START AN ANIMAL RIGHTS CLUB AT YOUR SCHOOL

Preparation

• Learn as much as you can about animal protection issues by searching the web and visiting your local library. LCA's Campaigns page is a great place to start.
• Find out if there are other animal rights groups in your area and contact them. Visit www.worldanimalnet.com for a list of local groups.
• Contact other high schools or universities in your area and find out if they have animal rights groups. If so, contact the leaders of those groups and ask for their advice.

Advertising the First Meeting

• Make and post fliers around campus advertising your first meeting. Remember to include the time, place, and a contact number and/or e-mail address.
• Announce the meeting at a school assembly and invite everyone to attend. Also announce the meeting at the beginning of your classes.
• If there is a class relating to animals or animal protection issues at your school, ask the professor of that class to announce the meeting.
• Ask the editor of your school newspaper to include a blurb announcing the meeting. Remember to include a photo along with the ad.
• Post the meeting information on your university's website.
• Create a bulletin board display at your school featuring various animal protection issues. Remember to include the name of your group and your contact information.

The First Meeting

• Set a good example: do not eat meat and do not wear leather, wool, or other animal products.
• Ask everyone to write their names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses on a sign-up sheet.
• Come prepared with a list of suggested activities (see below). Present your ideas and ask for theirs.
• Decide on a specific abuse you want to target and develop a strategy, e.g. tabling, protesting, etc. Note: you do not have to decide everything at your first meeting.
• Decide how often you'd like to meet. Set up a date and time for your next meeting.
• Be organized, be prepared, be polite!

Securing Funding

• Contact whichever school administrator is responsible for issuing money to student groups, and submit the necessary application. The student activities office is usually a good place to start. Request funding for educational fliers, guest speakers, event publicity, and demonstration materials.
• Consider planning a fundraising event such as a car wash, book sale, film screening, concert, CD sale, or vegan dinner.
• Contact local stores and businesses, and ask if they would be willing to donate items for auction or raffle.

Activities

• Table (set up an information table with animal rights literature) in the community.
• Hand out animal rights brochures in busy parts of town. Contact an animal protection organization for brochures, or make your own.
• Demonstrate when a circus or rodeo comes to town.
• Organize a toy drive or a pet d drive in your community. Donate what you collect to an animal shelter.
• Clean up litter in the woods.
• Volunteer at an animal protection organization or shelter; many shelters and rescue groups need people to simply walk dogs and pet cats.
• Hold letter-writing parties during which group members write to elected officials or others about animal issues. Visit the websites of animal protection organizations for current action alerts about which you can write. (For your elected officials contact information, visit www.vote-smart.org) Provide vegan snacks.
• Find out if dissection is still taught at your school and whether there is a formal policy that allows students to opt for a humane alternative. If not, speak to the principal, the head of the department, and/or the dean about creating one.
• Give out free samples of vegan food (food that does not contain animal products) and products that are not tested on animals. Ask a natural food store for donations of the aforementioned.
• Find out if your school is using glue traps. If so, lobby for a more humane alternative.
• Contact resident advisors and ask if you can give an animal rights presentation to their dorms. This is a great way to not only educate other students, but to recruit new members.
• Project videos such as Meet Your Meat in the student union or other locales on campus.
• Help with a national organization's existing campaign.

For help along the way, contact LCA's Campaigns Department at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 310-271-6096 x27