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DFA Night School is our on-line training program that allows anyone to learn the skills to win from their own home. Each session is an interactive conference call and web presentation where trainees participate and ask questions. Featuring expert trainers, topics range from Volunteer Recruitment to Framing a Message to Fundraising to Online Media.

Each session lasts just an hour, is packed with important skills and is completely free. You can view past presentations below to watch at your convenience. DVD versions are also available for purchase at the Training Store.

Upcoming & Recent Night School episodes:

Candidate Recruitment

Wendesday June 24th - 8:30pm Eastern

On Wednesday June 24th DFA is back at it with another episode of Night School. This month's topic: Candidate Recruitment Its already time to begin the search for next cycle's Democratic talent and DFA will help you identify and recruit the next generation of Democratic leaders.

We will be joined by South Carolina Democratic Party Executive Director and DFA Trainer Jay Parmley. Jay will walk us through the process of finding & recruiting quality candidates to run in your area. We'll look at targeting districts/races, scouting candidates, setting expectations, and offering up resources and incentives.

So gather your friends, and local party activists, and tune in Wednesday June 24th to learn how to recruit a progressive Democrat to run in a district near you.

Click below to listen

Citizen Lobbying

Tuesday May 26th - 8:30pm Eastern

This summer DFA is going to launch a massive citizen lobbying campaign to pressure congress into adopting a 'public option' in any health care reform. Join this hour long online training with Gov. Dean and several other guest trainers to learn how you can set up an effective citizen lobbying campaign in your area.

RSVP at the link above to learn how to listen in live and view the accompanying slideshow.

Click here to download a .pdf copy of the slides

Click here to download the Citizen Lobbying Planning Worksheet

Building a Better County Party

Wednesday April 22nd 8:30pm Eastern

We kick off Night School 2009 with an hour dedicated to building a better Democratic Party.  Our guest trainer will be Jennifer Coken, the former Chair of the Denver County Democratic Party. We will spend the hour reviewing proven strategies and ideas you can use to make your local Democratic Party become more open, active and engaged in your community.

Click here to download a .pdf version of these slides

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HELP KEEP NIGHT SCHOOL FREE!     CLICK HERE TO GET THE DVDS

Previous Night Schools

Fall Semester 2008  (click to view videos)

This semesters training goes into details of how to run a succesful campaign.  From recruiting volunteers to implementing succesful strategies to reach out to constituents, this semesters training covers it all.  We even included how to wind down a campaign succesfully so that you or a succesor can pick up where you left off for the next election.

Shutting Down a Campaign

Canvassing & Phonebanking

Recruiting Volunteers

How to Increase Voter Turn Out

Summer Semester 2008  (click to view videos)

This semesters training starts out on how to get a job on a campaign with Amy Prichard the Democratic GAIN President.  We then move on to discuss Professor George Lakoff's new book on progressive politics.  The semester closes with a talk from Zack Exley of the New Organizing Institute on how the internet is changing the way we organize in America.

Online Organizing

The Political Mind w/ George Lakoff (live from Netroots Nation!)

Getting a Campaign Job

Spring Semester 2008  (click to view videos)

This semesters training sessions  focus on writing your campaign's blueprint for success: Your Field Plan.  We discuss where and when to deploy the limited volunteer and financial resources so that they have the greatest impact.  This training also focuses on the most effective tactics you can employ to get your message out to the voters, setting benchmarks for success and laying your plan out on a realistic timeline.

Writing a Field Plan: Part 2

Writing a Field Plan: Part 1

Fall Semester 2007   (click to view videos) 

This semester we're dedicating five sessions completely to the topic of organizing your local precinct. It doesn't matter if you live in Boston or West Texas, this is something that anyone, anywhere can do. In short the more precincts we get organized, the more we'll win in November.

• August 2nd: Building an Open Progressive Community

September 11th: Precinct Organizing: Getting Started

September 18th: Precinct Organizing: Recruiting Your Precinct Team

1. September 25th: Precinct Organizing: Making an Impact

October 2nd: Precinct Organizing: Building Networks Across Precincts

Summer Semester 2007

The Summer 2007 semester was all about fundraising. We have some excellent guests including former state party chairs, congressional finance directors and staff from ActBlue.

June 12th: Developing a Finance Plan

June 19th: Fundraising: Events and Call Time

June 26th: Fundraising: Online and Email

Spring Semester 2007

Fresh off our tremendous victories in 2006, DFA Night School turned its focus on sustaining and building on our successes.

March 6th: Holding Elected Leaders Accountable

March 13th: Building Progressive Coalitions

March 20th: Anyone Can Run

Fall Semester 2006

September 19: Framing the Election with George Lakoff

September 26: Winning with Social Networks

October 3: Voting Early, Voting Easily, Voting Safely

October 10: Getting Out The Vote

Summer Semester 2006

July 25: Mainstream Media: Breaking In

August 1: Leveraging Blogs and Online Media

August 8: Sustaining your Media Presence

Spring Semester 2006

April 11: Moving our Message

April 18: Building a Grassroots Army: Volunteer Recruitment

April 25: Rules of the Road: Canvassing

May 2: How to Make Phoning Fun