Gathering signatures for petitions is one of the most effective public policy events your group can do. Whether there’s a specific piece of pro-life (or pro-abortion) legislation going through your local government, or you want to petition for something general like diaper decks on your campus, petition tabling is a fun and simple activity for your pro-life group.
SFLA Resources to Request from your Regional Coordinator:
- SFLA topic cards related to your petition
- e. Fetal Pain topic cards if your local legislature is looking at a Pain Capable bill soon.
- “Apologetics 101” training
- “Join Us” topic cards
Steps:
- Contact your Regional Coordinator.
- Email him/her requesting any materials you may need, and a date and time if you’d like him/her to assist your group with this event.
- Arrange a time for your members who will be taking part in the display to do an “Apologetics 101” training.
- Reserve a place on campus.
- Contact your administration, and follow their steps for reserving a space and a table. Ask your adviser for help with doing this.
- A high traffic area is best, whether that is inside or outside. We recommend before school, during lunch, and after school.
- Pack your materials.
- Bring relevant topic cards, petition forms, pens, and any other informational material you may have about the topic you’re petitioning for.
- All group events should involve recruitment; you’ll want to have your own recruiting tools to gather the contact information of interested pro-life students. Consider using either a clipboard or a laptop/iPad.
- “Join Us” cards are also handy for recruitment, especially if you personalize them with your club’s info on the back.
- Organize workers for the display.
- Ask members to sign-up in shifts to work the display. Assign at least two members to be present at all times. An easy way to keep your list of volunteers organized is a Google doc or similar. Email this out or post it on your group’s private Facebook page.
- Make sure that anyone working the petition table is knowledgeable about the subject whether it be a new house bill or a shady local abortion facility, etc.
- Work the display!
- Pass out as much of your informational material as you can, and use it to start conversations. Collect signatures of those who visit and encourage people to share their opinion on the display content.
- Set a goal for the number of signatures you want to collect that day and hold yourself to it.
Tips
Encourage friendly competition with your group members working the table! Offer a small prize or social media recognition of the member who collects the most signatures.
Questions? Contact your Regional Coordinator for more information.
