Your guide to organizing a protest that makes a difference
Your guide to organizing a protest that makes a difference
Protesting is a powerful way for citizens across the political spectrum to raise their voices. Use our guide to plan your messaging and approach for a safe protest that can create real change.In this article you will learn:
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 was a defining moment in the Civil Rights movement. It played a key role in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 1913, the Women’s Suffrage Parade led to women’s right to vote.
The Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd became a global movement, elevating public awareness of racial justice and police reform. BLM shifted public perception of police corruption and led to policy changes that increased police accountability and reduced bias and dangerous practices.
These are just a few of the pivotal protests that created movements and important change. Protests are part of the American tradition of amplifying social causes, and the First Amendment provides “the right of the people to peaceably assemble.”
Protests are a valuable galvanizing force. Research from a study in the American Sociological Review (ASR) found that protests against police brutality are a catalyst for citizen oversight boards, resulting in “lower fatalities in minority communities.”
The key to planning a protest that creates change is knowledge and preparation. Follow these tips for organizing a successful protest.
How to prepare for a peaceful and successful protest
According to the ASR study, the three components of a protest that facilitate change are “signaling, community empowerment, and threats to elites in power.”
Effective protests signal the significance of the movement’s issue to the community and increase awareness of a problem that needs solving. They rally communities around issues impacting them and give them a voice. As a result, these outcomes put pressure on the people in power and decision makers.
To design a protest that achieves these goals, follow these best practices.
Build your campaign first
Incorporate the protest or demonstration you want to hold as part of a larger campaign. Creating a campaign for your cause will establish and convey your key issue and message, as well as attract supporters.
Creating a website, sending emails to subscribers, posting on social media, holding meetings, and starting petitions on Change.org are all valuable ways to build your campaign. A platform like Change.org provides a hub for your campaign where you can easily share the details of your issue and communicate with supporters.
As you generate awareness and excitement for your cause, you can start planning your protest, recruiting participants, and sharing details of the plan.
Communicate a clear message and demands
Identifying and explaining your specific message to your supporters is crucial so everyone has a clear understanding of what you’re fighting for and why. This ensures your supporters are truly aligned with your mission and can communicate it to others before, during, and after the protest.
Make sure when talking and writing about your cause, you include the following:
Why it’s important
Who or what it’s affecting
What kind of resolution you’re looking for
What needs to be done to achieve it
Who you’re asking to take action
For example, a successful campaign that demanded UPS to provide air conditioning for its delivery drivers started by Theresa Klenk clearly identified all of these key points. Klenk, a wife of a UPS delivery driver that suffered heat stroke, explained that “Drivers like my husband are at incredibly high risk during summer months, when temperatures in their trucks can climb to 180 degrees.”
The petition addresses the organizations and decision makers with the authority to take action, including the CEO of UPS, Carol Tomé, and key elected officials who were interested in championing heat protections for workers. It supplies a clear directive: provide UPS workers with AC in their delivery trucks.
The petition kicked off this movement in 2018 and gained widespread support. Klenk and her supporters helped to spread the message online, gain media attention, and work with the Teamsters union to negotiate safer contracts for UPS employees. In 2023, Klenk used her campaign platform to gather support for the People Over Packages rally at a Philadelphia UPS to protest the lack of A/C, air ventilation, and fair worker contracts.
All of these combined efforts led to victory. In 2023, the Teamsters ratified a contract that includes “historic heat protections for UPS drivers,” including AC, fans, and vents in trucks.
Choose your approach
When it’s time to start planning the details of the protest, think about the type of event you want to organize to best meet your goals. Here are common types of protests to consider:
Sit-ins: Sit-ins are a peaceful protest tactic where protesters occupy a public space to make their demands or defiance against injustices known. Sit-ins were a powerful part of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s during which Black students sat in restaurant areas reserved for white people.
Walkouts: Walkouts are where people organize to leave their place of work, school, meeting, or other organization at a designated time in an act of peaceful protest. Recently, hundreds of public school students across NYC organized walkouts to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Rallies: Rallies are organized events, often taking place outside government buildings or locations related to or symbolic of a specific cause. They can be standalone events or part of a protest march and typically feature speakers who raise awareness about issues and mobilize community members into action.
Marches: Marches are another form of peaceful protest where participants walk through the streets, or from one location to another, often chanting slogans and carrying signs.
Silent protests: Silent protests, such as hunger strikes and boycotts, are nonviolent forms of resistance where individuals refuse to participate in certain activities to draw attention to a cause. They aim to pressure authorities or institutions without the use of direct confrontation.
Know your rights
The First Amendment protects the American people’s right to peaceful protest. That does come with some guidelines, like:
It’s best to stick to common public spaces, like streets, sidewalks, parks, outside government buildings and other places as long as you’re not blocking access to buildings or streets.
Speeches can take place on private property without any restrictions or government intervention with the owner’s permission. Check if your neighborhood or town requires a sound permit to have amplified sound.
Counterprotesters also have rights. Police can keep counterprotesters separated but they are still allowed to be in the same area as other protesters.
Protesters have the right to photograph anything in a public space, but private property owners may set their own rules for photography.
Protestors don’t need permits to march on sidewalks or in the street, but they can’t block traffic or pedestrians. If you are obstructing access in any way, police can ask you to move. Protests that do need permits include marches or parades that plan to block traffic or close streets, events with sound amplification, or events over a certain size. Different cities have different rules, so check what the permit requirements are where you’re located.
If you believe any of your rights have been violated, document everything that happened, including police badge numbers and patrol car numbers if you can. Make sure you have contact information from witnesses, and take any photos of damage or injuries. Then, you can file a complaint with the appropriate agency.
Plan logistics
Decide the key details of the protest in advance and give your supporters as much notice as you can for the best turnout. Here is the key information you need to prepare:
Date and time: Pick a day and time that will attract the most attention from your target audience. This could be during business hours if your protest is linked to a certain company or government agency, or on the weekend if it’s for a broader cause.
Location: Let your supporters know exactly where you’ll be meeting for the protest, whether that’s one single location or a starting point if it’s a march. Make sure to provide information about parking and/or public transit options.
Who you’re addressing: Identify the people, groups, or organizations you’re seeking a response or action from so you can tailor your message and location accordingly.
Protest leaders: Designate who the lead organizers and key points of contact will be who can coordinate the event, provide guidance, answer questions, and give speeches.
Guidance for participants: The organizers of the protest or demonstration should provide all of the essential information before the event, and arrive early to greet supporters and discuss details and protocol before the event.
Equipment and supplies: Decide what equipment or supplies you need to run the event smoothly and safely, including sound systems, speakers, microphones, water, first aid kits, etc.
Promotional materials: Determine what kind of branding you want to showcase and distribute at the protest, including t-shirts, flyers, postcards, signs, etc.
Do outreach and online promotion to drive attention
Leading up to your protest, promote the event to increase awareness and attract more people who want to participate. Post about it on your social media channels, send emails to your subscriber list, and write updates to your supporters on Change.org. Additionally, contact media outlets to get press coverage before and during the event.
In addition to promoting your event, contact any public figures, leaders, or other notable people who might want to support your cause and participate in your demonstration. Ask them to share the event with their network and followers, and ask if they would like to speak at the event. This will help further amplify your message and get the attention of decision makers.
Follow safe and peaceful protesting practices
For the best possible results, impact, and safety for everyone involved, it’s crucial to maintain a safe and peaceful environment. Make sure you follow and communicate guidelines, like:
Follow the lead of organizers
Be aware of your surroundings
Avoid conflict with police and counterprotesters
Be respectful of everyone around you
Don’t block traffic or pedestrian access unless you have a permit to do so
Follow up with next action steps
After the protest, regroup with fellow organizers, attendees, and anyone else involved to reflect on the experience. Discuss what went well, what didn’t, and what could be improved. Provide any follow up details or updates since the protest and discuss how to keep the momentum going.
Your next steps might include anything that resulted from the protest, like securing a meeting with a decision maker or negotiating a contract. It could be planning another protest or different type of event. Decide what the best next steps are to make progress towards your goal.
Start your campaign now on Change.org
Whatever cause you're rallying supporters for through peaceful protest, start amplifying your message and spreading the word with a Change.org petition. This is a powerful tool to grow supporters and attendance, communicate key information and progress through petition updates, and get the attention of decision makers to make real change.
