Indivisible Guide Weekly Update: August 7, 2017


Weekly National Indivisible suggested to-dos:

  1. Host or attend an August recess event. Make sure to register your events here and search for nearby events here.
  2. Hit the doors. Our newest tactic for August recess is canvassing—both at community events and going door to door. This canvass packet has all the materials you’ll need, including customized flyers for your senators.
  3. Get informed on our recess policy priorities. We have a series of new August recess materials on TrumpCare, Tax Reform, Immigration, the Budget, the Environment, and on Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the person leading the Russia investigation. Check them out here at our new August recess site! And help us spread the word on Twitter.
  4. Learn to write op-eds that make a difference. We’re partnering with The OpEd Project to offer a new joint resource on writing and pitching op-eds. Check out the resource here and take some time this August to get issues you care about in newsprint.

Dear Indivisible Durango Members,

August recess is officially upon us, and you’re already making your voice heard while your members of Congress (MoCs) are back home. This is your biggest chance yet to hold your MoCs to account and affect the decisions they’ll make and the votes they’ll cast when they head back to Washington next month. We’ve got a lot of new resources to help you make the most of this time.

Take action this August.

It’s August recess! This is going to be our longest—and most impactful—recess to date. Check out recess.indivisibleguide.com for all your policy, event, and organizing recess needs. Search for nearby recess events here.

Check out our August recess toolkit. You’ll find all the instructions you need to plan great canvasses, find your MoCs at public events, and stand Indivisible at town halls. Over recess, we want to show MoCs that constituents will be there at every turn to hold them accountable.

Watch our new videos and make yourself heard.

Indivisible is excited to partner with NextGen America on a video series to give simple and practical tips for constituents looking to make their voices heard. These videos cover some of the most common tools grassroots groups can use to exercise their constituent power this recess. This week, we’re spotlighting how to make yourself heard at public events.

Click here to view all five videos.

Hit the doors.

Our newest tactic for August recess is canvassing—both at community events and going door to door. The August recess toolkit includes steps for planning a canvass and a trainer’s agenda, but we have a few new resources to make your preparations even easier.

This canvass packet has all the materials you’ll need for a successful canvas: a tally sheet, how to, script and a sign-up sheet. Simply print it out, put it on a clipboard, and you’re all set! We also made these new flyers for your canvassers to hand out at events and on the doors. They include a blurb about how your senators voted (personalized by state!) and a call script on the back so folks can take action on the spot.

Get smart with our new recess policy resources.

Defeating TrumpCare was an incredible victory—brought about by constituent power. We need to keep the momentum going. Trump and his Republican friends in Congress are determined to ram through the rest of their agenda.

This August, we hope you’re able to meet with your MoC—if they’re not hiding from you. Here are some suggested issues to talk to them about:

TrumpCare Accountability – Make sure that TrumpCare stays dead. Hold your MoCs accountable for voting for repeal, and make sure you thank your MoCs if they voted against it.

Tax Reform – The next legislative priority for Donald Trump and congressional Republicans is to give massive tax cuts to the rich, paid for on the backs of working families. Tell your MoCs that you won’t accept Trump’s tax scam.

Immigration – Trump continues his multi-pronged attack on immigrant families. There are ways that you can be an ally to immigrants, beginning with urging your MoCs to cosponsor these bills.

Budget – Remember, Trump doesn’t decide what programs and agencies get funded, but Congress does. Make sure Congress is prioritizing you—and not Donald Trump—as they negotiate the budget.

Environment – We’ve partnered with Al Gore to bring attention to climate change. Here is a toolkit to help you get engaged locally.

Preventing Trump from firing Robert Mueller – We need to make sure that Donald Trump doesn’t create a constitutional crisis by firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the person leading the investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Here’s how you can make sure that doesn’t happen.

Write an op-ed that makes a difference.

We are excited to partner with The OpEd Project to offer a joint resource on how to write, pitch, and place op-eds.

We both believe that the right voices speaking up at the right time can have a big impact on decision makers. And we both believe that our democracy is full of untapped expertise and potential. Check out the resource here and get those creative juices flowing!

Double your impact.

We just got a grant to match small donations this month! What’s it for? We’ll be honest with you: it’s for general operating support. That sounds boring and technical, but this is the best money we can get, since the funds will allow us to be responsive to your needs, whether that means more trainings (like the live media training with Sally Kohn we did last week), better policy explainers and recess toolkits like those listed above, or faster response of our organizers. This isn’t about pet projects—it’s about helping all of Indivisible run.

So this matching challenge grant is for all of August recess—every dollar you give will unlock a dollar of the grant. That means whatever support you can give—whether it’s $25, or $50—will have double the impact. You give $50, we get $100—how great is that? (We think it’s pretty great).

We’re hoping to raise $40,000 this week by doubling your donation today, so that we’re on track to get all of these matching funds. Again, thank you SO MUCH for believing in this movement and in the Indivisible organization.

Regardless of whether you can donate to Indivisible though, you should really take a sec and recognize everything you’ve accomplished these past few months. We’re now SEVEN MONTHS into this Congress, and they are having a helluva time getting any of their cruel, plutocratic, and anti-democratic agenda enacted. They just left D.C. for a month of congressional recess “Exhausted, Unsuccessful and Frustrated.” Local pressure by Indivisibles all across the country did that. You did that.

Yes, we’ve got a lot to do over the next month to hold our MoCs accountable on our home turf now that they’re coming home for recess. But we also hope you’ll find time to relax, celebrate what you’ve won, and enjoy your summer in between. August is your time to shine, and we can’t wait to see what you accomplish next.

In Solidarity,

Indivisible Team

P.S. You did incredible things the last several weeks to kill TrumpCare. In case you missed it, check out our op-ed last week in the Washington Post: “Who saved ObamaCare from the GOP? The American People” for a look back on how you did it, and what we learned about the power of your constituent action.