Why Grassroots Groups Fail

By Tom Marazzo, Captain (Ret’d) Canadian Army

I want to let you in on something I learned nine months after the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. The Liberals and other Members of Parliament believed we would all eventually turn on each other during the Convoy itself. Hopefully, to their surprise, we didn’t—until months later when the Convoy was long over. The infighting has been ferocious ever since, and I have removed myself from every group I was a part of. I’m absolutely reluctant to join any other groups now too, and I’m not the only one.

I watched a documentary that was produced by Mikki Willis called “The Great Awakening,” and he was talking about grassroots movements that he had studied all over the world and how almost all of them inevitably fail and turn on each other. When I watched it, this phenomenon was what stuck with me more than anything else in the movie.

As of this writing, 24 September 2024, I have seen it over and over again with almost every grassroots group I know about. At some point, the infighting starts, and the group members spend months pleading their case to their social media “tribe.” They spend as much energy attacking their fellow colleagues as they do fighting the perpetrators of their original grievances.

My belief is simple: If a person is attacking their fellow activists instead of the government or the body that prompted their activism, I question their motives.

The Patience and Focus Problem

Grassroots movements are often impatient and fail to recognize when they have truly achieved something. They frequently operate under the assumption that a larger group will yield better outcomes. However, this is a misconception that can be detrimental to their overall goals. It’s understandable that people get excited about an idea and want to share it with as many others as possible, but this approach is akin to putting the cart before the horse.

Quality Over Quantity

Quality membership is far more valuable than sheer numbers. Having the right people with the right skills is a much better first step than trying to mobilize everyone from the outset. Once you have a competent core group, every grassroots organization must establish a Mission Statement before anything else.

The Importance of a Mission Statement

The Mission Statement defines who you are, what you are about, and why your grassroots movement even exists. A good mission statement has four things: who you are, what you want to achieve, why you want to achieve it, and by when. It is one or two sentences max, and it must convey a unifying purpose.

For example, “Grassroots Inc. (Who), will work with A, B, and C to put an end to Bill C-293 (What), in order to ensure absolute sovereignty remains in the hands of elected Canadian officials and not foreign NGOs (Why), before the final reading of the Bill in the Senate. (By When).”

Establishing a Code of Conduct