Step 1: Choose Your May Day Tactics

On May 1st, we will host demonstrations across the country to fight back against this crisis and demand accountability. Not all demonstrations will look the same, but they should all prioritize visibility and the core message. Here are some ideas for your May Day event:

• March. Join thousands across the country on May 1 to march against the Trump-Musk Coup and billionaire takeover. Bring together your community to create a show of strength against this crisis, and be part of a national moment that changes the conversation—and turns the tide.
• Rally. Gather your community to rally together on May 1. Create a platform, invite speakers, and build a program designed to highlight the harms of the crisis we face—and what we’ll do to fight back. Rallies are a great way to involve impacted people, compelling speakers, and essential voices from allied communities. We’re building a big tent.
• Protest. If you’re in an area where it will be hard to get a crowd together, you can still participate! Either join a larger event in your region, or get some friends together and hold a smaller one. This could look like a gathering at congressional district office, or a banner drop. Visibility is the key component—so make your signs, get your banners, and plan your chants!
• Walk-In. During school walk-ins, parents, educators, and students, along with neighbors and community leaders, gather in front of their school 30-45 minutes before the school day begins. We rally and listen to a few speakers discuss what they want for the school, and then we all walk into the school together. Walk-ins can be used to celebrate your school, collaborate with school officials, or protest harmful school conditions and policies.
•  Art Build. Art has the power to highlight injustice while also uplifting hope for our future. Partner with local artists or lead your own group art project to create signs, banners, or installations that share messages of protest or help illustrate the communities we are fighting for. 

* A core principle behind all May Day events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all hosts and participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.

Step 3: Decide on your event logistics

Now that you've found your team, it is time to start planning! There’s a lot that goes into planning a demonstration, and below are just some of the key steps to follow when laying out your May Day event: 

• Choose a time. It is also a best practice to check in with group members and potential speakers to see what’s most convenient before finalizing a time. As always, consider what times will be most accessible for folks in your community. Most May Day events will take place midday.
• Decide on your location and key event logistics. This is the next step for your group. Try to prioritize landmarks or other public sites with high-visibility, like state capitols or city halls, major parks, or in other high traffic outdoor areas in your community. All May Day events should be in high visibility, public locations. May Day events should not be hosted at private business locations.
• Register your event to through Mobilize. Once you have your event set, register it on Mobilize and it will show up on the May Day map of events. That way we can help push out your event and help recruit attendees.
• Sign up for NEA's May Day office hours. We're holding virtual office hours to help you plan a powerful action. Whether you've got a full blueprint or are just getting started, join us on April 23, 2025 at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT to get support, ideas, and resources to make it happen. 
• Prepare any props or setup needs. At the very least, you need a megaphone and a few signs with your demands. If it’s available to you, it is also helpful to have a podium, press packets, water, and banners. As a registered host, keep an eye out for upcoming opportunities for resource support from the May Day team.
• Make sure you have sign-in sheets! Include contact information so you can stay in touch with everyone who attends. Remind attendees to text 'MAYDAY' to 48744 on May 1 to get added to our national tally of participants.

Are there additional needs for health, safety, or other logistics? Think about things like coffee, donuts, or a sign-making station. Make a list of details and assign someone to each detail!

Step 5:  Promote your event and recruit attendees

Now that you've planned your event, you want to make sure that people attend it to hear your message and take action with you. It will be important to recruit turnout from the rest of the community. This will show that support for public schools and students come from within AND outside the school community. Try these recruitment tactics:

• Create an outreach list. Build a list of email addresses, phone numbers, and other contact information and have your committee and event partners add potential participants to it. Send regular mass emails and plan phone banks to reach these lists.
• Tap your planning committee. Ask each member of your planning committee to identify and call ten people to personally invite to the event. Create a "promotion kit" with sample promotional emails, phone scripts, and social media. Circulate to volunteers and ask them to share the event with their networks.
• Build local partnerships. Reach out to parent/student school-based organization leadership, engage school volunteers, and ask other groups that are connected to the community, like the Boys and Girls Club, Kiwanis Club, etc. to circulate information to their friends and families. Connect with local businesses and request they post a flier about the event and/or post about the event on their social media pages. Ask your local politicians to join the event and to share it with their listservs and on their social media accounts.
• Be present in the community. Leaflet neighborhood events with fliers with either sign-up sheets or a QR code to the registration page. Make presentations at community events such as meetings of neighborhood associations and places of worship, and at education-related events. Spread the word during school-sponsored activities, like athletic events, open houses, performances, and cultural nights. Canvass the neighborhood and knock on doors to explain the action and ask people to participate.

Are you a union member? Unions were created for this moment! Make sure to use the key touchpoints of your union to engage your members with the walk-in. Try these tactics:

• Call a work-site meeting and announce the event.
• Put fliers on your union bulletin board and in members’ mailboxes.
• Through one-on-one conversations, ask members to attend the action and register for the event.
• Sign members up to help plan the event and delegate roles for outreach.
• Enlist support from former or retired members who still live in your community.

Step 7: Countdown to your event

As the big day arrives, it is time to do your final countdowns! Here are some last minute items to make sure you check off your to-do list:

• Identify day-of volunteers. You will need people to help with set up, event coordination, and clean up.
• Confirm logistics with your speakers. Reach out to everyone on your program and make sure they have everything they need to show up and be successful.
• Remind, remind, remind. Everyone is very busy these days and that makes it easy for things to fall through the cracks! Remind all your registrants, partners, and media contacts of the details of your event.
• Run-through your event. Do a thorough run-through of your event run of show with your planning committee. Start from when you want the very first person to arrive and end when you want the last person to leave. Make note of any further to-dos or items needed that come up.

Step 9: Follow up with attendees, speakers, and partners

Remember, we want this to be a movement, not a moment! Follow up with attendees and speakers so that you move them up the ladder of engagement and to your next organizing asks. Try these tactics:

• Say thank you and reup highlights. Send thank-you notes to all walk-in participants and organizers. On social media, continue to share highlights, thank participants for joining, and push to the next call-to-action.
• Report on successes. Collect turnout numbers, photos, and media clips to send to NEA at [email protected]. Contact any outlets that did not make it to cover the event, letting them know you understand they couldn’t make it, but you would be happy to connect them with community members (your identified spokespeople) and send them photos/video, while encouraging them to cover the event given the importance of it to your community.
• Start planning what's next. Reconvene planning committee to assess what worked well, what could be improved, and key lessons for moving forward with your campaign.