New Organizing University is an online learning community, dedicated to providing organizers everywhere with an opportunity to learn new skills from some of the top practitioners in a variety of fields.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the courses are filled.
Offered courses
For the 2012 spring term, we will be offering four courses:
- Campaign Leadership for Electoral Success covers the science of building and managing a people-powered movement for change through careful planning, immaculate data management, and a leadership structure that can adapt and learn along the way. This course is divided into three sections: Organizing People covers the science of running a dynamic field program, Organizing Money addresses the elements of a strong finance department, and Organizing the Message delves into campaign message strategy for the 21st century. Sections can be taken together as a unified course, or separately for those looking to develop skills in a discrete area.
- Online Data BootCamp covers how to use and manage data for organizing and campaigns. Organizers will learn to use cutting edge technology to drive your programs forward and demonstrate power. The course provides you with the conceptual framework and language to think about data, while teaching you to work with political data through hands-on activities and experiential learning.
- Digital Strategy 101 will teach you the fundamentals of online organizing and digital campaign strategy, including theoretical frameworks for organizing online, developing a theory of change, communications and new media outreach, fundraising as part of your campaign or organization mission, engaging your email list in an authentic and powerful way, social media strategies, and integration with on the ground field efforts. You will also participate in a simulated campaign project to put your new skills into action.
- Millennial Project Pilot is currently available to Community College students in Northern California. This program aims to develop and support youth leaders with an interest in organizing. Partnering with the Harvard Kennedy School's Organizing and Leadership course, students will learn the core elements of building and leading an engagement organizing campaign. Participants in this course will develop and lead an engagement organizing project intended to achieve an outcome by the end of the course. Participants will also receive supplemental coaching from NOI to develop and hone skills for collegiate success.
Hoping to take Organizing and Leadership? We're not offering it this semester, but you can still take it through two of our community partners!
- Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education: Leadership, Organizing and Action: Leading Change
- And for those working in healthcare advocacy, check out this opportunity with Organizing for Health.
For detailed information on each course, visit the course page by clicking the headline. For details on scholarships, application deadlines, and process, please visit our FAQ page!
Rigorous Learning Environment, Real World Outcomes
The New Organizing University is a rigorous online learning experience. Students enroll in a semester-long course, where you’ll build on classroom learning by engaging in real-world projects. You’ll receive instruction from top practitioners, put the lessons into practice in the field, receive individual feedback on your progress, and use the virtual classroom to build a community of organizers around the country.
Training Organizers for 21st Century Campaigns
We train organizers at the intersection of tried-and-true community organizing, online strategy, and political data management. Graduates of our trainings regularly go on to fill leadership roles in campaigns and organizations across the movement. We are constantly updating and re-imagining our trainings to provide you with the most cutting edge, dynamic learning experience possible.
Virtual Classroom
Our virtual classroom is not your typical webinar. You’ll see a video feed of your instructors and other participants, work individually and in small group breakouts, and have a chance to workshop your projects with the entire class in our online learning suite. New Organizing University is as close to an in-person classroom setting as you can get online!
We will be accepting applications for Spring, 2012, from November 22, 2011 - January 25, 2012.
The Value of NOU Training
Since 2006, NOI has been recognized as one of the top training organizations in progressive organizing. Starting with New Media BootCamp, we have expanded our offerings to include Data, Community Organizing, Campaign Leadership, and much more. Here are a few of the things that have been said about NOI trainings:
I think NOI and NOI bootcamp have no equivalent. This is where I look to find the best talent and best trainers in the progressive movement.” — James Rucker, founder of ColorOfChange.org
“NOI is the single best source of cutting edge trainings in the fields of organizing and activism that I’ve encountered. Their trainings are comprehensive, deep, and prepare trainees for the real world of organizing. Whenever I see that a job candidate has been trained at NOI, I know that person takes organizing seriously–and so I take them seriously.” –Daniel Mintz, Campaign Director, MoveOn.org