Title: Regional Captains Manual Original CoS Document (slug): [[https://conventionofstates.com/files/regional-captains-manual|regional-captains-manual]] Login Required to view? No Attached File: Regional_Captain_Training_Manual.docx Created: 2023-04-15 21:50:55 Updated: 2024-04-15 23:00:00 Published: 2023-11-25 23:00:00 Converted: 2025-04-14T20:11:50.001296031 ---- {{:cb_mirror_public::media:image1.png}} **REGIONAL CAPTAIN** //**Training Manual and Resource**// **2022** Revised December 2022 Table of Contents [[#section-1-welcome-to-the-team|**Section 1: Welcome to the Team**]] **2** **[[#section-2-responsibilities|Section 2: Responsibilities]]** **3** **[[#section-3-building-and-leading-your-team|Section 3: Building and Leading Your Team]]** **5** **[[#section-4-growing-your-district-captain-base|Section 4: Growing your District Captain Base]]** **6** **[[#section-5-legal-limits-on-your-volunteer-activity|Section 5: Legal Limits On Your Volunteer Activity]]** **10** **[[#section-6-ongoing-education|Section 6: Ongoing Education]]** **13** **[[#section-7-tips-on-messaging|Section 7: Tips on Messaging]]** **14** **[[#section-8---additional-help|Section 8 - Additional Help]]** **14** **[[#state-leadership-flow-chart|State Leadership Flow Chart]]** **16** **[[#signature-page|Signature Page]]** **17** ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== Section 1: Welcome to the Team ====== //A Word of Welcome!// Congratulations on being selected as a Regional Captain (RC) for Convention of States. Your willingness to step into this important role and become part of your state leadership team will help to fulfill the mission of COS by recruiting and activating a District Captain (DC) in every district of your region. The mission for Convention of States is to, “Build an engaged army of self-governing grassroots activists”. We aim to grow a grassroots army large enough to not only call the first ever convention of states but to also drive the political and cultural narrative across all 50 states. We want to see self-governance and liberty flourish in our nation and we believe the only way this will happen is if good people like you get involved in the political and cultural battle. We want to train you how to do this as effectively as possible. If we fail to pass the resolution one year, we just keep growing the grassroots team and training more activists until we have enough influence to effect the change and pass the resolution. Every additional person we educate, train, and get involved is one person closer to victory! We often say, “There is no political problem that more grassroots can’t fix.” All of this is not done by one. It is a team effort. You will be working closely with your State Director and your Grassroots Coordinator. Good communication with your team will be the key to your success. Here, you will find a wealth of information to equip you to handle most situations. This manual is not intended to be all that you need. Rather, it should give you basic guidelines and principles for you to use as your template. Your State Director and Grassroots Coordinator will work with you to create a state strategy that will fit within your leadership style and fulfill the mission of Convention of States. There are three aspects to your training: - Personal mentoring. - Written training that consists of this manual and other files, videos and documents. - Upcoming training will be provided in our COSUniversity on topics such as technology, legal and operational. ====== ====== ====== Section 2: Responsibilities ====== As a Regional Captain, you are responsible for leading the grassroots growth in your region. Work closely with the Grassroots Coordinator and State Director to lead and activate the volunteer teams in your region. You will be in frequent contact with the District Captains to be sure they have everything they need to grow support within their district. You will also help welcome, on-board and train new volunteers. //Here are your basic responsibilities:// * Complete the [[https://cosuniversity.com/project/sgc-100-state-grassroots-coordinator-leadership-training/|Grassroots Coordinator Leadership Training]] course in COS University within 2 weeks of being assigned. Continue to further your education by completing the following courses: * [[https://cosuniversity.com/project/sgc-200-grassroots-secrets/|SGC200 Grassroots Secrets]] * [[https://cosuniversity.com/project/dc-100-manual-training/|District Captain Leadership Training]] * [[https://cosuniversity.com/project/cos-300-convention-of-states-culture/|COS300 Convention of States Culture]] * [[https://cosuniversity.com/project/cos-400-leadership-activism/|COS400 Leadership and Activism]] * Oversee the recruitment, training, and activation of a District Captain in every district in your region. Work with every District Captain to develop a customized strategy with goals for their district. * Make sure that applicants in the Leaders Management Tool (LMT) are personally contacted within 5 days of making their application. * Work with your Grassroots Coordinator to fill out a full roster of all roles in your region. Work to inspire, train, and activate the volunteer leadership team. * Make a regular assessment of the status of the grassroots growth within each of your districts and make adjustments as necessary. In order to assess the effectiveness of your team, you should become familiar with the job description for every role. * Learn about Article V and Convention of States so that you can help educate and build awareness with your District Captain team members. The more they know, the more confident they will be as they work within their districts to grow their grassroots army. * Participate with your Grassroots Coordinator and State Director in state conference calls to communicate with the state volunteer team. * Attend the [[https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/996606524481396482|monthly national call]] for Grassroots Coordinators and Regional Captains to collaborate with other state leaders from across the country. * Work closely with your State Director and Grassroots Coordinator. When your SD or GC reaches out to you, you should be able to respond within 48 hours on workdays unless you have made prior arrangements or he/she knows you will be unavailable for a certain period of time. * Work with the Grassroots Coordinator to develop grassroots growth goals for your region. * Learn the basics of using each technology tool in order to oversee the training and development of your District Captain team. * Train the District Captains how to build and develop a personal relationship with the state legislators for their district (usually a state senator and a representative or assemblyman). To help them know who their legislators are, you can look them up [[https://conventionofstates.com/take_action|here]]. See that they are provided with educational material to take to their legislators when they go to visit. * Make sure that your District Captains know how to enter reports about meetings with their legislators into the Legislative Management System (LMS) or [[https://conventionofstates.com/cosaction|COSAction mobile app]]. * Expect to spend approximately 7 - 8 hours per week as a Regional Captain. * Become part of your state Slack workspace, along with the national DC and national GC Slack workspaces to network with other DC’s and RC’s from across the nation to learn what is working for others. * When distance isn't an issue, assist the District Captains in hosting an annual field trip to the state Capitol to visit their state legislators and give them information about Convention of States. * Work with your Grassroots Coordinator and State Director to plan and hold an annual statewide rally at the state Capital. This will involve all your District Captains and their volunteers. This should be promoted to all supporters throughout the state. ====== ====== ====== Section 3: Building and Leading Your Team ====== The best teamwork can’t be developed in microwave time. Teams grow strong in a crock-pot. The time and effort required to develop team members doesn’t change the team overnight but developing them always pays off. It is vitally important that you be in frequent personal contact with the District Captains in your region to mentor and assist them in their role. Respond to communications in a timely manner. Please let your team know your preferred contact method (phone, text, Slack, etc.) so that they can reach you when needed. Here is a [[https://conventionofstates.com/leaders|directory of your state team]] and the various members that you will be working with. As a Regional Captain, you are part of your state team, but also the team leader of the District Captains in your region. You will be in contact with the District Captains to help train, equip and mentor them. Schedule the training for new District Captains within 2-3 days of being assigned. Train them in the following tools that will enable them to do their job: * CitizenBuilder * Follow Up Tool (FUT) * District Dashboard (DD) Welcome them to the COS team and help them get to know your State Director and Grassroots Coordinator. They can be a great asset to assist you with training, and to support your District Captains in their role. It is important that you and your team participate in your state’s regularly scheduled conference calls. Your State Director will notify you of these state calls. These are there to guide, empower and help you and your District Captains with what they need to succeed. * Invite and encourage your DCs to attend the weekly [[https://conventionofstates.com/tuesday-training|Tuesday DC Training webinar]] at 9:00 pm EST. They can also view past webinars at the site. * Invite your new DCs to your state Slack team and the national DC Slack team. They too will benefit from the communication on your state team and will have the opportunity to network with other DC’s across the nation. ====== ====== ====== Section 4: Growing your District Captain Base ====== We are a unique organization with thousands of new supporters joining every week. These supporters are placed in a database for your state and in each district for your DCs to access. This enables them to contact, teach and activate those new volunteers that are under their leadership. Nothing excites and motivates people more than receiving a personal contact from those in an organization where they can put their efforts to work. Train your DC’s on how to access the database and use their tools to personally reach out to the supporters, volunteers, and petition signers in their district. Your personal training for the tools will come from your State Director, or the individual delegated to do training from your team. It will include using the Leaders Management Tool (LMT) where you will find those who have applied to be a state leader. The LMT should be checked no less than 4 times a week. New applicants should be contacted within 2 business days of applying for their position. Capturing them when they are excited and motivated is essential to their success and yours. When making the first connection, always contact them by phone. Emails are not reliable. Personal phone calls and/or texting are the most effective ways to communicate. * If you make a phone call and they do not answer, leave a voicemail, and then try again later. Always leave a note in the applicant Citizen Builder LMT profile documenting every attempt to make contact. * Make a second call within 2-3 days. If necessary, leave another voicemail, followed by a text message. * If no response after two calls, follow up with an email telling them that you are reaching out to discuss their application. Ask for a good time to set up a phone interview. * If there is still no response, send a second email. Thank them for their application and let them know that since you have not heard from them, you assume they are unable to volunteer at this time. Let them know they can reach out to you when things change. Then “reject” them in the LMT. Always document all attempts for communication as well as the results of the communication. When you reach out to existing District Captains, you may find that they have received little or no communication from their state team. You may have to win them back by assuring them that they will receive the help they need along with the encouragement and support required for their success. Personal contact (face to face or on the phone) is essential to building a relationship with your District Captains. When you spend personal one-on-one time with your DC’s, you will have their confidence in you and your leadership. Your job as Regional Captain is to reach by recruiting, teach by personal contact and activate by guiding, directing, and encouraging them. Your job is to equip and develop them. There is a difference. Equipping them is to impart information, the how to’s of their job. Developing them requires your time investment in them with personal one on one help and encouragement. You become their mentor. You raise them up to do more than they ever thought they could. Always end a conversation with a call to action. Give them something to do. The best way to assure that they will do it correctly is for you to do it for/with them and allow them to watch you. Then, you watch them do it. Then, they do it alone. Always follow up with any assignment you have given them. Don’t assume that they will come to you for help if they have a problem. People fail to ask for help for several reasons: * They really don’t know what question to ask. When someone is new, they don’t know what they don’t know. There is so much to learn at the beginning and information is coming to them very fast. Some describe it as being like ‘drinking through a fire hose’! * Insecure - They are afraid they will be seen as not as smart as they think they should be. * Ego - They don’t want to admit that they don’t know or understand something. * Naivete - Some people start out thinking that they can do it but then find out they should have asked for help. When working with your District Captains they will look to you for their vision and understanding of the mission. Their goal is bigger than they are. They are participating in something greater than themselves. Keep that before them and they will fly! //Teaching your District Captains How to Talk to Their Legislators// It will be important for your DCs to know how to start building a relationship with their legislators. Some will come to you with experience, but most will need training and guidance on how to make that connection. The Legislative Liaison will be of great assistance to you on this project. Whenever possible, it is ideal if you can meet them at the capitol and go with them the first time. In many states, that is not realistic so your instruction will be vital to their success. Here are some helpful hints to give them when they talk with their legislator. * Meeting, calling, or sending a handwritten letter to your legislator is probably much easier than you think! Let your legislator know that you support the Convention of States Project. One person often makes the difference in how a legislator votes, so do not undervalue the impact that you can have. Phone calls to your legislator are helpful and necessary, but face to face visits or handwritten letters are priceless. * Your first point of contact will likely be a staff member. The staffer will play a major role in whether you are able to speak with the legislator as well as the success of your meeting. Staff help shape a legislator’s agenda and position on issues. Cultivating a positive relationship with the staff will have a tremendous impact on the success of your contacts with the legislator. Always be polite and respectful to the legislator and staff, even if they disagree with you. * Schedule an appointment ahead of time rather than walking in. Arrive on time and dress appropriately (casual business). * Prepare what you will say in advance. Do your best, but do not worry about saying every word perfectly. You are simply asking them to support Convention of States. Give them several personal reasons in your own words for why you support COS and feel it is important. For example, a parent or grandparent may be concerned about the debt, a farmer might mention the negative impact that the EPA has on his farm, a business owner may be concerned about the overreaching federal regulations imposed on businesses. * Most legislators respond well to concerns about fiscal issues and overreach from the federal government. Stay on topic, and only discuss Convention of States. Some legislators who oppose Convention of States can be clever about trying to change the conversation to other topics. * If the legislator or staff has questions, answer them if you are able. If you don’t know an answer, tell them that you will be happy to find out and get back with them (be sure to take a business card to know who to email or call). A member of your state team will be happy to help you provide the answers you need. * When you get home (before you have time to forget), write a brief thank you note and mail it to the office. A handwritten note will be very impactful and will be noticed much more than an email. Thank your legislator for taking the time to meet with you regarding Convention of States. If a staff member was especially helpful, you might compliment them by name. They will hear about it, and you will likely win a friend in the office! * After any phone call or meeting, be sure to keep personal notes and enter a report in the LMS detailing how your meeting went. Pay particular attention to describe any comments that the legislator may have made to indicate concerns or support. * If your legislator does not support Convention of States, do not give up! Keep going back and teach others to join you. Most legislators will eventually support when they hear from enough supporters in their district. If your legislator does support, you still need to remain in frequent contact to let him/her know that you appreciate the support and to encourage the legislator to be an advocate with other legislators. ====== ====== ====== Section 5: Legal Limits on Your Volunteer Activity ====== The Convention of States Project represents a significant threat to the established powers in Washington, D.C. They would love nothing better than to shut us down and silence our voices. To make sure they can’t do that, we need to keep our activities clean under the law. As part of this, COSA requires all state leaders to complete the Legal Training Course at COS University. * Who Are Citizens for Self-Governance, Convention of States Foundation, and Convention of States Action and How Are They Related to the Convention of States Project? > Mark Meckler, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, founded Citizens for Self-Governance (CSG) to promote the self-governance ideals of the Tea Party beyond the partisan divide. CSG encourages the principle of self-governance by educating citizens about their constitutional rights and defending individuals and groups that have been unjustly targeted by the government. > > In August 2013, CSG founded the Convention of States Project to educate citizens about a little-known but very potent power in Article V of the Constitution. Convention of States Action (COSA) was created when it became clear that our project would involve a massive legislative effort to get applications passed in 34 states. > > In 2018, CSG filed to operate under the name Convention of States Foundation (COSF) to establish more consistent messaging. CSG and COSF are just two names for the same organization. CSG/COSF continues to be involved with COS by promoting the idea and educating citizens about their constitutional power in Article V. Most of the Project, however, is now under COSA, which works to get the COS application passed in 34 states. * Why Have Two Different Organizations? > We have two different organizations because of the way the IRS regulates nonprofit organizations. The IRS allows different types of nonprofits to engage in various types of activity. COSF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, according to the IRS, which means that it can educate people about their constitutional rights, but it can’t promote legislation to protect those rights. COSA is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, which can encourage legislation. > > There are all kinds of technical differences between 501(c)(3) organizations like COSF and 501(c)(4) organizations like COSA. But the main one still you need to understand is that COSF can’t promote legislation, and COSA can. COSA can talk to legislators about the COS application, collect petitions, host legislative strategy sessions, and engage in other activities to promote the COS application. COSF cannot. * How Does This Affect You? > Most of your volunteer activity will be for COSA, so you won’t have to worry about the limit on promoting legislation most of the time. But every so often, you may be asked to support or assist with an event or activity sponsored by COSF. When working on a COSF event or activity, you’ll need to remember that you can’t collect petitions, discuss legislative strategy, display COSA materials or banners, or otherwise try to persuade people to support COS’s specific application. When working for COSF, you can educate people about their constitutional rights, including those in Article V, and respond to frequent objections like claims that a convention would “run away.” * One More Limit: No, Campaigning! > Campaigning for candidates is strictly prohibited for COSF and COSA, with very limited exceptions. COSF cannot do any campaigning ever. COSA can only engage in campaigning if it complies with a vast array of state and federal laws and regulations governing campaign activity. As a COS volunteer, you cannot tell people how they should vote in the next election unless you receive explicit permission from the national legal team to do otherwise. You can’t send out an email to our volunteers in your district asking them to support a candidate, or oppose a candidate, or volunteer for a candidate’s campaign, or join their state GOP or anything like that. You should not do anything even close to the line--don’t do anything that could be construed as supporting a particular candidate or political party without checking with COSA’s legal team. The prohibition against expressing a political view is an absolute rule that we strictly enforce because any violation of it will jeopardize the organizations’ nonprofit status. > > If you are interested in doing a limited campaigning effort in your state through COSA, please contact your RD. We’ll check the laws in your state and determine if we can proceed. > > This restriction only applies when you are actively volunteering for COS or using COS resources (including the CitizenBuilder database). You are entirely free to support any candidates or political parties you wish with your own time and with your own resources. Who Do I Contact If I Have Questions? Contact COSF and COSA’s legal counsel directly if you have any legal questions about your work for COSF or COSA or if you see a COS volunteer or staff member engaged in an activity that may not be legal. We need everyone’s vigilance to keep COS on the right track. Legal Counsel: Robert Kelly [[mailto:rkelly@selfgovern.com|rkelly@selfgovern.com]] [[mailto:rkelly@cosaction.com|rkelly@cosaction.com]] 949-616-9566 ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== Section 6: Ongoing Education ====== We have many resources available. Here are a few to get you started: * [[https://conventionofstates.com/resources|Our website]] is the best source to learn more, and we encourage you to visit often. You will also receive special announcements related to your district and role on our website. * Here are a [[https://conventionofstates.com/category/surge-article|series of short articles]] on various topics. * We have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos available on our [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC0eXtGEMvjxpdYQl2LUiVw|Convention of States YouTube channel]]. * [[https://cosuniversity.com/|COSUniversity]] offers online training courses. * “[[https://s3.amazonaws.com/cosaction-prod/dkrwebapp/public/content/files/640/Compendium_4.0.pdf?|A Compendium for Lawyers and Legislative Drafters]]”. This in-depth manual is written by the nation’s foremost scholar on Article V, Professor Robert G. Natelson. It is designed to assist both legislators and legislative counsel with the legal issues most likely to arise in the process of calling for a Convention of the States under Article V. //Personal Development// “If you want to grow and become the best person you can be, you’ve got to be intentional about it. Many unsuccessful people who try to lead others have the mistaken belief that people will follow them because their cause is good. But that’s not the way leadership works. People will follow you when they believe in you.” John Maxwell Suggested reading/resources: * “Mentoring 101” by John Maxwell * “The 21 Indisputable Laws of Leadership” by John Maxwell * Information about [[https://thecrossroad.net/|Servant Leadership]] used by our organization. We highly recommend you join an online small group study of the book [[https://www.amazon.com/Servant-Leadership-David-Kuhnert/dp/1524653748/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2H59MHW8W3C9S&dchild=1&keywords=servant+leadership+david+kuhnert&qid=1616178329&sprefix=servant+leadership+david+%2Caps%2C313&sr=8-2|“Servant Leadership]]” by David Kuhnert which is the cornerstone of our leadership training. To receive more information and learn about the classes being offered, please email Ginny Rapini: [[mailto:grapini@cosation.com|grapini@cosation.com]] ====== Section 7: Tips on Messaging ====== Remember - always be nice. No matter how infuriating someone's argument may be, we need to rely on facts and calmly point them back to the truth that lies in the Constitution. The facts are on our side. There’s no need to resort to name calling or foul language. Doing so only hurts our credibility. We stand on the strong foundation of the Constitution, partnered with thousands of pages of research, and the consensus of our nation’s top Constitutional minds. As you speak to people about the Convention of States, make sure that you never refer to it as a “Constitutional Convention”. This is not a Constitutional Convention, it is a Convention of States for the purpose of limiting the power of the federal government. The Constitutional Convention was the specific convention where the Constitution was drafted and ratified. When people use this term, hearers are generally concerned that we are seeking to rewrite the Constitution. This is incorrect. We are seeking to amend the Constitution through one of the two methods that the founding fathers unanimously approved in Article V of the Constitution. You want to refer to it as an “amending convention”. [[https://conventionofstates.com/category/objections|Here are some good resources]] for dealing with this and other objections. Here are two documents that will help you communicate the Convention of States message whether in a conversation or making a presentation: [[https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/conventionofstates/pages/263/attachments/original/1448454673/Article_1-SolutionAsBigAsProblem.pdf?|A Solution As Big As The Problem]] by Michael Farris [[https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/conventionofstates/pages/263/attachments/original/1449694191/Article_22-ArticleVProcess-Web.pdf?|The Process of an Article V Convention for Proposing Amendments]] ====== Section 8 - Additional Help ====== If you have a question or need assistance with something that is not covered in this manual, please reach out to your Regional Director. If they are unable to help, contact the [[https://help.conventionofstates.com/|help desk]]. Commonly Used Acronyms: //Positions:// > SD State Director > > GC/SGC State Grassroots Coordinator > > LL Legislative Liaison > > ML Media Liaison > > SIA State Information Analyst > > SCC State Communications Coordinator > > EC Event Coordinator > > CD Coalitions Director > > SV State Videographer > > DC District Captain > > RC Regional Captain > > RD Regional Director > > SMW Social Media Warrior > > FBEditor FaceBook Editor > > FUT Follow Up Team //Tools//: > CB Citizen Builder > > FUT Follow-up Tool > > DD District Dashboard > > LMT Leadership Management Tool > > LMS Legislative Management System > > COSU Convention of States University //General:// CTA Call to Action JBS John Birch Society (opposition group) EF Eagle Forum (opposition group) BBA Balanced Budget Amendment NAGR National Association for Gun Rights (opposition group) ====== State Leadership Flow Chart ====== {{:cb_mirror_public::media:image2.jpg}} ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== Signature Page ====== I %%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%% (name) have read, understand and will do my best to follow the protocols and fulfill the responsibilities of Regional Captain found within this manual. %%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%_ Signature %%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%% Date %%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%%%%__%% State After reviewing the manual, please sign this page and email it to your State Director and grapini@cosaction.com