Three more NDFA vision statements

I request people use the comments to give their feedback. It's especially important to hear about stuff that resonates with you.

On Friday, July 31, 2015, I blogged the first four vision statements. On Sunday, August 2, 2015, I blogged the next three. This blog entry will have three more.

On Saturday, August 8, 2015, Northside DFA will have its annual Voting Member Retreat. This is the annual event that NDFA uses to set the direction for the organization.

Answers to questions about visions for NDFA below the fold.


Question 1. In April, 2018, Northside DFA will have just completed the March, 2018 primaries and be switching to focus on 2019 municipal elections when Mayor of Chicago & Chicago's 50 aldermen will stand for election.This is two years and eight months from the August, 2015 voting member retreat.What is the SUCCINCT version of where NDFA will be as an organization at this point? 

More members also fundraiser & organizer

by this time, we should be Chicago DFA and should have greatly expanded in members. Oh and we should have a fundraiser and full-time organizer.

Clearinghouse of quality vendors

A clearing house of quality vendors that we obtain the best prices from for our candidates. We need to look at what DFA did with their boot camp and create a local version of that. I am discouraged by national

Grow & get a new Mayor

Grown significantly: able to make an impact on the 2019 municipal elections, make the City Council more progressive, elect a progressive mayor. 

Question 2. Please use the space below to expand on the vision you expressed above.

Represent all Chicago & more fundraisers

We should represent the entire city as we already get candidates to speak from all areas of Chicago. We will be stronger as an organization and expand our mission to more people. We should have a full-time organizer to reach out for more members, specifically younger members. We should also have a fundraiser to throw at least 3-4 fundraisers a year. Hail hydra.  

All areas of Chicago, plus a paid organizer

NDFA needs to be able to send volunteers to campaigns in all areas of the city to work to change City Council, and we should be able to hire an organizer for the entire election to both help us get out folks to volunteer and to help targeted campaigns to make a significant difference. 

Question 3. Five years from now will be August, 2020. The Illinois primary will presumably be in March, 2020. This will be the year of a presidential election.What is the SUCCINCT version of your vision for NDFA going into the 2020 general election? 

Less big, more local

I believe we have to pick our battles, we are to small and have to few members to have effect on large elections. All politics are local and we need to be more effective with our local races. 

Dem Gov for Illinois & boring 2020 cycle

Hopefully it will be a re-election campaign for a Democratic president. We'll have to look around to see where we can be useful. (Hey, what happened to the Illinois governor election? in the mid-terms? can't we make a difference there in electing a Dem governor again?) Hopefully this election will be relatively boring and allow NDFA to garner more volunteers from folks excited about federal issues. 

Question 4. Use this space to expand upon your vision for NDFA in the summer of 2020. 

 

Convince people who volunteer on national races to volunteer locally

Hopefully it will be a re-election campaign for a Democratic president. We'll have to look around to see where we can be useful. (Hey, what happened to the Illinois governor election? in the mid-terms? can't we make a difference there in electing a Dem governor again?) Hopefully this election will be relatively boring and allow NDFA to garner more volunteers from folks excited about federal issues. 

Question 5. What is your vision for how NDFA interacts with other organizations in Chicago?  

Where can NDFA win?

once again, we need to win and pick battles where we can win, possibly a relationship with the progressive causcas  

Cooperate when it suits NDFA

I think the use of interacting with other organizations is limited: we spend more energy on trying to be good citizens than we get back. If we're on the same side in an election, very good -- but each organization has it's own goals, and they don't necessarily dovetail with ours. In other words, keep it friendly, but don't waste a lot of time on it.

Question 6. What is your vision of how NDFA interacts with organizations in Illinois or in the greater Chicago region?

Progressive Caucus

once again, we need to win and pick battles where we can win, possibly a relationship with the progressive causcas 

Meh

Question 7. What is your vision for how NDFA should interact with Democracy For America? 

 

DFA should support NDFA in Illinois

They should support our efforts and look to guidance for us in Illinois. Hail hydra.  

Go independent

We should spin off 

 

Not necessary to be on same page

NDFA leads in the Chicago area; and plans for elections involving Chicago go through NDFA first. The relationship should be cordial -- but we don't depend on them nor them us; hopefully our directions don't diverge, but we don't always have to be on the same page. 

 

Question 8. What is your vision for how NDFA should do fundraising? 

I would organize more fundraisers

We should hire a fundraiser! I would totally do it. we should have 3-4 fundraisers a year. We can gain more awareness and maybe even more members, while making money!  

Sell tix for prestigious speakers

we need to do events with speakers that have a draw and we can sell tickets

Better?

More and better. 

Question 9. What do you envision NDFA's brand being in the future? How is this different from NDFA's brand now?

Chicago's premiere progressive org

the premiere progressive organization in Chicago. Right now, we are being held back by more conservative thinking on what the organization should be. We should outreach more and try to grow the organization rather than letting opportunities pass us by.  

Better to be feared than loved

I want our brand to be respected and feared, we need to be better organized and have more traction today we are an organization that is a few steps above a hobby organization 

 

leading/coordinating

At the moment, NDFA is the leading DFA group in Chicago. If more DFA groups expand, having a Chicago DFA that serves as a coordinating group would be helpful -- and Chicago DFA could become the leading organization. If the other groups fail, NDFA should become Chicago DFA.