Growth Vision

Growth Vision
The Green Party of Michigan wants to build more and stronger relationships among its members, past, present
and future. People want to feel connected and involved with others who have similar views or at least are able to
debate views openly and without rancor. We recognize that sporadic electronic messages do not build
relationships. If we are truly the people’s party we must actually start connecting with people. Through this we
can grow and strengthen our ability to be a force in Michigan activism and politics.
Goals
Officer Goals:
Devote at least 4 hours per week to relationship building in the party.
To be the featured speaker at six events in each year.
To personally sign up two new members per month.
To fulfill the other responsibilities of office in a timely and accurate fashion.
To create or add to/edit an officer manual for the position of responsibility held.
Strategic Goals:
To become the leading “major third party” in Michigan.
To become the fastest growing Green Party in the United States
To strengthen and extend member longevity in the party though building a network of active locals in every
Michigan county.
Growth Goals:
2,000 new members by 2016 election cycle
Active “Local” in 63 of Michigan’s 83 Counties
Local candidate identifying and training in every local plus 3 State wide training programs between now and the
2016 convention.
100 + members at every State Meeting by 3rd meeting of 2015.
Membership diversity at minimal, matches percentage of populations within the state.
U.S. Census Figures 2014
MI
USA
White alone, percent, 2013 (a)
80.1%
77.7%
Black or African American alone, percent, 2013 (a)
14.3%
13.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone, percent, 2013 (a)
0.7%
1.2%
Asian alone, percent, 2013 (a)
2.7%
5.3%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, percent, 2013 (a)
Z
0.2%
Two or More Races, percent, 2013
2.2%
2.4%
Hispanic or Latino, percent, 2013 (b)
4.7%
17.1%
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Tactical Goals:
•
Create and distribute membership card to all listed members regardless of voting status.
•
Create a welcome package, to include Membership Card, Party brochure, Welcome letter from
Membership Secretary, Contact information for three members within the county, List of current
officers, Contact info for Mich Greens Group/List moderators.
•
Create newsletter in both electronic and print format and delivered on schedule. (Explore public Dist. Points)
•
Develop columnists for Living Green, Greens on Campus, Activism for Greens
•
To have dates and city location for all State meetings scheduled for the full year by December 1st
•
Actually moderate discussion groups by topic.
•
Post discussion groups and who is owner/moderator on our website.
•
To have Welcome letter from Chairperson sent within 72 hours to every new member (snail mail vs email?)
•
To have new members added to on-line lists within 72 hours with a welcome to them on the lists.
•
To have existing member from county call to welcome new member within 24 hours.
•
Each state officer should attend/speak at a minimum of two different Local meetings per year.
•
To hold four, co-ordinated, statewide recruitment events in 14 month period.
•
Create and engage Union Liaison position
•
Create facilitator script and conduct two workshops on activism in the first 12 months.
•
Create facilitator script and conduct two workshops on running for office in the first 12 months.
•
Have our graphic design person lead a team to develop logo and slogans for Green Michigan “swag” for
sale on line.
•
Have locals discuss and submit fund-raising ideas that they would use in their areas with the long term
goal of creating a Fund-raising resource guide.
•
Have locals discuss and submit what they would like to see in a unified local handbook.
•
Create student Greens team to explore and develop ways to reach college students and begin trial run
within fall semester of the first year.
Purpose
The Green Party of Michigan seeks to grow to enhance effectiveness in support of activist causes and to greatly
strengthen our political clout at all levels of Michigan Politics. Ultimately, electing Green Party Members to a
variety of local and Statewide offices. We also wish to have the numbers to create a rapid response team to any
of the varied causes that fall within our Party Pillars, being able to not only lend support but to take the lead on
activism from petitioning to protesting to being seen as the “experts” on particular issues.
Key Metrics
The Officers, strategic, growth and tactical goals will be tracked using a GAP (Goals & Progress) style
dashboard available to all members on the Party website. All goals will be entered into the dashboard and will
be tracked on a monthly basis with key metrics being entered to judge actual results against these goals.
Officer’s goals: The primary purpose of these goals is to maximize public awareness of the party. The first two
goals are intended for each of the officers to complete fully. Officer logs will be kept and the data broken out by
officer position.
The first goal log shall consist of a daily diary format that tracks specific actions taken by individual officers. An
example follows;
6/15/15 - 8:30 to 8:55 AM made calls to the Party members, Joe Cool, Jill Protestor, and Bob Labor to discuss progress in their
locals. Secured one speaking engagement for July 1 at the Students for Wolves luncheon.
6/16/12 - 3:30 to 4:30 PM Spoke with Azizz Mo, student at GVSC who had questions about our party.
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The second goal will be tracked by filling out a Speaking Engagement Debriefing. See the form in Appendix A
The third goal will be tracked through the membership secretary referral records (Should consider creating a
reward system for recruitment by all party members ie; Sign up 20 new members in a quarter get a Green Party
T-shirt).
The next two Officer goals would be tracked by the completeness of officer reports at State Meetings or lack of
officer reports at said meetings.
Strategic Goals:
Progress toward first goal would be measured by enroled members vs other major third parties and by number
of press/media notices mentioning The Michigan Green Party.
The second goal will be a quarterly comparison of new Members added in Michigan vs other states. A base line
will need to be established.
The third strategic goal will be tracked by active involvement of individual party member and active retention.
Data - How many party members have been active in at least 4 Green Party Activities in a year and as
time progresses how many have kept that activity up through multiple years.
Example, member attended 2 local meetings, was active at Green supported protest, wrote an article for
newsletter, and organized a Green “social” gathering in their community.
Growth Goals:
These are straight forward numerical data gathered by the Membership Secretary and the Meeting Manager
Tactical Goals:
The first seven tactical goals (black) are straight up “Did it happen” items. A reasonable time frame for the first
seven is eight weeks from adoption of the growth plan.
The next four tactical goals (blue) will be handled as officer logs and the results should be included in each
officers report submitted at State Meetings.
The next four tactical goals (green) will each need a team leader to gather their team and begin work.
Recommendation is six weeks to gather their team. Metric to have facilitator script draft and conduct “trial run”
workshop within 7 months of adopting the growth plan. Once workshop are tested and refined. Metrics will
change to how many have been trained and how many workshops conducted in a year.
The next tactical goal (red) should be a priority. “Swag” will improve visibility and funding for the other goals
and projects in the plan. Reasonable time line will need to be developed by those with the specialized skills
involved. But it should happen quickly.
The next two tactical goals (lilac) will be ongoing for a time and so the metric used to chart progress will be in
the form of minutes of the local meetings and submissions made to the Local Liaison.
The final tactical goal (lt. Green) will need to have a time line and metric developed by the team itself. The only
initial metric is that the team should be created and have met once in the first 3 months after adoption of the
Growth Plan.
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Member Profiles and Core Strategy
The Green Party of Michigan will begin by focusing on four general member profiles. As we grow and refine
our member profiles it is expected there will be additional profiles identified and sub groups within the profiles.
These need not be a focus at this point in the Growth Plan and can be addressed with revisions as needed.
Profile 1 - Who are our members now?
Develop a survey to get a feel for who our current membership is. Anecdotally, we are predominantly
male, middle aged or older and slightly working class.
Profile 2 - College Age young people
These counties have the largest number of people age 20 to 29 and should be a focus of our efforts.
Counties are listed small to largest.
Marquette
12,348
Calhoun
17,304
Monroe
17,886
Livingston
18,432
Berrien
18,754
Saint Clair
19,045
Isabella*
19,371
Jackson
20,042
Muskegon
23,040
Saginaw
25,257
Ottawa
36,382
Kalamazoo*
50,439
Genesee
51,300
Ingham*
63,750
Washtenaw*
73,250
Kent
91,670
Macomb
102,040
Oakland
137,227
Wayne
240,037
* These counties would be top 5 if only 20 to 24 year olds were included. The 25 to 29 group in these counties
finish their college and move away in huge numbers.
With a little help from the Beloit Mindset list we can get an idea of who these young people are. The Mindset
List for the Class of 2015
Andre the Giant, River Phoenix, Frank Zappa, Arthur Ashe
and the Commodore 64 have always been dead.
Their classmates could include Taylor Momsen, Angus Jones,
Howard Stern's daughter Ashley, and the Dilley Sextuplets.
There has always been an Internet ramp onto the
information highway.
Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson could be their parents.
States and Velcro parents have always been requiring that
they wear their bike helmets.
The only significant labor disputes in their lifetimes have
been in major league sports.
There have nearly always been at least two women on
the Supreme Court, and women have always commanded
U.S. Navy ships.
They “swipe” cards, not merchandise.
As they’ve grown up on websites and cell phones, adult
experts have constantly fretted about their alleged deficits
of empathy and concentration.
Their school’s “blackboards” have always been getting
smarter.
“Don’t touch that dial!”….what dial?
American tax forms have always been available in Spanish.
More Americans have always traveled to Latin America
than to Europe.
Amazon has never been just a river in South America.
Refer to LBJ, and they might assume you're talking about
LeBron James.
All their lives, Whitney Houston has always been declaring
“I Will Always Love You.”
O.J. Simpson has always been looking for the killers of
Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
Women have never been too old to have children.
Japan has always been importing rice.
Jim Carrey has always been bigger than a pet detective.
We have never asked, and they have never had to tell.
Life has always been like a box of chocolates.
They’ve always gone to school with Mohammed and
Jesus.
John Wayne Bobbitt has always slept with one eye open.
The Communist Party has never been the official
political party in Russia.
“Yadda, yadda, yadda” has always come in handy to make
long stories short.
Video games have always had ratings.
Chicken soup has always been soul food.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show has always been available
on TV.
Jimmy Carter has always been a smiling elderly man
who shows up on TV to promote fair elections and disaster
relief.
Arnold Palmer has always been a drink.
Dial-up is soooooooooo last century!
Women have always been kissing women on television.
Their older siblings have told them about the days when
Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera were
Mouseketeers.
Most have grown up with a faux Christmas Tree in the
house at the holidays.
They’ve always been able to dismiss boring old ideas with
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“been there, done that, gotten the T-shirt.”
The bloody conflict between the government and a
religious cult has always made Waco sound a little whacko.
Unlike their older siblings, they spent bedtime on their
backs until they learned to roll over.
Music has always been available via free downloads.
Grown-ups have always been arguing about health care
policy.
Moderate amounts of red wine and baby aspirin have always
been thought good for the heart.
Sears has never sold anything out of a Big Book that could
also serve as a doorstop.
The United States has always been shedding fur.
Electric cars have always been humming in relative silence
on the road.
No longer known for just gambling and quickie divorces,
Nevada has always been one of the fastest growing states in
the Union.
They’re the first generation to grow up hearing about
the dangerous overuse of antibiotics.
They pressured their parents to take them to Taco Bell or
Burger King to get free pogs.
Russian courts have always had juries.
No state has ever failed to observe Martin Luther King
Day.
While they’ve been playing outside, their parents have
always worried about nasty new bugs borne by birds and
mosquitoes.
Public schools have always made space available for
advertising.
Some of them have been inspired to actually cook by
watching the Food Channel.
Fidel Castro’s daughter and granddaughter have always
lived in the United States.
Their parents have always been able to create a will and
other legal documents online.
Charter schools have always been an alternative.
They’ve grown up with George Stephanopoulos as the Dick
Clark of political analysts.
New Kids have always been known as NKOTB.
They’ve always wanted to be like Shaq or Kobe:
Michael Who?
They’ve often broken up with their significant others via
texting, Facebook, or MySpace.
Their parents sort of remember Woolworths as this store
that used to be downtown.
Kim Jong-il has always been bluffing, but the West has
always had to take him seriously.
Frasier, Sam, Woody and Rebecca have never Cheerfully
frequented a bar in Boston during primetime.
Major League Baseball has never had fewer than three
divisions and never lacked a wild card entry in the playoffs.
Nurses have always been in short supply.
They won’t go near a retailer that lacks a website.
Altar girls have never been a big deal.
When they were 3, their parents may have battled other
parents in toy stores to buy them a Tickle Me Elmo while they
lasted.
It seems the United States has always been looking for
an acceptable means of capital execution.
Folks in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have always been
able to energize with Pepsi Cola.
Andy Warhol is a museum in Pittsburgh.
They’ve grown up hearing about suspiciously vanishing
frogs.
They’ve always had the privilege of talking with a
chatterbot.
Refugees and prisoners have always been housed by the
U.S. government at Guantanamo.
Women have always been Venusians; men, Martians.
McDonalds coffee has always been just a little too hot to
handle.
“PC” has come to mean Personal Computer, not
Political Correctness.
The New York Times and the Boston Globe have never
been rival newspapers.
Copyright© 2011 Beloit College
Mindset List is a registered trademark
Profile 3 - Ethnic Minorities
See Appendix B for summary of Arab-American Demographics in Michigan
See Appendix C for summary of Latino demographics in Michigan
Afro-Americans in Michigan, as a percentage of their income, donate to causes at a rate nearly twice that of
those declaring themselves white. Afro-Americans volunteer slightly more than twice as many hours as their
white counterparts. It should be noted their number one area to volunteer is, in their immediate neighborhoods
followed by their churches. If we want to involve more African-Americans in the Green Party we need to let
them know how the party can impact their specific neighborhoods and provide them vehicles to work within
their own neighborhoods. Some examples of these vehicles might include voter registration drives, campaigning
for local offices, elder care and day care issues, community organizing. Our recruitment efforts should be very
local focused as opposed to emphasizing national or global issues.
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Profile 4 - Women
Women in Michigan outnumber men by nearly 200,000. Women are approximately 53% of our population and
that holds true across nearly all races. The median age of women in Michigan is 40, compared to a median age
of 38 for Michigan males. Women make 74% of what men make in Michigan.
Being female, having more education, and church attendance positively related to volunteering.
Women are more likely to engage in volunteering than men—regardless of age. So why are the Greens in
Michigan so male “heavy”?
Women spend significantly more time and frequency than men volunteering.
Women have different interest and commitment than men to volunteering
Studies have found that women want to feel they have made a difference in their volunteer efforts, they want to
see results. Men tend to want to be seen as being altruistic. Men want to be seen as doing “good”. Women want
to see the “good” accomplished.
Are we taking these differences into our recruitment efforts?
Core Marketing
Differentiations - What makes the Green Party Different?
Grass roots, government from the citizen upward is a key difference. Consensus model.
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Core Strategy
The external marketing message which the Green Party of Michigan wants to put across is that we are truly
different then the Republicans and Democrats and that we are a viable vehicle for change.
Results desired include:
•
Meeting or exceeding all classifications of goals set out previously.
•
Creating a functional network of activist to draw attention to and shape policies that effect our
state.
•
Build a political network that can get Green candidates elected to offices at all levels.
Core Branding Elements
The Ten Pillars and real relationships with real people.
The core marketing elements include:
•
Website
•
Newsletter
•
Brochures
•
Swag
•
People to People Exchanges
•
Press Releases on issues of import
•
Advertisements (to be determined, type & frequency)
•
Activism
•
Events
•
A professional Press/Media kit that will include:
1.
Case statement - Covering the philosophy & history of the Green Party in
Michigan
2.
Difference summary - Describing how we are different from other parties
3.
Typical member profile - an actual story of a member and how they have been
impacted by the Green Party of Michigan
4.
Copy of key names and contact information
5.
Outline of current, select issues we are championing
6.
Membership sign up form
7.
Schedule of events and meetings
8.
FAQs
9.
Selection of press/media articles
The Press/Media kit will be updated once a quarter. A cover letter will be tailored
to individual prospects or press outlets as needed.
Web Plan
The Green Party of Michigan website should serve the following purposes at a minimum:
•
Educate all visitors to the site about the Green Party of Michigan and it’s activities
•
Inform visitors about upcoming events & registration deadlines
•
Explain and make available on-line joining of the Green Party
•
Provide FAQs
•
Provide contact information in detail for Green Party of Michigan and key positions
•
Access to a shared Blog where members can share their thoughts and viewpoints.
•
Sale of Green Party merchandise
•
Access to key documents of the Green Party
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Milestones & Accountability
Action Item
Suggested Date
Actual Date
Person Responsible
Membership Cards
May 9, 2015
____________
Membership Secretary
Welcome Package
May 9, 2015
____________
Membership Secretary
Newsletter
Up and running
____________
Fred V & Jaime R
Develop columnists
May 9, 2015
____________
____________________
Meeting Dates & Cities
March 16, 2015
____________
____________________
Working List Moderators
March 16, 2015
____________
____________________
Groups & Mod. on Web
March 17, 2015
____________
Membership Secretary
Chair. Welcome letter
Varied
Log at Meetings
Chairperson
Add members to groups
Varied
72 hour limit
Moderators
Organize welcome calls
May 9, 2015
Organize Recrut. Events
May 9, 2015
various/team
__________________
Create activist Wrkshp
May 9, 2015
____________
Activism Coordinator & team
Create Elections Wrkshp
May 9, 2015
____________
Elections Coordinator 7 team
Swag Team
Meet by May 1, 2015
Student Greens Team
Meet by April 24
Membership Secretary
Jaime R. & team
Broad fall semester
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_________________ & team
APPENDIX A
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT DEBRIEFING
SPEAKER: ________________________________________
Date of engagement:________________________________
Place of engagement:____________________________ Miles traveled (round trip)_____________
Audience profile: ______________________________ Audience Numbers:___________________
Actual Speaking Time:___________________________
How was the engagement arranged:_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Contact name:___________________________________ Contact Number:_________________
Reaction of the audience:______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Overall impressions of how it went:_____________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Any feedback from the hosts:__________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Any follow-up promised and by when:________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Any Specific leads generated:__________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
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APPENDIX B
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APPENDIX C
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