I HAVE NEVER ORGANIZED BEFORE AND I DON’T KNOW ANY ACTIVISTS – HOW CAN I START?
First off, this is a very exciting opportunity and please know that we will be with you throughout the entire process. Fear not!
Here are some steps to help you out.

1. Reaching out to people. Here’s an example of something to say – please tailor it to your audience and needs: “Hi everyone! I’m part of an inclusive animal right community called Collectively Free and I’m looking for people to join me in nonviolent direct actions for animals! I’d like to share this talk about the importance of activism and direct action for CF. Who’s in?
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSPGYeDlD80“
2. Where to reach out. Join regional groups. For example if you live in Barcelona join “Veganos/as Barcelona”. In addition to that, join general groups such as “Veganos/as Spain”.
3. Create a secret CF regional group. Connect with activists all in the same online safe space. They can also be added to our international group CF Network.
4. Connect with your activists. Schedule a in-person get together – a potluck, or  a relaxed and informal meeting. Get to know them, connect, act, transform!
5. Organize an event or action. Check out our guidelines on how to start organizing events or actions.
6. Talk to us! We’re here to help you with anything you need.

HOW MUCH TIME IS EXPECTED OF ME AS AN ORGANIZER?
You should expect to spend 8-10+ hours a week on organizing responsibilities, including:

1. Weekly meetings (1-2 hours – may be less)
2. Strategy and planning of monthly days of action (2 hours)
3. Assistance with local community development – including but not limited to reaching out to new people, establishing relationships, creating a solid sense of community (1-2 hours)
4. Other tasks (2 hours)

This is in addition to individual roles we may have established to each individual. For instance, if your role is social media, you are also responsible for that area.

HOW CAN I REACH OUT TO POTENTIAL ORGANIZERS?
Do you have people interested in joining the community or perhaps contributing in some way? Let’s get to know them and offer options.

Interested in organizing with CF: “Hi! It’s really exciting to know you want to join the team! We have tons of tools that empower activists to start organizing where they live. I’d be happy to talk to you about all this via Skype if you’d like – there’s nothing better than a conversation face-to-face!

If you’d like to know about what we do and what we are about here’s a useful link http://collectivelyfree.org/why-cf/”

Interested in organizing but not necessarily with CF: “Hi! I’m part of this activist community called Collectively Free and we are all about [community building/intersectionality/non-violent direct action/animals/diversity, etc.]. We have tons of tools that empower activists to start organizing where they live. I’d be happy to talk to you about all this via Skype if you’d like – there’s nothing better than a conversation face-to-face!

If you’d like to know about what we do and what we are about here’s a useful link http://collectivelyfree.org/why-cf/”

Interested in finding out how they can contribute to the CF community but are not ready to jump into an organizer’s’ role yet: “There are many ways one can contribute to our community! Here’s a list of possible roles we so appreciate.”

And then what?

1. Schedule a talk. Do your best to schedule a talk right away.
2. Follow up. If the Skype talk is taking too long to be scheduled, follow up. If you see that perhaps this is not the best way to get the conversation going engage online, send more links if necessary but emphasize how great would be to get to know them more.
3. Invite them to join the CF Network. After you have checked that they are genuinely interested, and that the aren’t infiltrators, invite them to be part of our online community.
4. Invite them to participate in actions/events – if a chapter is available.
5. Follow up some more. Give them time to digest the information and follow up when you see fit.

IS BEING AN ORGANIZER THE ONLY ROLE I CAN HAVE?
There are so many areas in our community that you can contribute to. From artists to lawyers, we would love to have anyone involved!
Check out our “roles sheet” to identify the areas you can contribute to. If you have any other skills we did not include, please reach out to us so we can have you participate.  

HOW CAN WE BETTER DIVIDE THE WORKLOAD?
If we each commit to performing the tasks we need no one will feel burnt out. So let’s do it collectively! We have created an “Areas Of Commitment” spreadsheet that will help you define “roles” within the team and split the tasks more efficiently. 
We ask people to only mark the areas they are 100% committed to. For example, if you have helped once or twice with social media, do not mark that area as yours.
There are also areas in which all members should be a part of like sharing our posts or promoting events/actions.
Note that some areas are more flexible than others and it’s possible to have people alternate between tasks. For example, N. and B. may be responsible for contacting people in the day of action but may choose to take turns in that task.

I’M NOT GETTING THE RESPONSE AND ENTHUSIASM I EXPECTED FROM ACTIVISTS. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?
It’s very important to engage activists as much as possible. When you post something on your group do they look like this?

Or like this?

Writing a few powerful sentences makes all the difference in engaging activists. Here’s our social media guideline for posting on social media that can make your posts more attractive and inspiring. Don’t just post. Engage and inspire.
Do you have a creative mind for memes or would like to help us create social media content? Join our CF Social Media Group!

HOW DOES THE SECRET GROUP WORK?
As defined previously, the CF secret group will serve mostly to create a solid network of activists that are willing to chip in with ideas, suggest actions/events and participate. Participants don’t necessarily need to be from where you specific chapter is located. For instance, the NY CF Chapter has a few members in its secret group that are from either far away cities or cities nearby.

• Description of the group. Here’s an example of description:
  “This is a safe space for supporters and participants in CF’s actions. We will use this to communicate logistics about events (e.g. meeting times and places), as well as to share creative ideas and discussions about future events and campaigns.Oppressive actions will not be tolerated. They include but are not limited to: discriminatory words or behavior on the basis of race, sex, age, religion, class, size, ability, immigration status, sexuality, gender identity and/or gender expression, as well as promoting disrespect or violence towards any type of non-human animals.**IMPORTANT – Never share publicly any details about plans of actions, this is why we have a secret group**CF’s actions and events include but are not limited to the following categories…”  use the points expressed in What Kind Of Actions & Events Does Cf Do? (last point of this FAQ) to describe our events and actions.
• Pinned post. We usually keep a pinned posted that says “E-mail Communication For Actions” to remind people to submit their e-mail to be added to the google groups.
• Have fun!

HOW TO CONVEY OUR MESSAGE EFFECTIVELY? IN PERSON.

• Listen. Bring the key-point of inclusivity to action. People need to feel like their “concerns” are being listened to.
• Key-points. Try to talk key-points rather than lecture. Take a look at the quarter page we have here, and key-points about the specific action you are participating in.
• Put yourself in their place. For the most part, we all once ate our brothers and sisters. Share that with your audience.
• Take an intersectional approach. Refrain from using triggering words. Draw smart parallels.
• Put the audience in the nonhuman animal’s place. Role reversal is a powerful tool. Use it.

WHAT KIND OF ACTIONS & EVENTS DOES CF DO?
CF’s actions and events include but are not limited to:

Direct action interventions
Inspired by the 50’s and 60’s sit-ins, these actions involve entering an establishment that normalizes the exploitation of non-human animals, holding space, and speaking out on behalf of the victims. These non-violent actions last no more than 3-4 minutes and are always followed by traditional outreach and leafletting outside the establishment. An example can be found here.

Theatrical demonstrations
Typically in public spaces, these actions engage passersby in non confrontational yet creative ways, pushing the boundaries of the norms we have all been socially conditioned to.

Play is useful for social movements in countless ways. CF uses theater as another tool for social change. For example: theater offers a way of challenging power, rather than replicating oppression patterns or power dynamics. Play allows social actors to disarm the audience. The results are new forms of social relations; It serves as a means for community building and strengthening. Our goal is to create communities of support and resistance; it becomes a form of repressive desublimation (Marcuse); Yet, at its most vital, play invites people to participate. It is attention-grabbing and intriguing. Read the full study here. Check out some other examples of theater being used for social justice issues, like the theater of the oppressed and feminism. An example of CF theater can be found here.

Intersectional campaigns
In the 70’s, black feminists who worked both for women’s right and civil rights, started to look at gender and race as connected issues. The feminist movement back then wasn’t talking about race, and the civil rights movement wasn’t addressing gender. They developed a theory and practice called intersectionality, a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in her insightful 1989 essay, “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics”. Intersectionality is the idea that we cannot think of systemic oppressions such as the ones of gender, race, class, ability, sexual orientation, religion, caste, species as separate and independent from one another. It is the idea that different axes of identity interact on multiple levels, contributing to systemic injustice and social inequality.

We strive for intersectional approaches. One example is the campaign against Starbucks, which highlights both non-human and human animal suffering.

Projections Towards Compassion
PTC is a creative form of outreach that involves projecting video content of everyday animal cruelty (from factory farms to “humane” slaughter to fur farms) on city walls, engaging passersby in conversations and leafletting. An example can be found here, also check out our instructions on how to start your PTC here. Organizers – it’s always good to check the law in regards to projections in your city.

Coalition Building
One of CF’s goals is to unify the animal rights and social justice movements. CF members attend as many actions and events hosted by other groups as we can. We need our movement to grow bigger and stronger, so staying united and in solidarity with one another is crucial. If we don’t unite the animals will lose.

Open Meetings
A CF organizer meeting with invited members of our extended family of activists. We discuss campaigns, strategies, and all around ideas on how to improve our collective knowledge, skills and methods.

Panels
Focus on intersectionality. 2-3 people will do educational presentations on a specific topic (e.g. how animal rights intersect with LGBTQI+ rights, or how speciesism intersects with classism, etc.), and we will follow with a discussion.

Educational Programs
We also organize educational programs. E.g. The Vegan Pledge, a free 30-day mentoring program on guiding new vegans through their transition, covering subjects from practical matters, like reading labels, to environmental impact and animal.

Rescues
Coming soon.