Planning Activism

Activism can be exciting and there are lots of possible venues to choose from. You can start with community projects like a beach or roadside cleanup, do something with your local rotary club, pass out educational information on medical marijuana or jury nullification, or any number of things. The most important thing to keep in mind is how it will be received by your community. Try to choose something that locals will appreciate. Pick something that offers common ground with some of your opposition. Show left leaners that you care about the environment, the homeless, the hungry, and personal choice. Show the right that you care about fiscal responsibility, religious freedom, and individual rights like the right to bear arms. One of the most effective things you can do is attend county and city meetings and be involved in local government. Even if you don’t speak up at first, even just showing up consistently will get attention and notice from other groups and your local elected officials. This opens doors and conversations.

Planning Events

Affiliates around the state are involved in their communities in a variety of ways.  Here are some ideas as you get started.

• Passing out jury nullification literature in front of a courthouse
• Joining a community project like Habitat for Humanity
• Attending a local city or county council or commission meeting
• Clean up a local park, beach, or roadway (such as Adopt-a Road)
• Help at a soup kitchen or other (non-government!) charity
• You can find more ideas for events, along with planning guides here.

A great option for your organization is hosting a booth at a local fair. Some things you will need:

• A popup tent
• A fold up 6 or 8 foot table
• An Operation Politically Homeless kit (available from the Advocates for self-government)
• Some LP propaganda, buttons, bumper stickers (available from LP.org)
• A big banner announcing who you are (Libertarian Party of Freedom County)

Those things will cost money, and coordinating with the state party treasurer will help. The state party has passed a measure to purchase some of these items for local affiliates starting out. 

Lots of affiliates choose to have a regular speaking event. They choose a topic that’s important to their community, find an expert speaker, and invite the public at-large to join them for a discussion. 

These events can also be followed by social functions such as trivia nights, karaoke, or bowling.  This will not only help to combat activist burnout, but also help you to build a stronger Libertarian community.