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Title: EC Role Manual 2024

Original CoS Document (slug): ec-role-manual-2024

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EC 5/3/2

Created: 2024-05-08 01:43:53

Updated: 2024-05-08 01:43:56

Published: 2024-05-08 01:00:00

Converted: 2025-04-14T20:20:31.923472266

background image State Events Coordinator Training Manual

Table of Contents

**Continuing Education....................................................................................................................5\\ Personal Development................................................................................................................... 5\\ ****Commonly Used Acronyms...........................................................................................................6**

Positions.....................................................................................................................................6\\ Tools...........................................................................................................................................6\\ General.......................................................................................................................................6

**Your Signature............................................................................................................................... 7\\ Additional Help.............................................................................................................................. 7**

background image Welcome to the Team
Congratulations on being selected as a State Events Coordinator (EC) for Convention of States.
Your willingness to step into this important role and become part of your state team will help to
fulfill the mission of COS by coordinating and organizing events.

The mission of 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 also to 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 battles. We want
to train you how to do this as effectively as possible.

If we fail to pass the resolution in one year, we will 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 the state team. 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 Regional Director 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:

1. Personal mentoring.

2. Written training that consists of this manual and other files, videos and documents.

3. Upcoming training will be provided in our COSUniversity on topics such as technology,

legal and operational.

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background image Responsibilities
As the State Events Coordinator you will assist your state team in planning and coordinating
Convention of States events. These will include an annual Rally at the State Capitol, headliner
speaker events, training meetings, grassroots recruiting efforts, booths at local fairs,
informational meetings, etc.

All events should be secured or planned with the involvement and approval of the State Director.
On larger events, the State Director will also engage the Regional Director to help with the
planning and funding of the event.
While working closely with the State Director, the Event Coordinator will help:

1. Identify and make suggestions to the State Director and team for opportunities to host an

event or booth.

2. Plan ahead and remain on schedule.
3. Fill out the “Event Payment Request Form”.\\ 4. Know how to effectively market your event.
5. Recruit volunteers to help with the event.
6. Arrange to have the State Videographer record the event.
7. Secure a location that will meet the needs of the event type.
8. Create a budget.
9. Work with different vendors.

Types of Events

1. Hosting a Special Speaker or COS “Headliner”:

a. COS Headliners are often called on to persuade state legislators or to testify

before legislature committees to pass the Convention of States resolution.

b. These guests are equally effective at events or meetings to encourage grassroots

support and inspire your state team.

2. Rallies and Events at the State Capitol:

a. A “Surge Day” at your state Capitol gathers your team together for a common

goal, illustrates the access they have to their state legislators, and shows political
leaders the depth of support for COS.

3. Convention of States Display Booth:

a. Indoors or out, a COS display booth provides interaction with the public by

communicating our message and ensures rapid collection of COS petition
signatures.

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background image 4. Town Hall or Public Meetings:

a. With or without a headline speaker, town hall meetings reach out to the public and

encourage COS supporters to become more active volunteers.

5. State Strategy Meeting:

a. Your job will be to help secure a facility and take care of the needs of the leaders

who will be attending.

6. Other Ideas for COS Events:

a. State Fairs, County Fairs, Car Shows, Gun Shows, Gun Club/Shooting Events,

Senior Fairs, Home Improvement Shows, National Hunting and Fishing Weekend,
Constitution Day/Week, Independence Day, Veterans Events, Movie Showings,
Book Signings, Swap Meets, and Coalition Partner Events

Refer to the “Organizing Rallies and Events” guide for additional resources.
The COS Event Plan Checklist should be used.

Organizing Events and Rallies:
Our events team has put together a detailed outline covering organizing events and rallies here.
Please be sure to read this through and use this as a guide as you work to plan events in your
state.

Legal Limits On Your Volunteer Activity
Convention of States 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. We need to
keep our activities clean under the law to ensure they can't do that. As part of this, COS requires
all state leaders to complete the Legal Training Course at COS University.

Organizational Information
Who Are Citizens for Self-Governance, Convention of States Foundation, and Convention
of States Action, and How Are They Related to Convention of States?

Mark Meckler, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, founded Citizens for Self-Governance
(CSG) to promote the 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 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 a little over a year later in late 2014 when it became clear that Convention
of States would require a massive legislative effort to get applications passed in 34 states.

3

background image In 2018, CSG filed to operate under the name Convention of States Foundation (COSF) to
establish more consistent messaging and make it clear how CSG was connected to the
Convention of States movement. CSG and COSF are just two names for the same organization.
CSG/COSF continues to be involved with COS by promoting the idea of a convention and
educating citizens about their constitutional power in Article V. Most of the COSis 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 how the IRS regulates nonprofit organizations.
The IRS allows different types of nonprofits to engage in different kinds of activity. According
to the IRS, COSF is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization, which means that it can educate people
about their constitutional rights but can’t promote legislation to protect those rights or get
involved in supporting or opposing candidates. COSA is a 501©(4) nonprofit organization
which can promote legislation and support or oppose some candidates as long as it does so in
accord with state and federal laws .

There are all kinds of technical differences between 501©(3) organizations like COSF and
501©(4) organizations like COSA. However, the main one you need to understand is that COSF
can’t promote legislation and absolutely can’t promote or oppose candidates, but 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 COSA’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 under COSF!
Promoting or opposing political candidates is strictly prohibited for COSF and is only allowed
for COSA if specifically approved by the COSA National Legal Team. COSF cannot do any
campaigning ever. COSA can only campaign if it complies with many state and federal laws and
regulations governing campaign activity. As a COS volunteer, you can only tell people how they
should vote in the next election if you receive explicit permission from the national legal team.
You can’t send out an email to our volunteers in your district asking them to support a candidate,
oppose a candidate, volunteer for a candidate’s campaign, or join a political party. 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 will jeopardize the organization’s nonprofit status.

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background image If you want to do a limited campaigning effort in your state through COSA, please contact your
RD. The COSA Legal Team will check the laws in your state and determine if you can proceed.
If the Legal Team approves campaigning in your state, they will issue detailed instructions about
how to comply with the law. Make sure you carefully review these instructions before engaging
in any election-related activity

This restriction only applies when you actively volunteer for COS or use COS resources
(including the CitizenBuilder database). You are entirely free to support any candidates or
political parties you wish with your own time and resources.

Who Do I Contact If I Have Questions?
If you would like to get in touch with our legal team about specific questions, please reach out to
your State Director or Regional Director, who will be able to direct your inquiry to the right
place.

Continuing Education
We have many resources available. Here are a few to get you started:

● Our Resource Page is the best source to learn more, and we encourage you to visit often.
● Here are a series of short articles on various topics.\\ ● We have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos available on our YouTube

Channel.

● COSUniversity offers online training courses.
● Hundreds of research articles and historical documents can be found on our Wiki site.\\ ●

COS Briefing Book.

●

The Law of Article V by Robert G. Natelson

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