Building A Grassroots Power Base
  • organized VOP chapters in Amherst County, Hampton Roads, Lee County, Lynchburg, Petersburg, Williamsburg, Wise County and Wythe County that work on both local and statewide issues
  • expanded 21 new chapter development projects to cover 32 legislative districts
  • worked with the Comité de Apoyo de Inquilinos y Trabajadores (Tenants’ and Workers’ Support Committee) to develop new Latino/Latina-led community groups in Culmore and South Arlington
  • purchased and renovated an office building in Charlottesville and established an endowment, The Fund for the Virginia Organizing Project
  • continue to give consultations to other groups on grassroots organizing, capacity building, grassroots fundraising and a variety of other organizational issues
  • continue to build and develop relationships with the Virginia AFL-CIO, Building and Construction Trades Council of Virginia, Virginia NAACP, Virginia Council of Churches, Catholic Diocese of Richmond Office of Peace and Justice, Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Virginia Education Association, Virginia Conservation Network, Virginia Sierra Club, Virginia Coalition for the Homeless, League of Conservation Voters, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, and Virginia CURE, among others
  • increased our use of media including the coordination of media conferences in campaigns for restoration of voting rights, tax reform, living wages and removal of racist artwork from public properties in Lynchburg and increased media exposure to include local television news coverage, radio coverage, newspaper articles and key op-eds
  • implemented a statewide e-mail action alert system to link organizations and individuals in different parts of the state, enabling them to work more effectively together on a variety of issues, such as: living wage, sexual orientation issues, Earned Income Tax Credits, death penalty, clean air, Pharmacy Connect, forestry and logging, out-of-state garbage, Mattaponi reservoir, affordable housing, tax reform, racial profiling and others
  • added the capacity to do GIS mapping
  • developed a Used Computer Project that placed 1,336 computers, 280 printers, 43 fax machines, 22 copiers, 14 typewriters and 16 scanners in the hands of non-profit groups and individuals who could not otherwise afford such equipment
  • continue to develop an annual Organizing Plan to insure strategic action and to evaluate effectiveness
  • continue to publish virginia.organizing, a news magazine with a circulation of 7,300 that provides news of VOP and its chapters and affiliates, as well as other groups in the state, and has sections on organizing skills (in English and Spanish), a column on understanding the economy, and leadership profiles
  • continue to upgrade the VOP web site, www.virginia-organizing.org, which includes links to other organizations and information resources

What We Do