The 2020 YDSA Fall Campus Drive is underway! Whether you’re a member of an existing chapter, a student at a school with no YDSA chapter yet, or a non-student in a DSA chapter, we need your help growing the democratic socialist movement on campuses and at high schools.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shut down thousands of schools and thousands more will restrict recruitment and in-person meetings for student groups. This means that in order to recruit new socialists and build our movement on campus we’re going to need to be twice as organized and innovative as we have been in previous years. To this end, we’ve split the Fall Drive into three categories depending on your existing level of involvement in YDSA:
If you’re a student without an existing YDSA chapter…
Sign up for the 2020 Fall Drive here! After signing up you will be invited to attend a recruitment and outreach training with other students from across the country. This is the first part of a two-part training series. On these calls we cover:
- How to build a membership list using digital organizing tactics
- Best practices for engaging new members when you can’t meet face to face
- Breakout discussions where you can talk with students from other YDSA chapters about their Fall Drive plans
After attending a training you will be able to purchase a discounted Fall Drive kit, including our brand new YDSA face masks. You’ll also have the opportunity to speak one on one with a YDSA field organizer and register for part 2 of the trainings, which will cover holding successful virtual meetings and member retention.
If you’re a member of an existing YDSA chapter…
If you are a member of an existing YDSA chapter, make sure you get in touch with your chapter’s leadership before the school year begins to make your Fall Drive plans!
Register for a recruitment and outreach training to get started, every Monday and Wednesday at 8:30PM ET/7:30 CT/6:30 MT/5:30 PT.
If you’re a DSA Chapter Leader…
Just because you’re not a current student doesn’t mean you can’t help build YDSA this Fall! If you are a leader in a DSA chapter, we need your help getting new YDSA chapters started.
If your DSA chapter can commit to identifying potential YDSA leaders at at least one new campus or high school, please fill out this form. You will be asked to select a point person (a DSA member who is not a current student) to bottom line your chapter’s Fall Drive. If your chapter already has a YDSA mentor or liaison, they should probably be the point person. After filling out the form, your point person will be invited to attend an organizing training for DSA members supporting campus or high school drives.
On these training calls we’ll cover the main responsibilities for these Fall Drive point people, including:
- Identify 1-3 schools in your area that should have a YDSA chapter but don’t yet, prioritizing community colleges, HBCUs and high schools
- Find students already on your membership rolls and have organizing conversations with them about starting a YDSA chapter
- Make a digital outreach plan to get in touch with interested students who are not yet in DSA, and hold virtual meetings with them about starting a YDSA chapter