What is Classroom to Capitol?
A resource for social workers, instructors, and students in the areas of community organizing, policy analysis and advocacy, and organizational development--a tool in your quest for social justiceFollow Classroom to Capitol
Search This Site
SUBSCRIBE
@melindaklewis on Twitter
- I'm particularly excited about #4! brookings.edu/blog/up-front/… 2 years ago
- We need all of these policies--for the middle-class, for redeeming the American Dream, and for our shared future. brookings.edu/blog/up-front/… 2 years ago
- Looking forward to talking about these ideas in Orlando with @OxUniPress this week! twitter.com/OUPEconomics/s… 2 years ago
- Talking about the book with college students is a particular joy! kansan.com/arts_and_cultu… 2 years ago
- RT @OUPPsychology: Currently in America there is a more than 30% gap in college graduation rates by family income. Find out more. #educatio… 2 years ago
Melinda Lewis
social policy, social work, advocacy, and community organizing analysis and commentary
USE AGREEMENT
All materials on this site, except those explicitly credited to other sources, are the creation and property of Melinda K. Lewis. Visitors to this site are encouraged to use these materials for their advocacy and their own learning, and may share these materials as desired to further the pursuit of social justice. The author only requests that all materials obtained from this site, including presentations, documents, and images, be credited to Melinda K. Lewis, and that others be directed to this site for additional information. No material from this site may be sold or used for any commercial purposes without the express written permission of Melinda K. Lewis.Disclaimer
Melinda Lewis takes full responsibility for the content featured directly on this blog. This site is in no way affiliated with the University of Kansas or its School of Social Welfare. The opinions and commentary contained here are those of the author alone, who makes no claim to speak on behalf of other students, faculty, or administration at the School.networked blogs
Can we ever applaud too much?
Note: Next week is spring break, and I have made the executive decision that I’m taking the week off from blogging. I’ll spend the extra time hanging out with my kiddos, no doubt giving them A LOT of positive feedback.
I swear; I don’t know how I ever managed to be an organizer before I was a parent.
It seems like nearly every day I have an insight, related to life with my young children, that has relevance for my social change work.
Lately, it has been this: we can absolutely never, ever applaud too much the actions we want to see continue.
We’ve been working on this with our kids, especially my oldest son. It sounds ridiculous to us, “Hey, way to go taking your plate to the kitchen.” “Did you notice he just came right upstairs when I asked?” “Boys, great job playing kindly with each other!” “I hear friendly talking—I love it!”
But it never gets old to them. In fact, if we recognize one of them, the others will try to outdo each other, pointing out their own good behavior, seeking the same accolades. And it becomes a positive cycle—they improve their behavior in order to get more positive feedback, which prompts more of it from our end, in turn.
And nonprofit organizations have gotten this message on the donor cultivation side; when we make a financial contribution, we expect to receive a thank-you note, our annual reports list our donors, and we often publicly recognize those whose contributions have made investments in our organizations.
But do we recognize our advocates enough?
Do we send out “success alerts” or “thank-you alerts” as frequently as “take action” ones? Do we invest in tools that can tell us when people have responded to our alerts, so that we can directly and personally honor their commitment? Do we spend as much time talking about what went well, as dissecting what went wrong? Do we recognize the kinds of actions that we want to see repeated, even when the outcome falls short—so that every phone call to a legislator or grassroots member recruited is celebrated, even long before we achieve the policy changes that are our goals? Do we use the pages of our websites, newsletters, and annual reports to highlight “star advocates” the same way that we call out donors? Do we recognize and appreciate and reward advocacy intent and activist activity over and over and over again?
If not, isn’t it worth trying?
Because, really, if a tactic is powerful enough to get my boys to stay in their beds until their fishtank light switches on at 6:45AM, it’s powerful enough to motivate people to overcome our own reservations about collective action and join together to push for social change.
If incessant applause can get my daughter to stop taking off her shoes and leaving them all around the house, it can change the world.
Share this:
Like this:
Related