What do snowflakes have to do with community organizing?

This campaign is about empowering people to create change in our communities. Local friends and neighbors coming together to form neighborhood teams that amplify their ability to make a difference in the political process.

What is the snowflake model?

The "snowflake" is the organizing model for neighborhood teams. It is a way for teams to delegate and share responsibilities. We’ve all been a part of different teams in our community. Sometimes a leader takes sole ownership of everything and doesn’t delegate tasks to others on the team. Other times, the members of a team go their own direction and don’t coordinate what they’re doing.

The snowflake model solves these organizational problems by creating a system in which members of the team have shared responsibility for a common goal but work independently toward achieving their own components.

A team has a Team Leader who helps to coordinate all of the different pieces. Other team members take on roles to help with data, recruiting volunteers, and preparing materials for phone banks and door-to-door canvasses. Because responsibility is shared, one person doesn’t need to carry all of the weight. As teams grow, their snowflake changes to incorporate new people into their team.

Across the country, teams that first helped elect President Obama in 2008 continue to organize in their communities. In other neighborhoods, new teams are starting, made up of people who have decided to commit to supporting the President in 2012.

Wondering how you can help? There is always a place for you on one of our neighborhood teams! Are you interested in canvassing, helping with data, working on our Facebook page, or doing outreach in your own community? Sign up to volunteer today and you’ll be connected with a team in your neighborhood.