How to Plan and Organize a TEA Party
Make Your "Tea Party" special! (hints, tips and slogans).
Thank you for your willingness to organize a TEA Party rally in your community. We suggest April 15 as your TEA Party Day.
Here are some helpful hints:
Check the locations button on the www.teapartyday.com home page and see if there is anyone else organizing a TEA Party in your community. If so, call that person and see if you can work together to promote the event.
Choose a location. Make sure the location is highly visible with lots of drive-by traffic. We recommend city hall but a courthouse or other public place can work, too.
Choose a date and time. We recommend holding the TEA Party on April 15 (Tax Day) at Noon but some have chosen other dates and times more convenient for locals.
Contact your police department to see if you need a permit or other license. Laws vary by state and locality.
Tell your friends, family, church members, co-workers and everyone else you know about the protest. Invite them to attend with you.
Make signs with legible slogans that send a clear message to the public and the media to use at the rally. You might want to bring some American flags as well. (See the list at the end of this page).
Distribute buttons or stickers. We have a few TEA Party buttons and stickers remaining. To order go to TEAPartyDay.com. Or make your own!
Call your local talk radio hosts and ask them to announce the location, date and time on the air for a few days leading up to the protest. Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper announcing the protest. Write a press release and email, mail and fax copies to the local TV stations, radio stations and newspapers. Call the reporters that cover local events or politics and leave messages on their voice mail.
Make flyers or newspaper ads. The key to a successful rally is getting the word out. You can place flyers anywhere: in churches, grocery stores, convenience stores, hairdressers, barbershop, car dealers, etc. You can also place notifications in various newspapers serving your community. You can even rent billboards (ask your billboard company for free billboard space as a public service).
Invite Speakers. Call you local (mayor, city council), state (Governor, state senators, state representatives), and national representatives (U.S. senators, U.S. House of Representative members) and invite them to speak at your rally. Tell them this is their opportunity to speak face to face with their constituents. After all, they are accountable to the voters of their district! You can also invite others such as pastors, lawyers, tax accountants, high school teachers and college professors. Be creative!
On the day of your protest, notify the media, show up with your group, be visible, happy and engage the public. Wave your signs, make lots of noise and move around to get attention. If reporters interview you, give them some good sound bytes for their stories. Stay on message and keep your answers short and coherent. Be firm, not vitriolic, and keep things orderly and moving along.
Sample Press Release:
To help you get the word out, below is a sample press release which you should mail to your local paper, radio stations, and television stations. Feel free to adapt the press release. Make sure you are listed on the press release as the contact person and put your phone number where you can be reached at the top of the press release.
Sample Press Release
Citizens in (name of your community) are organizing a TEA Party rally in front of _________ on _______ at _________ to let our government representatives know we are Taxed Enough Already. Speakers will include ______, _______, and _______. TEA Party is part of a national movement to protest the spending of trillions of dollars which will leave our great-grandchildren a debt they must pay. Over 1,500 cities are hosting TEA parties. OUR VOICES WILL BE HEARD!
Sign Making Tips:
Choose large pieces of white poster board or foam board. Colored pieces make text harder to read.
Decide on a slogan. Try to stick to short phrases. Avoid obscure references and the funnier the better – those will be memorable.
Sketch out the slogan in pencil – make sure the letters are large enough to read, your text should use the entire space.
Slogans should be written in a combination of upper and lower case letters – all caps are hard to read. Use them sparingly for emphasis.
Using broad-tipped markers, write your slogan in broad letters. Sometimes it helps to write it first and then go over it again to make it thicker. It’s okay if it looks homemade – that’s because it is. I like to use mostly black – it’s easiest to read.
Underline, bold, or use another color for words you want to stand out.
If you know someone who is good at writing in block letters and if you know you aren’t good at it then leave it to them. They will probably make great signs instinctively and you can focus on signing people up and shouting.
Sometimes, if there is a picture or image that helps your argument, you can use it on your sign. Just make sure it is large enough to see from a distance and fairly simple so that it doesn’t obscure your words. But don’t spend a lot of time worrying about it – the words are the most important thing.
Make sure that every sign has the name and website of your organization or event so that people walking by know where to get more information and who you are with.
American Family Association claims no credit for the foregoing slogans. Special thanks to http://ramenandrand.blogspot.com/ and http://ashevilleteaparty.wordpress.com/ and http://www.freedomworks.org/ and Michelle Malkin and all other patriots intent on keeping America (debt) free!
Sample Flyer. Click here to download a PDF version of the flier