Here are some tips on starting a local Green Chapter:
1) Email the Pacific Green Party, [email protected], a letter which includes:
a) the name and contact information of the 5 supporting members, b) proposed chapter's name; c) proposed chapter's boundary areas; d) name of the designated liaison to the State Coordinating Committee; and e) name of a designated Treasurer or statement that the chapter won't deal with money (donations can be made through the Pacific Green Party)
Get at least five registered members of the Pacific Green Party of Oregon to sign this Green Party Chapter formation petition. Once verification of the party registration of at least five signers is complete, you will have created chapter, congratulations! Please note that by virtue of coming together to organize a chapter, you will soon become a supporting member, meeting the legal requirements; please make sure to keep track of the amount of time or donations you contribute in forming the chapter.
2) Please read the Constitution and the Bylaws of the Green Party. These specify what a supporting Green Party member is and how we are organized. Please also review the Green Party platform. A member of the State Coordinating Committee can help answer questions and help out.
3) Identify friends and allies to invite to an initial meeting. We can provide a list of your local County Greens: this is usually given as a google sheet and you should be able to view and edit it. It is important to use this sheet to track contacts you make, especially email addresses, phone numbers, etc.
4) Set up a social media (facebook, other) group or page: Connor Salisbury is our resident Green Party social media guru can help you set a page or group, including some basic fb training. We are going to be starting to host pages for local chapters soon.
5) Pick a nice venue and date/time for an informal meetup for like-minded Greens and other allies. Once this is set the Green party can publicize the event on fb, send some postcards, etc. So need some lead time to get the word out, at least two weeks. This is mostly a meet-and-greet, we place great emphasis on person-to-person connection. Depending on the logistics, the party may be able to get an experienced organizer in your area to attend your meetup, answer questions, etc.
6) Use Modified Consensus to conduct business meetings. As a party we make formal decisions by a process called Modified Consensus. Here's a link to a good process summary. We also have a quarter-cut card (printed double-sided and cut into four cards) to hand out at meetings as a cheat sheet. It is part of the process to remind folks at the start of any meeting that we're using modified consensus. Contact your outreach coordinator if you'd training on the process, usually takes an hour to go over it, discuss some pitfalls, etc.
7) Plan and become visible and active locally! Contact groups running direct actions or initiatives that are in line with Green Party values. Identify upcoming races and initiatives. Table at public events, the library, etc. Here is a Green Party signup sheet for anybody interested in the Green Party, which you should take with you when you do meetups, tabling, etc.