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• Build
a broad coalition. The coalition supporting this proposal
included Republicans and Democrats; business leaders and the environmental
community; farmers and local activists; political representatives;
and even a number of prominent developers, builders, and realtors.
It took years of effort to cultivate these relationships. The payoff:
the broad, diverse coalition reassured voters that the proposal was
in the best interests of the community.
• Leverage people power. More than 500 volunteers,
many of them Sierra Club members, helped distribute literature, post
yard signs, and make get-out-the-vote phone calls. Their energy and
time helped offset the opponents’ fundraising advantage.
• Start fundraising early. People power alone
isn’t enough. A decade of aggressive fundraising anchored by
the "Shopping for the Earth" program (through which people
could contribute to the group’s anti-sprawl efforts simply by
shopping at the stores where they already shop) enabled the Huron
Valley Group to donate more than $40,000 to the Proposal B campaign.
The ability to fund print ads, direct mail, radio and TV ads enabled
the campaign to get its message across to voters.
• Wage an aggressive campaign. The campaign
combined a positive vision with hard-hitting ads that didn’t
shy away from unmasking the opposition’s greenscam tactics.
As a result, support for the proposal grew throughout the campaign.
The Friends of Ann Arbor Open Space campaign leaders hope their experience
will help other communities with their own land preservation battles.
For more information on the Proposal B campaign, see www.a2openspace.org.
If you would like advice on organizing a land preservation ballot
proposal in your community, visit the Makinac
Chapter online or send an e-mail to mackinac.chapter@sierraclub.org.
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