Welcome!

Welcome to the NDWA Domestic Worker Organizing Toolbox, a wealth of materials on best practices for organizing in our sector. Not an NDWA affiliate or chapter? Learn about NDWA and how you can get involved.

Domestic Worker Organizing Toolbox

Domestic workers deserve dignity and respect! To win dignity and respect we need to build our power as a movement. And to build our power, we need to organize, which means building strong membership-based organizations, developing worker leadership, and leading strategic campaigns. A key to winning bigger victories is to increase the number of members of our organizations. The Domestic Worker Organizing Toolbox is a set of tools that can help make that growth a reality! You can review the list of materials, and then scroll down for tips on how to use these resources.

Topics

Theory of Change

This section includes NDWA’s Theory of Change, recommendations on how to develop your own Theory of Change, and an explanation of why we recommend an orientation around base-building and organizing.

Researching our Base

In this section, we share information on different methods of researching our base, and how to use research as a base-building and leadership development opportunity.

Membership Structure

In this section, you’ll find information on how to structure an organization so that it can include large numbers of domestic workers as members and leaders.

Outreach and Recruitment

In this section, we share best practices for doing outreach to domestic workers and then following up with them to make sure that they feel welcomed and integrated into our organizations.

Program Design

This section includes tips on developing programs for a domestic worker base. It also includes outlines of political education and leadership development workshops.

Digital Organizing & Data Maintenance

In this section, we share tips on how to use technology to communicate with, inform and mobilize domestic workers. We also share tips on how to store data for organizing.

Developing Strategic Campaigns

This section includes tips on how to develop powerful and winning domestic worker campaigns, including a special toolkit on Domestic Worker Bill of Rights campaigns.

Supporting Powerful Leaders and Effective Teams

This section is a guide to supporting leadership, dividing up roles effectively, building group agreements, democratic decision-making and more.

Political Education

This section includes workshop materials for member leaders and organizers to facilitate political education workshops with members.

Effective Communications

This section provides recommendations around how to talk about domestic work and domestic workers, hold effective press events, and build a base of domestic worker spokespeople.

Sustaining our Organizations

This section includes recommendations on how to fundraise for domestic worker organizing and base-building work, information on c3/c4 legal compliance and administration.

Feedback

These materials are a work in progress, and we’re all working together to make them stronger. Please share your ideas and feedback!

How to use this Toolbox

There are many different ways to use the Toolbox. You can just browse through the topics to find materials that interest you, or use the Search Function to find something in particular.

Or you can use these tools to dig into particular topics with others in your organization. If you’d like to do that, we recommend these steps:

Complete the Organizational Assessment and ask others in your organization to do the same.

Use the Organizational Assessment Tally Sheet to compile the results of your assessments and to identify your organization's goals and the areas of the Tool Box that you'd like to explore.

Ask that everyone read the Recommendation in each of the sections you’ve identified as priorities to discuss.

Use the Discussion Guides in each section of the Toolbox to guide your conversations.

Refer to the Reference materials, Case Studies, Worksheets and more for additional ideas.

One you have used the Toolbox, please share your Feedback with us! These materials are a work in progress and together we will contribute to this shared resource! Let us know if you have suggestions or materials to add.

NDWA staff are available to help you make use of these tools. Contact Anna, [email protected] for a 1-on-1 meeting to discuss your organization’s goals.