The Civic Literacy Project

[dc2london]

ok so, as I said, I'm interested in starting a nonpartisan group to help promote civic literacy in America. Obviously it's going to need a better name, but that's the working title for now (I'm open to suggestions!)

I was thinking a good starting place might be to try to partner with someone like Billy Eichner or Funny or Die to create clickable, shareable, 1-5 minute videos addressing various aspects of civics. How I'm ever going to get anyone  like that to pay attention to me, I do not know. But I'll figure something out.

My H suggested trying to partner with Crooked Media but I'm not sure if that would throw my attempt at being non-partisan out the window. I adore them, but I'd like to cast a wider net.

WDHIHT?

[jkjacq]

I agree with a wider net, however, I'm sure they know some non-troll GOP former staffers that might work with them? Also Sandra Day O'Connor has a program in place, maybe reach to them to see if you could partner. www.icivics.org/our-story

Or Brad Whitford

I like the video idea, I mean in my age group, you could probably ask anyone and they could sing at least a bit of "i'm just a bill" (up on capitol hill). Schoolhouse Rock really stuck. (or maybe not)

[blurnette989]

Perhaps soup would have some insight she could share on reaching out to those kinds of celebs dc2london?

[dc2london]

I would absolutely die if Brad Whitford acknowledged my existence

[kitchen]

I think nonpartisan is good. The fact that GOTV and real facts seem partisan is part of what's so scary and why Civic Literacy is so important.

IFL crooked media but I think your impulse is a good one that they aren't the right partner.

I actually really like the name "The Civic Literacy Project". But I'm old and so that means it's probably not modern enough.

League of women voters?

You're awesome and I admire how much effort and thought you're putting into making our country better.

[starbuck]

My background is NGOs so my brain immediately builds this into a whole organization.

I think Civic Literacy Project is a fine name, and then under that umbrella you have some programs for school-aged kids (classroom resources, speakership programs, engaging activities that make the process come alive), resources for college students, on-the street spots with Eichner and other special guests, grassroots programs that send volunteers to community events to register new voters, etc.

That got really big really fast in my head - but you're up for all that, ya?

[bunnyfungo]

I think the real question is how we can profit off of this as a board....



KIDDING.


But, yeah, I love this. I also like The Civic Literacy Project 🤷‍♀️ It may not sound hip but it sounds professional. You might also want to consider your target. Is it direct to the consumer? Or are you thinking more about educational resources that could be shared/taught in the classroom? Both? I have no idea how you partner up with groups like that, but I do think non-partisan is the way to go.

[ktg]

I always think first of students, but gosh there are a lot of adults who have no clue what the government does/is, on any level.

Somewhere in that statement is a "maybe some kind of community education arm/program too?" What does that look like and how to garner interest remain a mystery in my brain.

Also I would like to be involved, for sure. I need something to focus this energy on besides biting my nails to nubs.

[Uncaripswife]

Partner with libraries. That's what the financial literacy community did. You'd have to first come up with non partisan teaching materials. Then use public space in libraries as a forum to deliver the materials. You'd need volunteers or staff to teach the stuff. Olds like paper booklets but electronic materials would be needed for younger generations. Stuff that can be accessed by e reader, tablet, laptop, or smart phone. Walk people through baby steps. Short phrases. Simple graphics. Record podcasts for people who don't want to interact with others. Sync the podcast to the written/electronic materials so they're integrated.

Sorry about my lunch break brain dump.

[cakewench]

I have nothing productive to add at the moment because this is the Mondayest Monday to ever Monday, but I want to help. Once I get some sleep I'll noodle on some more ideas

[regal]

We have something like that in Canada, check out Civix.

It comes with lesson plans, activities, and videos. They also send questions from kids to people running for office and post the videos. We also get ballots and voting booths to hold elections in our schools and we send the results in. The day after the actual election the student's results are announced. It's a fantastic program.

[stringy]

I feel like there's a foundation somewhere that would fund this. I'll have to ponder who, and if they are non-partisan, but funding is good.

[dc2london]

Nov 5, 2018 10:22:05 GMT -6 bunnyfungo said:

I think the real question is how we can profit off of this as a board....



KIDDING.


But, yeah, I love this. I also like The Civic Literacy Project 🤷‍♀️ It may not sound hip but it sounds professional. You might also want to consider your target. Is it direct to the consumer? Or are you thinking more about educational resources that could be shared/taught in the classroom? Both? I have no idea how you partner up with groups like that, but I do think non-partisan is the way to go.

I was thinking a multi-pronged approach.
Direct-to-consumer, partnerships with school districts, maybe local libraries, etc

[dc2london]

Nov 5, 2018 11:38:39 GMT -6 Uncaripswife said:

Partner with libraries. That's what the financial literacy community did. You'd have to first come up with non partisan teaching materials. Then use public space in libraries as a forum to deliver the materials. You'd need volunteers or staff to teach the stuff. Olds like paper booklets but electronic materials would be needed for younger generations. Stuff that can be accessed by e reader, tablet, laptop, or smart phone. Walk people through baby steps. Short phrases. Simple graphics. Record podcasts for people who don't want to interact with others. Sync the podcast to the written/electronic materials so they're integrated.

Sorry about my lunch break brain dump.

A PODCAST.

YES.

[bunnyfungo]

Nov 5, 2018 13:34:38 GMT -6 dc2london said:

Nov 5, 2018 10:22:05 GMT -6 bunnyfungo said:

I think the real question is how we can profit off of this as a board....



KIDDING.


But, yeah, I love this. I also like The Civic Literacy Project 🤷‍♀️ It may not sound hip but it sounds professional. You might also want to consider your target. Is it direct to the consumer? Or are you thinking more about educational resources that could be shared/taught in the classroom? Both? I have no idea how you partner up with groups like that, but I do think non-partisan is the way to go.

I was thinking a multi-pronged approach.
Direct-to-consumer, partnerships with school districts, maybe local libraries, etc

I think that’s smart. I do think getting the information into schools is important. Because I’m not sure 16-18 year old bunny would have gone looking for the info on my own. Even if funny celebs were making the videos.

[Tlex]

Nov 5, 2018 12:19:29 GMT -6 regal said:

We have something like that in Canada, check out Civix.

It comes with lesson plans, activities, and videos. They also send questions from kids to people running for office and post the videos. We also get ballots and voting booths to hold elections in our schools and we send the results in. The day after the actual election the student's results are announced. It's a fantastic program.

I had no idea that this program had a name but I remember it very well WRT the mock voting. It’s very realistic and gave me tons of confidence about being capable of voting right away when I was of-age.

[fatpony]

Nov 5, 2018 13:34:38 GMT -6 dc2london said:

Nov 5, 2018 10:22:05 GMT -6 bunnyfungo said:

I think the real question is how we can profit off of this as a board....



KIDDING.


But, yeah, I love this. I also like The Civic Literacy Project 🤷‍♀️ It may not sound hip but it sounds professional. You might also want to consider your target. Is it direct to the consumer? Or are you thinking more about educational resources that could be shared/taught in the classroom? Both? I have no idea how you partner up with groups like that, but I do think non-partisan is the way to go.

I was thinking a multi-pronged approach.
Direct-to-consumer, partnerships with school districts, maybe local libraries, etc

A few years ago we had a grant funded project that was about financial literacy at the library - 


smartinvesting.ala.org/

[fatpony]

Nov 5, 2018 15:16:28 GMT -6 fatpony said:

Nov 5, 2018 13:34:38 GMT -6 dc2london said:

I was thinking a multi-pronged approach.
Direct-to-consumer, partnerships with school districts, maybe local libraries, etc

A few years ago we had a grant funded project that was about financial literacy at the library - 


smartinvesting.ala.org/

So, what I'm saying is that libraries are great to partner with, especially if you go big with ALA. Or small with state/local associations.

[dc2london]

fatpony my county library system has a robust program system and I was thinking that might be a good place to start for reaching the 35+ crowd.
Our surrounding jurisdictions also have active educational library programs

[dc2london]

Oh our county community colleges have continuing education courses open to the public too.
I might not be qualified for that though

[starbuck]

I am a grant writer (primarily foundations, corporations, less govt) by trade. Let me know if you decide to fundraise and need help or guidance. It's easier to get grants if you can demonstrate grassroots, local support, and have some success and partnerships under your belt, but not impossible. There are seed grants which could help early on. Not as common but they are out there.

[oreobitsy]

Nov 5, 2018 16:07:28 GMT -6 dc2london said:

fatpony my county library system has a robust program system and I was thinking that might be a good place to start for reaching the 35+ crowd.
Our surrounding jurisdictions also have active educational library programs

Another great thing about the public library idea is that it allows for good collaboration with actual city/county elected officials.

[dc2london]

Nov 5, 2018 16:38:59 GMT -6 starbuck said:

I am a grant writer (primarily foundations, corporations, less govt) by trade. Let me know if you decide to fundraise and need help or guidance. It's easier to get grants if you can demonstrate grassroots, local support, and have some success and partnerships under your belt, but not impossible. There are seed grants which could help early on. Not as common but they are out there.

This is a very kind and generous offer, thank you!

[Minerva]

1. I really like The Civic Literacy Project as a name. It’s straight forward and sounds good. People like being part of projects!

2. I think you should establish a long term plan for growing your org. I would focus on one target audience at a time, establish partners, materials, and a plan for delivery. While you are working on executing and troubleshooting stage 1, apply for grants to fund stage 2. Same goes for stage 3. You will need different partners and materials for each target audience and I think you will be able to get on the ground running and create deeper partnerships if you go in with a focused pitch, but with a long term plan to expand when people show interest.

3. I would tend toward starting with adult populations. I suspect there are already a number of K-12 organizations out there, but there is definitely a gaping hole in civics knowledge in our generation. Libraries, cafes, and bars are all great venues for teaching adult populations. In the STEM outreach world, Science Cafes and happy hours with engaging speakers are popular ways of reaching adult populations. A web version of Civics 101 that you could promote at those events would be an awesome resource!

4. Don’t undersell your own labor. You will have to put in unpaid work to get things started, but you should eventually be pulling in a salary for this sort of work. Write money for yourself so that you can afford the time and space to do this work into your grants!

[dc2london]

Minerva spoken like a true Doctor of Science. Thank you for your wisdom!!

[piratecat]

Have you heard of The News Literacy Project? The similarity in name made me think of it but also they seem to share more than just the name in common with what you are thinking. Maybe reaching out to them for a partnership would be worthwhile?

[Bookshelves]

I also thought of the League of Women Voters.

Great suggestions already; I'll just add that many public libraries now are building "libraries of things," which in some cases (at least in my area) have included high-quality podcasting recording equipment and studio space.

[soup]

Nov 5, 2018 8:15:06 GMT -6 blurnette989 said:

Perhaps soup would have some insight she could share on reaching out to those kinds of celebs dc2london?

I wish I had such clout.

But I’m only close to somebody with actual connections. I have none of my own.

[Deleted]

I would love to help as well. My department is currently working on an entire curriculum overhaul and civic literacy and engagement is a huge focus.

[rbgrocks]

Nov 5, 2018 7:58:23 GMT -6 dc2london said:

ok so, as I said, I'm interested in starting a nonpartisan group to help promote civic literacy in America. Obviously it's going to need a better name, but that's the working title for now (I'm open to suggestions!)

I was thinking a good starting place might be to try to partner with someone like Billy Eichner or Funny or Die to create clickable, shareable, 1-5 minute videos addressing various aspects of civics. How I'm ever going to get anyone  like that to pay attention to me, I do not know. But I'll figure something out.

My H suggested trying to partner with Crooked Media but I'm not sure if that would throw my attempt at being non-partisan out the window. I adore them, but I'd like to cast a wider net.

WDHIHT?

I just saw this post last night. I think it’s a stellar idea! Getting kids and the olds involved and invested through education is our best shot for the future. That and ending gerrymandering.