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The Back-To-School Organizing Campaign

The Back-To-School campaign is the fall component of the NEA’s year-round organizing program.
Two teachers walk through a hallway Adobe Stock By Monkey Business

About Back-To-School Organizing

The power of every educator’s voice depends on the strength of their union. That is why NEA is proud to partner with our Affiliate staff and members to support organizing across the country during the back-to-school season. 

As educators begin a new school year, organizers have new opportunities to engage new hires and reengage members to remind them of the importance of coming together through their union. 

The Back-To-School Campaign is part of our Year-Round Organizing Framework, which is designed to work with educators throughout important cycles of their year. Other components of the Year-Round Organizing Framework include:  

NEA’s Center for Organizing will keep you informed of the latest developments throughout the Back-To-School Campaign. 

CONTACT US

Key Field Strategies for Back-To-School

Planning is an essential part of any Back-To-School campaign. This about the following key strategies and how you might integrate them into your Back-To-School organizing strategies.
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Acquire Employee Lists

Systematic list acquisition practices allow organizers to assess their member density and target their resources. The back-to-school season is an important time to access and update your contact lists, as it is a common time for personnel shifts and life changes. It is also a natural time to check in with educators, during which you can ask them for their most recent contact and employment information.

Once you acquire your employee lists, enter them into an NEA data ecosystem, share them with local leaders and member organizers, and target districts or schools based on the number of new hires.

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Engage New Hires

Back-to-school is an important time to engage with new hires. Try reaching out to new hires before, during, and after their new employee orientations and encourage other member leaders and organizers to do so as well. This outreach starts your relationship with new hires off right, showing them that their union is present, supportive, and a key part of their school community. 

Use your Year-Round Organizing cards to gather educators' contact information and to learn which issues are important to them. Make sure to share union resources and wins that speak to their interests and help them to understand the value of membership.

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Make Membership Asks at Every Event

Every meeting that includes potential members is an opportunity for a membership ask. From New Hire Orientations to "welcome to the new year" events, back-to-school events are a great time to connect with potential members on the issues they care about, make the ask to join, and set up further opportunities to follow up one-on-one.

Try to make joining the union as easy as possible for event attendees. Have computers available that are open to the join page, include the join URL or SMS short code (every state can use "Text JOIN to 48744) on posters, signs, and in presentations, and have clear points of contact assigned to answer questions.

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Follow-Up One-on-One

A strong follow-up plan supports organizers in having targeted one-on-one organizing conversations with new and potential members immediately following orientation and other events.

Make sure you are training member organizers, local leaders, and worksite activists to have conversations with potential members that show them how union membership can get their year off to a great start. Assess new member, identified potential member, and outstanding potential member data to determine priority worksites and individuals for outreach. 

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Use Data to Keep the Momentum Going

Use data to drive decision making and resource allocation. The Year-Round Organizing Campaign cards are a key way to identify  opportunities to develop organizing campaigns, issue-specific education, and professional supports.

Share data reports from the YRO cards with local leaders so that they can deliver supports and events that address the interests and concerns expressed by both new and experienced educators. Utilize tools such as telephonic organizing or Hustle to check in with potential and existing members and to share upcoming opportunities with them.

Get Started

Excited about the five key field strategies? Dig deeper with our NEA Organizing Guide! Then check out the tools below for more tools designed to help strengthen your organizing program.
black woman teaches in a classoom

Guide to Worksite Visits

Worksite visits are great ways to have one-on-one organizing conversations with as many members and potential members as possible. Use this guide to make the most of your time, whether you are making a solo visit or hosting a worksite blitz.
Check out our guide
An male Asian teacher writes on a whiteboard

Guide to Building Strong Lists

Building strong lists allows organizers to more effectively and efficiently reach educators and protect public schools. This guide shares helpful tips on where to find and maintain data for your campaigns.
Check out our guide
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Guide to Transformational Conversations

One-on-one conversations are the most effective way to share the importance of membership to fellow educators. By following the tips shared in this guide, you or your members will be able to communicate the transformational benefits of joining together as a union.
Check out our guide

Year-Round Organizing Grants

The Center for Organizing has resources available in support of strategic organizing projects that are developed collaboratively between state affiliate leadership, affected locals and NEA. 

APPLY FOR A GRANT

QUESTIONS?

Please email [email protected] if you’d like to be connected with the AFSE Organizational Specialist assigned to your state affiliate who can assist you with developing an organizing campaign tailored towards your affiliate’s specific needs.

educators at a table for collective bargaining

NEA's Guides to New Employee Orientation

New educators never forget the friendly face on orientation day who made them feel welcomed. This guide offers step-by-step planning and some research-based best practices for putting together a successful orientation that sets the stage for growing and strengthening the union.

Tools to Help You Connect

One of the most effective ways to build more meaningful relationships with our members and supporters is through content. ​We've identified key pieces of content streams that highlight the value of the union to potential members and develop processes to engage educators with those streams, capture data, and put them on a path to membership.

Year-Round Organizing Cards 

When educators fill out the card, they will receive opportunities that: 

  • Support educators to grow in their professional practice.  
  • Help elect pro-public education candidates from both parties.  
  • Get the word out about ways to work together to improve working conditions.  
  • Work to increase education funding at your school, district, and state. 

Every state has their own Year-Round Organizing card. Text CONNECT to 48744 to be connect directly with your state. 

For more information about Year-Round Organizing cards and how to access the data gathered, visit our organizing toolkit.

YRO Card Resources

Back-To-School Messages to Share

A surround sound approach, with multiple touchpoints, can be key to getting your message across during the busy back-to-school season. Copy and paste the text below to send them to potential members on your social feeds, email, or by phone.

Share These Messages

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On Social Media

Our back-to-school list: 

✅ A voice at the table  

✅ A community of support 

✅ The resources we and our students deserve 

Be part of the movement! Join your union today: [Join Link]

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By Email

Hi FIRSTNAME, 

It’s YOURNAME from AFFILIATENAME! It was great meeting you at EVENTNAME. I’m following up to let you know a little bit more about our union. 

Our members impact meaningful change for educators and students. Together, we have successfully raised educator wages, improved working conditions, supported student loan forgiveness, and made sure the voices of educators are heard. 

Our collective voice is our power. Learn about the union advantage >>  

I’d love to talk to you more about our union and what we can achieve together. Are you free for a quick chat sometime this month? 

In solidarity, 

YOURNAME 

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By Text Message

Hi FIRSTNAME, it’s YOURNAME from AFFILIATENAME! I know the new school year can bring lots of new choices. Can I talk to you about why I think you should choose union membership?

Text Join Tool

Our Text Join Tool allows people to join the union straight from their phones! All they need to do is text JOIN to 48744 and share their state and they will be sent the relevant join page. You can make the most of this tool by:

  • Putting it on social media graphics and in caption copy
  • Adding the "Text JOIN to 48744" ask to speeches
  • Highlighting the ask on event banners, podiums, and posters
  • ...Your creativity is the limit!

More Organizing Resources

photo of blonde-haired educator speaking to a brown-haired educator in a classroom

Conversation Starters

Looking for a way to start the conversation around membership? We’ve created tools and explainers about unions, health care, pensions, student debt, and the school rescue fund priorities tool that you can send to potential members.
Pensions Health Care Student Debt
union and collective bargaining art build

Union Wins Map

When educators unite and speak truth to power, we can have an enormous impact. Learn how NEA’s nearly three million members join together for improved working conditions, better pay and benefits, and the learning conditions your students need to thrive.
Wins Map Union 101 Recruitment Guide
young female teacher with a laptopn in middle school classroom

Changemaker Quiz

Educators can take our short quiz to find out where they fit into union activism. Then, we’ll follow up with resources to get them started!
Take the Quiz About the Changemakers
Download more resources to share with potential members, during back-to-school and all year long!
  • Surround Sound Toolbox: A sample six-week Surround Sound plan using Email, SMS, Hustle, Telephonic Organizing, and Member Organizers.
  • Informational flyer: Versions for states with collective bargaining [English], states without collective bargaining [English], states with collective bargaining [Spanish], states without collective bargaining [Spanish]
  • Organizing conversation guide: Versions for states with collective bargaining and states without collective bargaining

Downloads

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Great public schools for every student

The National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest professional employee organization, is committed to advancing the cause of public education. NEA's 3 million members work at every level of education—from pre-school to university graduate programs. NEA has affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the United States.
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