The dishes always need doing– a lesson on starting your own local pro-bike/bus campaign

How to avoid stepping on the toes of existing advocacy work while still pushing for your vision

CARTER LAVIN

JUL 6, 2023

Imagine you are at a big party at a friend of a friend’s house and the host is overwhelmed. They are still prepping food, the guests are arriving, the doorbell is ringing, and timers in the kitchen are going off– there is clearly tons of work to be done and you want to help. You could try and help with the cooking, but you might accidentally interfere with the host’s plans. You could walk into the kitchen and say to the host “how can I help?” but if the host is so flooded with responsibility they might not have the space to tap you in to help. So, how can you be helpful in a helpful way? One option is to do the dishes because they always need doing. Doing the dishes is particularly helpful because: it’s a project you can start yourself without any guidance from the host, it's helpful if you do one dish or all of them, you can easily pause to give the host access to the sink when they need it, you can stop at any time, and it’s pretty easy to do a passable job at the dishes (but don’t touch the cast iron pan!) 

You might be worried about stepping on the host’s toes or “doing it wrong” and that fear can keep you from helping out. And while that concern comes from a place of respect, it can result in you staying on the sidelines and the host being stuck with more work. The good news is that by picking the right project; like doing the dishes; you can get in there and help out in a helpful way. 

This situation often happens at large events and it is constantly happening in the transit and bike advocacy world. The staff at bike or transit advocacy groups are the perpetually overwhelmed party hosts, and you can be helpful in a helpful way by taking on a project that you can start yourself without any guidance, where it’s helpful if you do a lot or a little, where you can easily incorporate the needs of the “host,” and you can stop at any time. By taking on a project like that, you won’t be stepping on anyone’s toes, and you don’t have to worry too too much about “doing it wrong.” 

(Also in the advocacy world, it is generally better to go out there and do a thing even if it means stepping on someone’s toes rather than stay on the sidelines.) 

But to minimize toe stepping and maximize your positive impact, let’s take a look at what a “doing the dishes” advocacy project might look like. First consider the 4 things that any bike or transit advocacy group always always needs more of and knows they need more of: Supporters, Money, Positive Press, and Elected Officials Favorable Attention. (They also always need more volunteers and a few other things, but they might not always recognize that, so that goes beyond “doing the dishes”.)

Here’s a sample of what “doing the dishes” can look like when it comes to bike/transit advocacy work:

  1. Supporters

    1. Small project- Make a flyer with information about one of the group’s current petitions/advocacy projects with links/QR code to the group’s official petition page or webpage and go pass it out (tips on flyering here)

    2. Big project- Make and circulate your own petition calling for some big change that would intersect with but not interfere with their existing projects. For example, if they are calling for a bus-only lane on a certain street, you can make a petition calling for the city to build quality bus shelters at every stop. If the existing bike group is pushing reformed bike lane processes, you can make a petition calling for the county to allocate more funds for bike lane construction. By creating a bigger and slightly more “radical” campaign that does not contradict the existing project, you can help generate more supporters for their project and make their request seem more reasonable.

  2. Money 

    1. Small project- Host a fundraising party with your friends and community, donate the money to the group

    2. Big project- Make locally themed bus/bike merchandise like shirts or bags to sell. Donate the proceeds to the group.

  3. Positive Press

    1. Small project- Write a letter to the editor of your local paper in support of the advocacy group’s vision

    2. Big project- Put together a camera-friendly event that highlights the importance of the group’s work and invite reporters to check it out. Something like a bike bus or a community ride-a-long.

  4. Elected Official Favorable Attention

    1. Small project- Get a group of your friends and community members to each make a call to the decision-maker the advocacy group is pushing and say you support the group’s project

    2. Big project- If it’s election season, invite each candidate individually) to join you and your community for a meet & greet event where people can meet the candidate. At the event, make sure the candidate hears your support of the bike/transit advocacy work and ask the candidate about their stance and thoughts on the topic. The event doesn’t have to be a fundraiser or an endorsement event. 

And it’s generally always a good idea to contact the advocacy group and ask how you can help out. But if they don’t have a volunteer task that appeals to you, or if they are too busy (or disorganized) to respond to you, that does not mean you can’t do your own helpful thing. Your passion and energy is a great gift to the overall transportation movement, and there are a bunch of ways you can put yourself to work in a helpful way. All of this is just the tip of the iceberg, but hopefully a helpful look at ways you can get started. If you’ve got questions, I’m here to help email me at Carter@carterlavin.com to schedule a conversation.