August 'Party Time' Newsletter

Updates for All Party Leaders!

 

• State Fair Volunteers needed: We’re gearing up for the Great Minnesota Get-Together, and we need your help! The State Fair runs from August 24-September 4.  If you would like to volunteer to help out a the DFL fair booth (helping folks register to vote, assisting at our photo area, etc.), please sign up here and we’ll be in touch soon!
• Project BLUE cohort change for August: Instead of doing our regularly scheduled cohort meetings in August, we will be bringing all cohorts together for trainings on preparing for the 2024 precinct caucuses! More information will be coming soon, but please plan to have at least one person from your unit attend one of the trainings!
• SCC meeting date: The State Central Committee meeting that was originally scheduled for July 29 has been moved to Saturday, August 12. The meeting will be virtual and held over Zoom.  The appropriate folks should be receiving official notice for the meeting today with more information.
  • Connections Lab training before meeting: We are also very excited to announce that we’ve arranged a training by Connections Lab before the August 12^th SCC meeting from 9-10 AM on “Next Level Messaging: Take Control of the Political Narrative!”  You don’t have to be an SCC member to attend the training – everyone is encouraged to attend!  You can sign up via the Training Hub.  Information on how to sign up can be found here.

 

Precinct Caucus Training!

 

The bad news is, Project BLUE cohort meetings are cancelled for August.  The good news is… it’s because we’re doing Precinct Caucus training!  This will be the beginning of a significant amount of trainings and materials we’ll have on Precinct Caucuses, and we’ll be covering:

• The new Caucus & Convention Reports
• Finding locations
• Setting yourself up for success now!

Join us for one of the following two trainings or ensure at least one person from your unit can attend.  Both nights are the same training, so you only need to attend one.

Sunday, August 13 from 6-7pm

Immediately following the Second Sunday Training: Build to Win!

Click here to learn how to register for the Second Sunday training (it’s the same Zoom link)

 

Monday, August 14 from 7-8pm

Click here to register!

 

Printable Literature!

We received suggestions from some of you for a literature template that units could print themselves, and it took a little time to complete, but we’re delighted to announce that we’ve done it!  Communications Director Brian Evans designed the following literature piece that your unit can get printed at your local union printer to fit your unit’s budget and needs.

There is one caveat!!! This literature MUST be printed with a campaign finance disclaimer for your unit!  Don’t worry – we’ll take care of that part for you.  Just respond to this email (or email us at [email protected]) and let us know you’d like the literature artwork, and we will place your unit’s customized campaign finance disclaimer and send you the artwork.

Pretty cool, huh?  Get your version of the artwork simply by responding to this email.  😊

 

Officer’s Corner: Job specific updates and a monthly challenge!

Directors

• Help set up some social time for your unit: Volunteer organizations work best when everyone has had a chance to bond as a group.  We recommend taking the time to get together socially, with no real business to accomplish, just to have a chance to chat and connect!  Talk to your unit and see how you can help set up that opportunity for your unit.

Data and Technology Directors

• Make a website wish list: If your unit has a website, take a moment to click through it and make a list of things you’d like to change or update.  Could it use some more pictures?  Is there an events calendar?  Dedicate some time to thinking about what’s possible.  If your unit doesn’t have a website, take a moment to look into what it would take to create one (or to use the unit page on the DFL website at dfl.org/local-units)

 

Communications Directors

• Start thinking about precinct caucuses now: Precinct caucuses are the best opportunity to grow your party unit and set yourself up for success for a whole two-year cycle!  February 27 seems like a long way away, but it’s going to go very quickly, and you’ll want to start communicating to DFLers in your community about the where/when/how/why of attending precinct caucuses.  Start brainstorming now about ways you can communicate, and how you can get the information in front of as many DFLers as possible.

 

Treasurers/Fundraising Teams

• Attend the training with ActBlue on August 20th: Christina Orth from ActBlue is running her ActBlue 101 training on August 20^th at 4pm, and you can catch that training here. If you are new to ActBlue, interested in opening an account for your unit, or wanting to learn more about the features of the service, this is the training for you!

 

Secretary

• Enter your precinct officers on leadership lists: We are noticing that many units have not entered in any precinct officers into their leadership lists.  There is a tab on the spreadsheet (located at the bottom) for entering information for your Precinct Chairs & Vice Chairs.  Please make sure to enter this information.

 

Outreach Officers/Vice Chairs

• Start thinking about precinct caucuses now: You may notice that this is the same challenge being presented to your Communications Directors. Because precinct caucuses are such an important outreach event, it is really important to put as much effort as possible into getting DFLers in your community to attend, including members of marginalized communities and young people.  Work with your Communications Directors and the rest of your unit to put together a plan for what you can do between now and February 27 to get folks to show up on caucus night!

 

Chairs & Vice Chairs

• Attend precinct caucus training (and the Second Sunday training): It is important that at least one person from your unit attend precinct caucus training on either August 13^th or 14^th.  Information on these trainings is posted earlier in this email.  Even if you have organized precinct caucuses several times before, we will be covering the new “one stop shop” reporting forms for reporting your locations and information for both caucuses and convention, so there will be new information for everybody!  Extra credit if you also attend the Second Sunday “Build to Win” training with Sonja starting at 4pm.

 

As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected]!

Happy Organizing!

Sonja & Laurie

Your Party Affairs Team