HOW TO HOST A RALLY
Although a million people marching on Washington to end plastic pollution would be nice, you don’t have to hold a huge rally in order to be effective. You can use small rallies to your advantage to campaign for local issues. Even ten people holding signs for a photo opp in front of a local business or government office can make a big impact. Follow these steps to organize a successful rally.
1. Do a Gut Check. Before you begin planning your rally, start by answering the following questions.
Is your issue important enough to warrant a rally? Why now? Will anyone care? Will enough people show up? Will the media cover it?
What do you hope to accomplish? Are you trying to get media coverage, increase visibility, educate the public or a decision-maker, or spur legislative action or regulatory change?
Who are you targeting? An elected official, a legislative body, a bank, a business, an institution?
Why are you targeting them?
Why now? Is there something specific about the time that aids your cause and makes your message more relevant?
What will the tone be? Rallies should never be angry but they should be factual, empowering, and fun with a clear call to action or demand.
If you’re able to come up with clear answers to all of these questions and number one was “YES!”, you’re ready move ahead to the planning steps below. If not, a rally may not be the right step for you at this time.
2. Pick a Location. If you’re hosting an in-person rally pay close attention to local laws about public gatherings as you may need to secure a permit to host a rally in a public location if you plan to gather a large crowd or use a sound system to amplify your message. Smaller, quieter gatherings most likely do not require any special permitting but if you’re going big, it can take time to secure a permit and you’ll need to factor that into your planning. Make sure your location fits the number of people you intend to turn out and that it’s a good backdrop for photographs and video that’s not too noisy so people can hear your speakers.
3. Set a Date. Your first consideration for an in-person rally is whether you are legally allowed to hold a rally at that location on that date and time. If you have determined that you do not need a permit, check your calendar to avoid holidays, major sporting events, back to school nights, etc. Pick the best time for the people in your target audience(s) to attend. Figure out what you’ll do if the weather is bad on that date - do you have an alternate indoor location or do you need to specify a rain date?
4. Pick Your Speakers. Keep it to three or fewer. Pick smart, inspiring people who know your issue well and who are also good at public speaking. Confirm that they can attend both the rally and the practice run a few days prior to it and invite them far in advance. Send them a calendar invitation for the rally with the location and make sure they plan to show up at least 20 minutes before they’re scheduled to speak. Plan to follow up several times to make sure they are still able to participate.
5. Choose an MC for the Rally. This could be the Community Outreach Coordinator, a local activist, an elected official, anyone you think is up to the task and fired up about doing it. The MC will moderate the rally and introduce each speaker. Reach out in advance to make sure they’re able to participate and get the event and the pre-rally practice session on their calendar early.
6. Solicit Bios and Headshots. Ask your speakers (and your MC) to share short biographies with you so you can include their info in your promotional materials. If they use social media, ask them to share their social media handles with you, and encourage them to help spread the word about the rally.
7. Set a Target for the Number of People You Want To Turn Out. Will it be a success if you get 20 people to attend or do you need 50 or 100 participants to make this event worthwhile? Keep in mind that less than half of the people who register for the event will actually show up so you should aim to get twice as many people signed up as you hope to have actually show up.
8. Invite the Media! Generating media coverage should be a top priority. Build a press list or update the one you have (perhaps someone at another organization has one you can use - it can’t hurt to ask!) Then draft a news advisory (click here for a sample news advisory you can customize) and send it out at least three days in advance. Call any reporters you specifically hope to have attend. Draft and send a news release to reporters the morning of the rally reminding them to attend.
9. Collect RSVPs Online. Set up a way for people to RSVP online, whether it’s via Zoom, Facebook, Action Network or another tool. This gives you an easy way for you to follow up to remind people about the rally, encourage them to invite friends, prompt them to make signs, give them directions, etc. It can also be a great email list building tool for your local group or affiliate.
10. Make Promotional Graphics. Use Canva (or another tool of your choice) to create a flier and a set of promotional graphics you can use to spread the word about your screening and panel online and offline. We recommend creating an 8” x 11” downloadable flier and a full set of social media-ready graphics in the following dimensions - 1200 x 628 pixels (suitable for Twitter and Facebook) and 1080 x 1080 pixels (suitable for Facebook and Instagram).
11. Promote It Like Crazy. Invite everyone you can think of – multiple times. Hopefully, your organization already has a healthy email list of people to invite. If not, do some early brainstorming to come up with other organizations and reach out to them to ask for help sharing the invitation and spreading the word. Submit your rally to local online calendars and message boards, and share it on social media. In addition to spreading the word on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, you can also create a Facebook event and invite any other organizations who’ve expressed interest to be co-hosts, including your speakers and your MC. Plan to share the event repeatedly via email and social media!
12. Answer These Logistical Questions. Don’t forget to create a plan that covers all of the following:
Will you need a sound system? If so, where will you get one and how will you get it to and from the rally location? Who will manage it for you? If your rally will be small, you may just need a couple of megaphones. Who will buy them and bring them the day of?
What will you do if it rains or snows or is too windy or smokey for an outdoor rally? Do you have an indoor location you can use or have you specific a rain/snow/smoke/wind date?
Can people park near your rally location? If not, what public transportation is available? Make sure to send clear instructions and directions to all who register.
Do you want to offer hand-outs for the crowd to carry and give away? If so, who will be responsible for designing, review, approving, printing and bringing them?
Will you need to provide water if your rally is taking place during the hot summer months?
Are there public restrooms available?
Signs matter! Can you organize a group of staff or volunteers to make a bunch of extra signs in advance to give out to those who forget to bring one? Encourage your registrants to make and bring signs and provide some inspiring examples. You can also provide downloadable designs that people can print out at home to bring with them.
13. Map It Out. Write out a “run of show” for the rally and share it with your MC and speakers prior to the practice run. A run of show is a detailed, minute-by-minute, outline of how the event will run. Below is an example that you should feel free to revise to fit your format and topic:
SAMPLE RUN OF SHOW
2:00 PM: Event organizers, speakers, MC, volunteers arrive – check that space is well set up, hand out bullhorns, get signs in order to pass out, etc.
2:20 PM: MC begins warming up the growing crowd
2:30 PM: MC welcomes attendees, introduces the event and explains how it will unfold.
2:35 PM: MC introduces Speaker 1.
2:37 - 2:44 PM: Speaker 1 speaks.
2:45 – 2:50: MC thanks Speaker 1 and introduces Speaker 2
2:51-3:00 PM: Speaker 2 speaks.
3:01 PM- 3:05 PM: MC thanks the speakers and makes closing remarks, segues to closing song or chant.
3:06-3:10 PM Rally wraps up and people disperse.
14. Practice In Advance. Ask your speakers to share their written remarks with you in advance and schedule a practice run several days before the rally so everyone can practice their portions and get the timing down. Follow up to ensure that everyone has the information and has accepted your invitation.
15. Prep Your MC. Provide the MC with the short biographies of each speaker and confirm that they received them. Practice the run of show with your MC to ensure that they can smoothly manage the rally.
16. Get There Early. Get to your rally site at least half an hour early. Plan to troubleshoot and make sure to remind your speakers and MCs and any other VIPs to attend on time.
17. Give the Press Good Access. If you’ve invited the media, make sure they get time (ideally, in a quiet spot) with your speakers and organizers for quotes, and help them get in position to get good photos.
18. Don’t Forget to Debrief. The day after the event, meet with your organization to discuss what worked and what didn’t work and come up with changes you may want to make for future rallies. Make sure someone takes notes and shares them with everyone to avoid losing track of your lessons learned and build reviewing the notes the first step of planning any future rallies you may organize.