Here is an interesting case study on the use of technology by a small state based group that increased power locally and nationally by leveraging technology.
Technology can play a strong supporting role in the efforts of grassroots organizers. For WEEL, the implementation of a database meant more than better administration; it meant the ability to fine-tune its strategic civic engagement efforts. The ability to move the database from a record-keeping instrument to a strategic tool leveraged WEEL’s small staff and focused efforts into real influence, ultimately at the federal level. In a small organization, that ability could translate into the difference between successful and unsuccessful endeavors.Working for Equality & Economic Liberation’s experience is an example of how merging technology with other strategic activities can significantly enhance the capacity of organizations working with limited resources. By integrating data from multiple sources, WEEL was able to target specific audiences for its message, concentrating its efforts on work that would bring the greatest results. Then, by recording those results, the organization was able to prove to legislators that its work had an impact. In WEEL’s case, that meant a direct line to the Senate. Technology not only enhances the organization’s ability to effectively manage data, an administrative task the value of which is difficult to overstate; it also provides grassroots organizations with the ability to use data strategically, to achieve impacts stretching beyond the concerted efforts of individuals alone
It is not as network-centric as I would like (group did not have a strategy to connect member to member) the story demonstrates that by pushing power and tools to the edges of the movement helps local and national strategy and results.
