Your union’s motivated and committed supporters — your activists, delegates and workplace leaders — are amongst your most important members. Most union leaders and organisers know anecdotally who these committed supporters are, but does your union have a systematic way to measure the levels of commitment and motivation amongst your members? I’ve written previously about […]
Read MoreConservative crank Gerard Henderson wrote last year that unions “have nothing to fear from external competition”. Apart from demonstrating that he knows relatively little about the new Fair Work Act, which allows for inter-union disputes over membership coverage, the sentiment he expressed, that unions do not face “traditional”, market based competition, is one I’ve heard expressed […]
Read MoreActivists, delegates and volunteers are the lifeblood of campaigning organisations like unions. Effective campaigning means keeping a track of your activists and delegates, and to do that, you need a proper database. There are myriad databases out there, some purpose built for membership organisations and others built for campaigns with beginnings and ends. Selecting the right […]
Read MoreWorking as I currently do at a non-profit organisation as a development and marketing manager (and being on the boards of community organisations), I am struck by the strong parallels between the challenges faced by the NGO sector and by unions. One of my responsibilities is fundraising, achieved principally through philanthropic grants and individual donors. […]
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