Starting a CSSDP Chapter

August 2011

Inside Our Mission .......................................................................2 Our Goals ...........................................................................2 Who can start a chapter? ................................................. 3 Some simple steps to help you get the ball rolling........ 4 What do CSSDP chapters do? .......................................... 5 Starting a cssdp chapter .................................................. 6 Chapter Structure ............................................................ 9 Registering as a student club. ........................................ 10 Share your experience!................................................... 13 Other CSSDP manuals..................................................... 13 A suggestion checklist for starting a chapter ............... 15 To contact the CSSDP national officeError! Bookmark not defined.

Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Pol icy

Our Mission

Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP) is a grassroots network comprised of youth and students who are concerned about the negative impact our drug policies have on individuals and communities. CSSDP considers problematic drug use in society primarily a health issue rather than a criminal justice issue, and advocates for appropriate responses to reduce and prevent harm from drug use. CSSDP provides education and resources to empower chapters formed by students and youth in their work on substance use issues facing their peer groups and communities. CSSDP mobilizes it members to participate in the political process at all levels, pushing for sensible policies to achieve a safer and more just future, while combating counterproductive drug policies, particularly those that directly harm young people.

Our Goals

Engage and amplify the impact of young people in political processes

Improve drug policy and practices

Promote and provide honest drug education

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Why Start a CSSDP Chapter?

Because the war on drugs is actually a war on people!!

Because all of the facts about drugs are worth knowing

Because drug laws are creating more harm than drugs themselves!!

Because you will meet awesome people!!

Because you will change the world!!

Because you will gain lots of skills and knowledge!!

Who can start a chapter? CSSDP chapters have to

be led by a youth or

student.

Chapters can be started

on campus, at high

school, in your region or

community, or wherever

you want!

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Some simple steps to help you get the ball rolling

Gather your friends! You probably know other people

who are interested in making a difference. Let them know that

you’re organizing a CSSDP chapter and that you could use

their help.

Promotion! Put up posters around your campus and

community to advertise your new chapter and recruit

members. It helps to have a date listed for the next meeting or

event. See CSSDP’s Making Connections manual for more

info.

Use social media! Start a Facebook group or page for

your chapter. And/or a Twitter account. Also use whatever

other social media tools you’re comfortable with!

Hold regular meetings! Meetings are a chance for

interested members to get together, talk about what’s

important to them, and plan events and actions. Regular dates

(once a week or every two weeks) is a great way to keep

CSSDP folks connected. See CSSDP’s Meetings manual for

more ideas

Candlelight vigil for drug war victims, 2009

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What do CSSDP chapters do?

Campus and community outreach. Members participate in

different types of outreach at all sorts of events on and off campus,,

shows, parties, festivals, community bbq’s, and more!

Political Advocacy. CSSDP chapters make change happen.

Chapters take on their local school administrations, politicians, and

other political structures to improve drug policy.

o CSSDP organizes an annual Lobby Day where

members engage the federal government and

highlight key issues

o CSSDP chapters take action at the local levels,

writing letters, making connections with local

politicians, organizing demonstrations and more

Education events. Chapters organize workshops, panels,

conferences, unconferences, and more! Chapters pick the format and

topics of their own events.

Promote and provide honest drug education. It’s

time to take down the narrow-minded ‘Just Say No’ programs and

replace them with our ‘Just Say Know’ resources.

Support community partners. CSSDP chapters work with

local youth groups, activist groups, harm reduction programs,

cultural groups, and more. We’re all in this together.

And more!

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Starting a cssdp chapter So you’ve decided to start a CSSDP chapter, what next? Any good

social movement needs people to power it. Once you’ve established

a core membership, it’s time to let people know about the great

things CSSDP envisions for the world, and get them interested in

helping you accomplish those great things. Here are some ways you

can attract new members.

Club Fairs. Your school probably has a club fair during the

beginning of each semester – a chance for student clubs to let

students know about their presence on campus. Club fairs are

a great opportunity to recruit new members and to get a feel

for what issues are most important on your campus and in

your community. If you’re not sure, contact your school or

your student union, or check their website. Also check with

your school or student union about any rules they might have

CSSDP at Parliament Hill for Lobby Day 2010

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for things like selling food, playing music, or whether you

have to be a registered student club or not. For more tips see

CSSDP’s Outreach and Tablings Tips.

Creating a presence on campus. Make sure

everyone on campus knows about your chapter, its events and

the work it’s doing.

→ Contribute to your school newspaper;

→ pass out pamphlets or quarter-page leaflets in the

halls, in your classes, in the library, the cafeteria, the

bathrooms, and everywhere else you go, and

encourage your friends and fellow chapter members to

do the same;

→ create a poster with some interesting facts about the

drug war and post it around campus, or check our

Resources section on the CSSDP website for some

examples to use;

→ talk about your chapter, CSSDP and the issues related

to drug policy with everyone, everywhere, all the

time;

→ keep in touch with other student clubs, especially

those with similar interests and goals to yours (social

justice, human rights, environmentalism, cultural

groups etc) and offer to tell your members about their

clubs and issues if they do the same for you;

→ The possibilities for expanding your chapter on

campus are endless: it’s up to you to take advantage of

as many of them as you can!

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Email and Social Media. Create a chapter email

(gmail is an easy and free way to do so) and make sure it is

listed on all your pamphlets and posters, so that interested

students can get in touch with you easily. Make sure someone

is checking and responding to emails regularly! Start a

Facebook or Twitter group for your chapter and post

information about upcoming events and what the chapter is up

to. Make sure to let the CSSDP staff know any email address

or Facebook groups your chapter is using so we can promote

them on the CSSDP website.

Creating a community presence.

Although your

chapter may be

based on a

campus, your

campus is part of a larger community who could be interested

in your chapter’s events and work and could be a potential

source of support and allies. Make sure your community

knows your chapter is there: contribute to local blogs, write

letters to the editor, post leaflets and promote events in

community centers, libraries, coffee shops, etc. Although

community members might not be interested in attending

student club meetings, they might be interested in attending

special events, helping to promote or donate to your chapter,

arranging meetings with local politicians, or supporting your

chapter in other ways.

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Chapter Structure

The structure of each CSSDP chapter is up to the members of

that chapter. There is no set design of a CSSDP chapter. It is

up to the members to see what works for them.

Many CSSDP chapters register as official student clubs.

Doing so usually brings along access to resources such as

money, space, equipment, and more. All of which is

incredibly helpful!

CSSDP chapters don’t have to be recognized by the school

administration to be an official CSSDP chapter. Chapters can

be groups of youth and students at a school or university who

are not registered. Chapters can be at high schools, or

community wide.

Often you are required to have a President, Vice-President,

and Treasurer. If you’re lucky and have a large group of

committed students, you might think about creating other

leadership positions, such as an event planner, a graphic

designer a membership coordinator, a media director, a

researcher or an outreach coordinator. The structure of your

chapter should be determined by your chapter and its

members. Do what works for you.

Chapter A

President

Vice-President

Treasurer

Secretary

Chapter B

Campus Coordinator

Community Coordinator

Media Cooordinator

Administrative Coordinator

Chapter C

President

Treasurer

Media Liason

Advocacy Director

Education Director

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REGISTERING AS AN OFFICIAL STUDENT CLUB.

If your chapter is based on a university or college campus, you

will want to consider registering as an official club.

Although experiences vary from school to school, some of the

perks of being an official student club could include receiving

funding from your student union, access to free room

bookings and equipment, outreach opportunities for your

chapter, free photocopying, help spreading the word about

your events,

and more.

Although

processes for

registering as

an official

club will be

different from

school to

school, here

are some

general tips to

get you started.

Find out what your school’s official regulations are for

registering a club.

There should be forms and information on the school or

student union webpage, or you can visit your school’s student

union office to talk to someone in person. Usually the process

involves:

CSSDP Laurier campus outreach

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Getting a set amount of signatures, to show that

there is an interest on campus for your club. This can be as

simple as asking ten friends, classmates, roommates, or people

in your dorm to sign your sheet, . If you have a chance to set

up a table, get signatures from people who stop by the table.

Or stand in a busy part of campus and invite people to chat

about CSSDP and ask for their signatures. For more outreach

tips, see the OUTREACH AND TABLING TIPS section.

Assigning executives. Your school will likely require

that your club have at least one executive to act as a contact

person for your club.

Submitting a constitution and a budget. Schools

will usually require that student clubs submit a constitution

which describes the goals, structure, bylaws, voting process

and purpose of your club. If you are applying for money you

will have to submit a budget as well, to show how you plan to

spend the money you receive, as well as any fundraising

efforts your chapter plans to make. You can find draft

examples of a constitution and a budget in the 'Resources' part

of our website.

Charging a membership fee. Some schools will

require clubs charge a fee, to ensure that the clubs have some

form of income outside of the school’s funding. Usually $5 or

$10 is a reasonable fee to charge. If you’re not required to by

your school, you might consider charging a membership fee

anyway, with the fees going towards your chapter’s actions.

Make sure to keep track of membership fees on a ledger,

especially if membership fees are required by your school.

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Attending administrative meetings. As an official

student club, you may be required to attend club meetings,

where a representative from each club on campus must attend

to learn more about student club rules. Make sure you are

aware of any mandatory meetings and that someone from your

chapter is able to attend. In some schools, failure to attend

even one meeting could mean an automatic decrease in your

funding, or in some cases, revoking of your student club status

(and the perks that go along with it!)

Now that you’re officially

registered as a student

club, make the most of it!

Make sure you know what

the perks and

responsibilities of being a

student club are, and use

both to your full

advantage. Requirements

vary between schools, so

we’re always interested in

hearing about how your

process went.

CONSIDER JOINING A PIRG!

Find out if there is a Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)

at your school or in your city. If there is, you might want to

consider applying to be a PIRG working group (along with, or

CSSDP ‘Say No to Bill C-15’ demonstration, Parliament Hill 2009

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instead of, registering as an official student club). PIRGs are

groups of like-minded people and organizations (much like

CSSDP) working on a whole variety of social justice issues.

Becoming a PIRG working group opens a whole network of

support, another method for promoting your chapter and its

events, as well as potential access to funding and maybe even

free photocopying!

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE!

Starting a CSSDP chapter is a different experience for everyone;

some experiences have been more challenging than others. If you

run into any complications, have questions or need advice, be sure to

contact a CSSDP staff member! Also, if you have any tips for

strategies that definitely do (or definitely do NOT) work, we’d love

to hear them, so we can include them in our next chapter manual, for

the chapter leaders of the future!

Other CSSDP manuals

Tabling Outreach Tips

Making Connections

Effective Meetings

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Examples of posters made by

CSSDP Chapters

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A suggestion checklist for starting a chapter

Contact CSSDP staff

Chapter contacts set up Email

Facebook

Twitter

Phone Decide on a chapter structure People elected to positions Register as official campus

club Think of ideas for events to

build membership (table at

clubs week, movie night,

public outreach)

Plan a date and location for

the chapter’s first meeting Get some materials printed or

from CSSDP national office Make a banner for the chapter Change the world

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To contact the CSSDP national office Email caleb@cssdp.org Phone: 613.729.5505 Mail: 4-115 Parkdale Ave, Ottawa ON, K1Y 1E6 Web: www.cssdp.org Twitter: @cssdp Facebook: Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy

CSSDP Staff

Shauna MacEachern shauna@cssdp.org network director Questions about: chapter start-up, chapter support, outreach connections, and more! Caleb Chepesiuk caleb@cssdp.org executive director Questions about: donations and support, campaign opportunities, partnerships, and more!

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Other Important Links

CSSDP Board of Directors http://www.cssdp.org/about-cssdp/board

CSSDP Chapter Network http://www.cssdp.org/chapters

CSSDP Resources

http://www.cssdp.org/resources

Not4me.org: Just Say Know http://www.not4me.org

CSSDP Blog http://war-on-us.blogspot.com

CSSDP Tumblr http://cdndrugpolicy.tumblr.com

Donate to CSSDP http://www.cssdp.org/donate

Links http://www.cssdp.org/links