########################################################################### HOW TO START A LIBERTARIAN OUTREACH GROUP By Jarret B. Wollstein ########################################################################### WHY START A LOCAL LIBERTARIAN CLUB? It seems that every day governments further restrict and threaten our liberties. Rising censorship, abuses of civil rights, out-of-control government taxes and spending, attacks on business, and wars all threaten our liberties. Never has the need been greater for articulate, effective spokesmen and organizers for liberty. There are three main reasons why you should start a libertarian club: 1. To help further your ideas. By creating an effective local organization, you can increase the impact of your ideals a hundred-fold. Creating a local chapter enables you effectively to work with other, specialize in what you do best, increase your visibility, and draw on campus and community resources. An effective organization can orchestrate community events, reach out to large numbers of people, and provide continuity of effort. 2. To socialize with other libertarians. In many parts of the world, libertarians feel isolated and alienated. Holding regular meetings and activities gives you an opportunity to make many new libertarian friends. 3. To create the next generation of libertarians. We need a lot more libertarians before we will have a real impact upon our societies. Local clubs are one of the best ways of recruiting and developing new libertarians. We particularly need to recruit high school and college students. We also need many more libertarian lawyers, teachers, businessmen, artists, writers, speakers, community leaders, and organizers. WHY AFFILIATE WITH ISIL? The International Society for Individual Liberty is a leading international spokesman for individual liberty, the free market, and world peace. We presently have members in 70 countries and chapters in 15 countries. Forming an ISIL chapter or affiliating your local group with ISIL gives you many benefits including: * access to a wide variety of inexpensive pamphlets, tapes and posters, * receipt of regular chapter bulletins enabling you to benefit from the experience of other groups, * help with locating other libertarians and prospects in your area, * professional help and assistance in organizing your local group and activities from ISIL veteran chapter organizers, * participation in special ISIL chapter activities, such as our ``Bill of Rights 1991 Project'', and * community respect and prestige from affiliation with an international individual rights organization. HOW TO START AN ISIL CHAPTER Your first step is to contact other libertarians in your area, and ask them to help you start a chapter. If you don't know anyone, ISIL world headquarters in San Francisco will perform a computer search to help identify other local libertarians. Another good way of locating other local libertarians is to run an ad in your local or campus newspapers. The following ads are good examples: LIBERTARIANS. New campus (community) group now forming. If you are interested in learning more, call Bill Smith at 000-0000 evenings and weekends. LIBERTY, THE FREE MARKET, WORLD PEACE. If you believe in these ideals and want to further them, call Bill Smith at 000-0000 evenings and weekends. Once you have identified a few other libertarians in your area, get together with them in your living room or at a quiet and inexpensive restaurant to plan activities. THE BASIC CHAPTER You can organize a basic ISIL chapter in your living room, or your campus, or in your community. Schools provide free meeting rooms for recognized campus groups, and most libraries provide free meeting rooms for non-political groups. Other good meeting places include apartment party rooms, community recreation centers, private rooms in restaurants, and churches. Initial chapter activities usually consist of discussion meetings and speakers. Anything can be used as a basis for discussion meetings: an interesting article in the newspaper or a libertarian publication, tapes from a libertarian conference (available from ISIL), or perhaps just an idea you want to discuss. Be sure to plan your meetings at least 30 days in advance, and make sure everyone on your mailing list receives a written notice with clear directions, and gets a reminder call a few days before the meeting. Postcards or simple, typed flyers are fine for such initial meetings. If you meet at a restaurant, pick an inexpensive one with a buffet. Otherwise you will find that a lot of people won't come because of prices, and many will still be ordering and eating when your program is supposed to start. At the meeting, wear name tags and greet everyone. MAKE SURE NEWCOMERS ARE INTRODUCED TO EVERYONE, AND MADE TO FEEL WELCOME. Serve light refreshments if you are meeting in your home. Start on time. Every meeting should also have a moderator whose main function is to keep the discussion going, and to make sure that everyone has a chance to speak. Have a good selection of ISIL issue papers on hand for people to pick up. It is also very desirable to print up a brochure or flyer describing your group and its objectives. Be sure to include a mailing address, contact person, and telephone number. At the end of the meeting ask everyone what they liked and didn't like about the meeting. Ask them to suggest future topics and activities, and ask them to bring their friends with them next time. If you are forming a campus group, you will need to become a ``recognized campus organization'' in order to qualify for free meeting rooms. This is usually a simple process, involving getting a few charter members, a faculty sponsor, and a written constitution conforming to Student Government Association guidelines. Check with your campus Student Government Association if you are forming a campus organization. If you are forming a campus group, have live speakers whenever possible. And be sure to advertize your event with flyers on the campus bulletin boards and via notices in the campus paper, and on the campus radio station. Be sure to get everyone's name, address and telephone number. Both campus and community groups should meet at the same place at the same time, at least once a month. That way members always know where and when to come to meetings. Once you have formed a basic chapter, you can branch out into many more activities - limited only by your imagination and objectives. Possible group activities include debates, speaking before other groups, parties, letter-writing campaigns, editorial responses, testimony at public hearings, writing columns for local and campus newspapers, and social action projects. See our booklet: ``Creating an Effective ISIL Outreach Organization'' for many more suggestions. IT'S UP TO YOU The strength of the libertarian movement depends upon the efforts of its members. By starting and ISIL chapter, your ideas can have a real impact upon the future of your country. Forming an ISIL chapter also expands your knowledge, hones your organizational skills, and helps you make a lot of new friends. HELP AVAILABLE TO CHAPTERS FROM ISIL HEADQUARTERS * Computer search service for locating ISIL members in your area. * Speaker referrals. * Issue papers, white papers, tapes. * Flyer design and artwork assistance. * Call-in service for problem-solving. * Coordinated international and national social action projects, such as ``Bill of Rights `91'' (USA). * Periodic chapter newsletters. * Special literature on organizing meetings, fund raising, and advertising. * Discounted rates for ISIL memberships and Freedom Network News for official chapters. * Local, national and international conferences and seminars. * Help with organizing discussion courses. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jarret B. Wollstein is a co-founder of the original Society for Individual Liberty and a Director of ISIL. He has organized many libertarian groups, including SIL chapters at the University of Maryland and George Mason University. During the 1970s, his Libertarian Social Club in Washington, D.C. regularly drew 60-150 people at monthly meetings. Mr. Wollstein co-authored SIL's ``Principles of Liberty'' course, which has been used by hundreds of groups throughout the world. INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY 1800 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 Tel: (415) 864-0952 Fax: (415) 864-7506