Build a Movement
You have a cause. We help you build the movement around it. The Cedar Grows works alongside citizens who want to change something specific, and gives them the tools, the infrastructure and the support to organise people, run campaigns and keep going until the change is made.
- Free
- No set end date
- Apply at any time
- Arabic and English
Everything a cause needs to become a movement
Most causes do not stall for lack of people who care. They stall because contacts sit in phones and chat groups, nobody is sure who can actually make the decision, the same few people carry all the work, and nothing is written down when they step back. The incubator gives your group what an established organisation would have.
The tools
Your own space in From The Roots, the organising software TCG built for Lebanese campaigns: people, plans, field work, petitions, messages, decisions and results in one place.
The infrastructure
We host it, secure it, back it up and keep it running. Your group does not need a server, a developer or a budget for software.
The knowledge
TCG’s research into how decisions are made in Lebanon: who has the power to act on your issue, which formal routes exist and what the deadlines are.
The support
People from TCG who help you set up, bring in your contacts, shape your first campaign plan and stay in touch as your group grows.
Citizens with a specific cause
A cause can be a single street or a national law. What matters is that you know what you want to change.
A waste site left open, a park that never reopened, air or water that is not safe.
Workers, professionals, students, tenants or patients asking for the same change.
An initiative that already has supporters and needs structure to keep them involved.
Someone who knows what must change and wants to find the others who care.
There are no conditions to express interest. You do not need to be registered, to have a name for your group or to have run a campaign before. Tell us about your cause and we will talk about how we can help.
From a first message to a running movement
- Express interest
Fill in a short form about your cause, where it is and who is involved so far. It takes a few minutes, at any time of year.
- A conversation
Someone from TCG gets in touch to hear what you want to change and what your group needs.
- Set up
We open your group’s space in From The Roots, help you bring in your contacts and show your organisers how it works.
- Build
Run your campaigns with the tools and our support, and grow at your own pace, for as long as it helps.
The tools your group gets
From The Roots follows a campaign from the first supporter to the final result. These are real screens from a demonstration space; every person, group and campaign in them is made up.
Bring your people together
One shared list of everyone involved, instead of contacts scattered across phones and spreadsheets.
- Bring in the contacts you already have from a spreadsheet.
- See how close each person is to the core of the group, from first-time sympathiser to active member.
- Get suggestions for each person’s next step, so supporters are invited further in instead of forgotten.
- Record who agreed to be contacted, and how.
Plan the campaign
Write down the problem, the change that would solve it and the route between them, then turn it into dated steps with an owner each.
- A theory of change, with the assumptions it depends on tested one by one.
- Milestones with owners and dependencies, so everyone sees what is late and what comes next.
- Risks, the brief and the places the campaign covers, kept with the plan.
- Bring in a plan made with TCG’s campaign dashboard, The Path of Least Resistance: the routes, the officials and the deadlines come with it.
Organise the work
Share the work out fairly and keep the people doing it safe.
- Volunteer shifts by week, with easy first shifts for newcomers.
- Tasks, events and attendance, so the same few people do not carry everything.
- Door-to-door and phone lists on a phone, through a link that expires. Volunteers check in and out with a buddy, and no location is collected.
Go public
Reach beyond your circle, and only contact people who asked to hear from you.
- Petitions, surveys, sign-up and volunteer forms that work on any phone, in Arabic and English.
- Signatures counted towards an aim, and the petition handed to the person who must act.
- A public page for each campaign, and your group’s own page that people can follow.
- Emails, chat messages and call lists that go only to people who agreed, never more often than the limit you set.
Decide together
A movement belongs to its members. Make the big decisions openly, and work with other groups when a cause is bigger than one group.
- Resolutions, consultations and appointments by vote, with a quorum and a clear result.
- Every decision and check-in kept in the campaign’s record.
- Coalitions with other groups, sharing only what each group agrees to share.
Learn what worked
Know whether the campaign is changing what it set out to change, and carry the lessons into the next one.
- Results from the objective down to the outputs, each with a starting point, a target and dated readings.
- Evidence kept with each reading.
- A lessons library, so the next campaign does not start from nothing.
- Reports for your members and partners.
Built for organising in Lebanon
Lists of supporters are sensitive. From The Roots was built so that your members’ details stay protected and in your group’s hands.
- Every organiser signs in with a password and a code from their phone.
- Each group has its own space. No other group can see your records unless you agree to share them.
- Dashboards show counts, not names.
- Consent is recorded for each person, and messages go only to people who agreed.
- People can ask for a copy of their record, or to be removed.
- Volunteers’ field links expire, and no location is collected.
- Backups are encrypted.
- Everything works in Arabic and English, on a computer or a phone.
ابنِ حركة
لديك قضية، ونحن نساعدك على بناء الحركة من حولها. ترافق «ذا سيدار غروز» المواطنين الذين يريدون تغيير أمر محدّد، وتقدّم لهم الأدوات والبنية التحتية والدعم لتنظيم الناس وإدارة الحملات والاستمرار حتى يتحقّق التغيير.
- مساحة خاصة بمجموعتك في «فروم ذا رووتس»: الأعضاء والخطط والعمل الميداني والعرائض والرسائل والقرارات والنتائج في مكان واحد.
- نستضيف الأدوات ونحميها ونحفظ نسخًا احتياطية منها، فلا تحتاج مجموعتك إلى خادم أو مطوّر أو ميزانية.
- أبحاثنا حول من يملك صلاحية اتخاذ القرار في قضيتك، وما هي المسارات الرسمية والمهل.
- مجانًا، من دون مدة محدّدة، والتقديم مفتوح طوال السنة ومن دون أي شروط.
Questions people ask
Does it cost anything?
No. The tools, the hosting and the support are free.
How long does incubation last?
There is no set end date. We keep supporting your group for as long as it is useful to you.
When can we apply?
At any time. There are no rounds or deadlines, and no limit on how many groups we support.
Who can express interest?
Anyone. You do not need to be registered, to have a name for your group or to have campaigned before. A group of neighbours, an existing initiative or one person with a cause are all welcome.
Who decides what our campaign is about?
You do. Your group chooses the cause and leads the campaign. We provide the tools, the infrastructure, the research and support.
Who can see our members’ details?
Your group’s records are kept in your group’s own space. No other group on the platform can see them unless you agree to share, and every organiser signs in with a code from their phone.
Do we need technical skills?
No. We help you set up, bring in your contacts and show your organisers how the tools work. If you can use a phone, you can use From The Roots.
Does it work in Arabic?
Yes. From The Roots works in Arabic and English, and your forms, petitions and messages can be written in both.
Start building your movement
Tell us about your cause. Someone from TCG will get in touch to talk about what you want to change and how we can help.
What we will ask you
- What you want to change
- Where it is happening
- Who is involved so far
- What you have already tried
- What help you need most
- How we can reach you