Activist Skills and Experiences Questionnaire

This is a list of useful skills and experiences for social change activists. It can be used for self-assessment, goal
setting, or progress evaluation. Consider including your applicable experience in non-social change activities too.

Experience Skill
None Some Lots Weak Fair Strong Expert
A Self-Education / Educational Outreach
1 Educate yourself about an issue
2 Clearly present your ideas to another person
3 Discuss your ideas with someone who disagrees
4 Attend a house meeting, community meeting, or teach-in
5 Plan a house meeting, community meeting, or teach-in
6 Arrange a speaker for a group (civic group, etc)
7 Speak to a small group
8 Give a formal speech to a large group (more than 30 people)
9 Engage in street speaking (public speaking to passersby)
10 Pass out leaflets on an issue
11 Table (pass out or sell literature from a table)
12 Canvass door-to-door to present information (not for $)
13 Make a sign, banner, poster, etc.
14 Create a flyer announcing an event
15 Write a news article for publication
16 Write an editorial for publication
17 Create or curate a website
18 Publish a blog or Facebook page
19 Engage others using social media
20 Interview someone for publication/airing
21 Publicly sing a song
22 Write a social change song or poem
23 Perform a play or skit (street theater)
24 Write a social change play/skit
25 Publicly display social change artwork
26 Create social change artwork or crafts
27 Write a social change short story or novel
28 Create a podcast
29 Create a video
30

B Background Research
1 Research a specific problem or solution
2 Compile data to illuminate a specific problem or solution
3 Statistically analyze data to learn about an issue
4 Write an informational leaflet or article explaining research
5 Write a research report/analysis explaining research results

C News Media Outreach

1 Write a letter-to-the-editor
2 Write a calendar or public service announcement
3 Create a TV or radio public service announcement
4 Write a press release (and send it)
5 Make follow-up phone calls to news media
6 Be interviewed by the news media
7 Build a relationship with a reporter/editor
8 Arrange a press conference
9 Speak at a press conference
10
Page 2 Experience Skill
None Some Lots Weak Fair Strong Expert
D Legislative Work
1 Write a letter to your member of Congress or other official
2 Sign a petition
3 Circulate a general petition (non-legally binding)
4 Circulate a legally binding petition
5 Write a general petition
6 Write a legally binding petition
7 Coordinate a letter-writing/petition campaign
8 Call or visit a public official (lobbying)
9 Coordinate a lobbying campaign
10 Speak at a government committee hearing
11 Arrange a government committee hearing (with an official)
12 Register people to vote
13 Walk a district (canvass) for a political candidate
14 Call voters on behalf of a candidate or to get out the vote
15 Write a speech for a candidate
16 Analyze voter data for outreach targeting
17 Organize a political campaign
18 Handle the finances for a political candidate
19 Run for office
20 Be elected and hold a government office
21 Be an assistant to a government official
22 Be a delegate to a political party convention
23 Be a political party official
24
25

E Legal Intervention
1 Research the legal aspects of a social problem
2 Assist lawyers in preparing a lawsuit/injunction
3 Prepare a lawsuit/injunction
4 Argue a legal case in court
5

F Demonstrations / Protest / Direct Action

1 Wear or display a symbol representing a cause
2 Attend a rally
3 Participate in a vigil
4 March or parade for a cause
5 Participate in a boycott
6 Organize a boycott
7 Vote your company shares for social responsibility
8 Divest from socially-irresponsible companies or funds
9 Be a whistleblower (release secret information)
10 Fast for a cause
11 Participate in an economic, political, or social strike
12 Attend a civil disobedience demonstration
13 Be a nonviolent monitor/peacekeeper at a demonstration
14 Provide support for those risking arrest/jail
15 Plan a demonstration (rally, march, strike, blockade, etc.)
16 Negotiate with opponents or police
17 Risk arrest for a cause
18 Be arrested for a cause
19 Spend time in jail
20
Page 3 Experience Skill
None Some Lots Weak Fair Strong Expert
G Strategic Planning — Campaign Design
1 Evaluate the forces supporting and opposing social change
2 Establish a specific goal for a campaign
3 Design a campaign that accomplishes a specific goal
4 Evaluate a campaign for its effectiveness

H Building Organizations
1 Contribute money to an organization
2 Volunteer for an organization (some involvement)
3 Join an organization (active involvement)
4 Encourage someone to join an organization
5 Form an organization

I Group Bonding
1 Teach or lead a group in song
2 Teach or lead a group in a game or ritual
3 Organize or facilitate a group outing (party, picnic, etc.)
4 Organize or facilitate a community ceremony or celebration

J Cooperative Decision Making

1 Plan a meeting agenda
2 Facilitate a small meeting
3 Facilitate a meeting of more than 30 people
4 Facilitate a difficult meeting
5 Propose a social change activity for a group
6 Write a formal proposal for a group activity

K Personal Skills / Conflict Resolution

1 Ask someone who is unlike you about her/his background
2 Sympathize with another person’s perspective (unlike yours)
3 Tell someone your criticisms of her/him
4 Tell someone your appreciations of her/him
5 Mediate a dispute between individuals
6 Mediate a dispute between groups
7 Learn/develop techniques to help yourself when upset
8 Arrange for others to support you when you are upset
9 Support another person when she/he is upset
10 Set personal goals and achieve them
11 Help another person evaluate her/his goals
12 Encourage and support another person to reach a goal
13 Learn about oppressive behavior (sexism, racism, etc.)
14 Interrupt interpersonal oppressive behavior
15 Ask a disruptive person to leave an organization

L Multicultural Connection
1 Teach someone else about your group’s culture
2 Learn the background of someone from another culture
3 Work closely with someone from another culture
4 Learn a great deal about another culture
5 Teach someone of your culture about another culture
6 Inventory the ways you are oppressed and privileged
7 Resolve conflicts between people of different cultures
Page 4 Experience Skill
None Some Lots Weak Fair Strong Expert
M Coalition Building
1 Actively participate in a coalition event/campaign
2 Design a coalition event/campaign
3 Speak to a group to get them involved in a coalition
4 Negotiate with another group to resolve disagreements
5

N Fundraising
1 Write a fundraising letter or email
2 Purchase a mailing list for fundraising
3 Write a grant request proposal
4 Make a presentation to a foundation granting committee
5 Arrange a benefit event (speech, film, dinner, etc.)
6 Call a potential donor
7 Visit a potential donor
8 Canvass to raise money
9
10

O Office Work
1 Mail requested literature
2 Answer correspondence for a group
3 Make copies, collate, and staple documents
4 Use a computer for email and surfing the web
5 Use a computer to create documents
6 Use a computer for complicated page layout
7 Use a computer for financial analysis
8 Solicit articles, photos, graphics for a newsletter/newspaper
9 Design a flier, leaflet, newsletter, or newspaper
10 Edit a flier, leaflet, newsletter, or newspaper
11 Lay out a flier, leaflet, newsletter, or newspaper
12 Have a flier, leaflet, newsletter, or newspaper typeset
13 Have a flier, leaflet, newsletter, or newspaper printed
14 Prepare a bulk mailing
15 Manage an email list
16 Prepare a mass email message using a database
17 Write a budget for a project
18 Perform basic bookkeeping (check deposit, recording, etc.)
19 Perform complete bookkeeping
20 Manage petty cash
21 Manage an organization’s finances (check writing, etc.)
22 Manage a mailing list
23 Manage an office (organize files, establish procedures)
24
25

P Supervising Others
1 Recruit a volunteer/intern
2 Hire an employee
3 Supervise an employee, intern, or volunteer
4 Evaluate the performance of an employee, intern, volunteer
5 Fire an employee, intern, or volunteer
6
7
Page 5 Experience Skill
None Some Lots Weak Fair Strong Expert
Q Kitchen and Life Skills
1 Cook for more than 10 people
2 Plan a meal for more than 10 people
3 Plan a meal for more than 100 people
4 Take care of a toddler
5 Take care of a young child
6 Take care of an older child
7 Take care of several children at once
8 Work with teenagers

R Teaching Skills to Others

1 Attend a skills-building workshop
2 Teach a person one-on-one
3 Present activist skill information to a group
4 Facilitate a role play or exercise
5 Develop a skills-building workshop
6 Facilitate a short workshop
7 Facilitate a several-days-long workshop
8 Evaluate the effectiveness of a workshop
9 Write skills-building leaflets or manuals

S Evaluating Effectiveness
1 Evaluate your own skills and abilities for effecting change
2 Evaluate your effectiveness in bringing about change
3 Evaluate the effectiveness of the groups you work with
4 Make changes in your activites so you are more effective
5

T Other Things Not Listed Above — Please Fill In

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Inspired by: “Skills and Knowledge of a Social Change Agent,”

by Jim Nunes-Schrag and Christopher Mogil, April 5, 1984, Movement for a New Society.

— Prepared by Randy Schutt http://www.vernalproject.org

OK to copy for non-commercial purposes.
ActQuest-5.xlsx, Pt. 1 RDS 5-22-2018
 Activist Knowledge and Experiences Questionnaire
Philosophy, History, Issues Topics, and Methods
This is a list of social change philosophy, history, issue topics, and methods about which activists should
have at least some knowledge. It can be used for self-assessment, goal setting, or progress evaluation.

Knowledge
None Some Lots Expert
A Economic Systems / Philosophies / Critiques
1 Capitalism/markets, government regulation
2 Unequal negotiating power: monopoly, monopsony
3 Other market failures – externalities, information, behavior, etc.
4 Free enterprise/entrepreneurialism
5 Welfare state
6 Marxism/socialism
7 Communism
8 Cooperative ownership
9 Stewardship
10 Macroeconomics – productivity, inflation, unemployment, trade
11
12

B Political & Social Systems / Philosophies

1 Monarchy
2 Oligarchy/plutocracy/kleptocracy
3 Dictatorship
4 Fascism/nationalism
5 Representative democracy, pluralism
6 Libertarianism
7 Participatory democracy
8 Anarchism
9 Pacifism
10 Militarism
11 Colonialism/imperialism
12 Humanism
13 Multiculturalism
14 Environmentalism
15 Consumerism
16 Religion and spirituality
17 Utopian visions
18
19
20

C Oppressive Social / Cultural Institutions

1 Patriarchy/sexism
2 Racism
3 Nativism/xenophobia
4 Colonialism
5 Ageism
6 Ableism
7 Heterosexism/CIS genderism
8 Classism
9 Consumerism
10 Authoritarianism
11
12
Page 2 Social Change
Knowledge Experience
None Some Lots Expert None Some Lots
D History of Major U.S. Social Change Movements
1 Anti-slavery
2 Populist
3 Labor
4 Women’s suffrage
5 Civil rights
6 Ban the bomb, anti-nuclear weapons
7 Anti-Vietnam war
8 Women liberation/feminist/#MeToo
9 Gay/lesbian/transgender rights
10 Anti-nuclear power
11 Anti-U.S. intervention in Central America
12 Anti-globalization (corporatization)
13 Anti-prison-industrial complex
14 Environmental
15 Climate change
16 Gun control
17 Black Lives Matters
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

E Common Progressive Change Target Issues

1 U.S. foreign policy, generally (militarism, military spending)
2 Russia/Eastern Europe
3 Western Europe/NATO
4 Africa
5 Latin America
6 Middle East
7 Southern Asia
8 Pacific Rim Countries
9 Transnational corporations, World Trade Organization
10 Labor conditions, economic class system
11 Wealth distribution
12 Tax policy
13 Corruption
14 Homelessness
15 Hunger
16 Mining
17 Real estate, land, and development
18 Agriculture (and pesticides)
19 Energy
20 Transportation
21 Waste disposal and toxins
22 Healthcare
23 Social security and retirement
24 Family issues and childcare
25 Family planning and abortion

(Continued)
Page 3 Social Change
Knowledge Experience
Target Issues (continued) None Some Lots Expert None Some Lots
26 Cultural conditioning, generally
27 News media
28 Entertainment media (including sports)
29 Schools
30 Churches
31 Oppression of women
32 Oppression of African-Americans
33 Oppression of Chicanos/Hispanics
34 Oppression of Native Americans
35 Oppression of disabled people
36 Oppression of gay/lesbian people
37 Oppression of animals
38 Law enforcement (and abuse)
39 Prisons
40 Voter discouragement and suppression
41 Government structure and governance
42 Corruption
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50

F Large, Progressive Change Constituencies

1 Labor/workers
2 Professionals
3 Farmers
4 Students
5 Military personnel
6 Government officials
7 Homeless/poor
8 African-Americans
9 Hispanics
10 Asians
11 Native Americans
12 Women
13 Gay men
14 Lesbians
15 Transgender people
16 Elders
17 Young people
18 Teens
19 Religious community
20
21
22
23
24
25

— Prepared by Randy Schutt http://www.vernalproject.org

OK to copy for non-commercial purposes.
ActQuest-5.xlsx, Pt. 2 RDS 5-22-2018