the people you know & with the groups you’re connected to; both in-real-life & online.
Book an appointment to chat about ideas for more coordination, for speaking engagements, or for other coalition-building or volunteer stuff.
Use the Idea Lists (on the Take Action page). These are ideas for events, activities, engagement, & pressure that any person or group can undertake to start making shift happen; at any level.
Check out the Shift the Country website. The website has our core 5 Things approach, background about the threats/risk behind the work, & our backstory. You can also print the full website from a PDF linked from the website homepage.
Subscribe to this Shift the Country Substack (for free or paid!).
Volunteer! Sign up to volunteer here. Volunteers are essential to getting this shift going. Here’s what we’re asking volunteers to help us with like ASAP.
Join a team Zoom call. Join a Shift the Country online event to get shift going at Eventbrite: Shift the Country.
Join our Facebook Group: Shift the Country – Community Rising.
Help fund this shift! This 501(c)(4) is relatively new & not yet funded at a consistent, sustainable level. More funds can help us run ads to bring in new participants & to spread the word. Funding would help us hire people to help do things to help grow this. More money helps us get wider permeation & reach. You can donate on this website, through ActBlue, through a Substack subscription (plus then you’ll get our announcements & info), through Patreon, through an Eventbrite event registration, or by check payable to: Shift the Country, PO Box 1093, Ames, Iowa 50014. Donations are not tax deductible.
Shift the Country — Social Media
Follow, like, & share our stuff to help ramp up engagement. As we collectively ramp up activity, our social media will get a whole lot more active.
Facebook. Get engaged via our Facebook: Shift the Country nonprofit page, or in community through our Facebook Group: Shift the Country – Community Rising. We’ll also plan to run ads on FB as funding becomes available to ramp up engagement, involvement, & reach.
Substack “Notes.” Engage via the Substack “Notes” with the founder here (Notes is a social media platform).
“Post.” Get engaged via Post: Shift the Country (Post is a social media platform).
LinkedIn. Get engaged via LinkedIn: Shift the Country.
YouTube. Check out YouTube: Shift the Country (more content coming as we ramp up activity).
Anticipated: a podcast, + more social media as we get more volunteers or as we get funding for staff.
PART G: 3 VIDEOs ON OUR HUMANITY & WHO WE CAN BE
Vision & Values Via Video
We close this guide with heart, humanity, and big vision to ground and inspire how we can shift this country. The three videos below aren’t posted because of some fakey Pollyanna world of fluorescent sunshine and sappy sentiments. They’re posted for the deeper humanity, joy, care, connection, and love in every one of them. They’re raw, they’re vulnerable, and they’re powerful. It’s strength, it’s resilience, it’s family, it’s community — it’s the best of who we can be. Why not start there?
“Feel So Close,” by Calvin Harris —
“Happy,” by Pharrell Williams —
“Say Hey (I Love You),” by Michael Franti & Spearhead —
Closing — Let’s Dream Big
Let’s dream big and go after this shift. Share this post as widely as possible to help widen our impact. Especially share this with frustrated people who are looking for creative ways to reach more people and do more good.
Help us fund this shift too, if you’re able. Donate with a paid Substack subscription or donate through our website, or through ActBlue. More funding = larger impacts.
This work can catalyze, ramp-up, nurture, coach, cheer-lead, foment, promote, support, and grow a whole movement. We can catalyze widespread public pressure, shift the zeitgeist, and change where we're headed.
FINALLY — THANK YOU. Thank you for reading, for sharing, for supporting this work, for what you do in this world, and for what you will do. We’re going to do amazing things here in history. Let’s get at it.