1915. Over a century of fighting for freedom in central Ohio. Join the movement, add to the legacy, and help build the next one.
/
WHAT MEMBERSHIP GETS YOU
/
Collective power, and the people to build it with.
Six things your membership does that you cannot do alone.
01 COLLECTIVE POWER
What one person cannot do, fifty people can. What fifty people cannot do, five hundred can. Numbers are what make an institution take the meeting, answer the letter, and change the policy. Numbers are what force the system to answer to the people, and not the other way around.
02 A VOICE IN THE CITY
Members vote in branch elections, run for office, serve on the committees that set positions, and decide what this branch fights for. You do not need a title to be heard. You need a membership and a seat at a General Body Meeting. Members help build the community, and our collective voice rings loud.
03 ACCOUNTABILITY WITH RECEIPTS
Every civil rights complaint that reaches the branch goes into a record the Legal Redress Committee keeps. Patterns get named, and we track habitual offenders. If our private efforts do not work and they are not willing to reform, we follow up with public accountability that everyone can see. Elected officials are measured by what they are doing for Black Columbus: the legislation they push, the policy they protect, the advocacy they provide for us. Anyone can file a complaint, member or not. Membership gives you the power to make sure what happened to you does not happen to anyone else, and the power to hold your elected officials accountable.
04 COMMUNITY, ON PURPOSE
The work can be heavy. The community we are building helps keep it light. Black people understand community and culture. It has long been our secret sauce. The movement we are building combines Fortune 500 precision with movement care. We convene for the work. We also convene for our community. In both instances, we are convening to build.
05 INFORMATION AND ACCESS
The NAACP has long been a source of information for our community, and an organization that uses its institutional power and legacy to provide access for communities. What the city is deciding, what the county is funding, what the school board is voting on, and what the power map looks like on any given issue: our members hear it first and are informed on critical issues. Our members also keep us informed on critical issues. Our informed members become credible messengers to the community. That information sharing is how we stay relevant and ready.
06 A NATIONAL NETWORK
Your membership is entered with the national NAACP. You get a national member ID and a digital membership card, access to national events, regional conferences, and trainings, and a place at the National Convention. You belong to the oldest civil rights organization in the country and to its Columbus branch. We fight together locally. We fight together across the state. We fight together across this country. And we believe that we will win.
Showing up on paper and showing up in person. Both count. Both are how systems begin to understand the power of the people. And the power of the people is so much stronger than the people in power.
/
BRING WHAT YOU HAVE
/
Five ways to contribute.
No one is asked for what they do not have. No money? Your time and touch are treasure. No time? Your talent and treasure still matter. Nothing but yourself? Show up. That is trust, and trust is the foundation.
TIME
Presence at meetings, events, and actions. Showing up is the first contribution, and the one everything else depends on.
TALENT
Skills, expertise, creativity. The designer, the attorney, the teacher, the organizer, the cook. Tell us what you do and we will put it to work.
TREASURE
Dues, gifts, fundraising. Your dues keep the committee infrastructure, the complaint door, the calendar, and the communications running.
TOUCH
Relationships. The member who brings five others multiplies everything. Share the join link with one person this month.
TRUST
If you can give nothing else, you can show up, you can support, and you can trust the process. That is not the smallest contribution. It is the foundation.
WHEN WE DISAGREE
We will not always agree, and we are not supposed to. Iron sharpens iron. Sharpened internally, the power we wield is that much greater. Because of Our Columbus Way, we trust that the branch has convened, coordinated, and tried to build consensus, and that its position is the position of a unified coalition of members and aligned organizations.
/
AFTER YOU JOIN
/
What happens after you join.
Six steps, at your own pace. You do not need to know where you fit before you join.
01 JOIN
Just a few clicks, through the branch. Your national membership and your Columbus affiliation are handled together.
02 MEET YOUR BRANCH
General Body Meeting, first Tuesday, 6:00 PM, The Maroon Culture Lab, 867 Mt. Vernon Ave. In person and online.
03 FIND YOUR LANE
Twenty-five committees, or none. The Membership Committee onboards you, gauges your interest, and makes sure that from the day you enter, you understand the ways in which you are necessary to this movement.
04 SHOW UP
Meetings, events, actions, and the work in front of us. Come when you can. Do what you can.
05 LEAD
Committee work is how members grow into co-chair seats, at-large seats, and office. Nobody is asked to lead before they are ready.
06 BUILD THE MOVEMENT
We ask everyone who joins to identify at least one person you would like to join with you. Let's build this movement together.
/
OUR COLUMBUS WAY
/
The system that protects us in America will be the one we build ourselves.
That is the assignment. Build power. Protect our joy. Fight for liberation. Do it together. Do it with discipline. Do it with love. If we follow the system, if we trust each other, and if we realize and mobilize our collective power, we win. We will build the power required to win, and we will win together.
Join NAACP Columbus with just a few clicks.
Join right here. Fill in the short form, pay your dues, and you are joining Columbus Branch 3177 directly. The branch enters your membership with the national NAACP and sends National its share. Your national member account and digital card follow from there.
Annual membership
Adult (21 and over): $30
Youth (20 and under): $10
Life membership (National's current tiers, paid in full or in installments)
Junior Life (13 and under): $100
Bronze (14 to 20): $400
Silver: $1,000
Gold: $2,000
Diamond Life: $3,000
Premier: $5,000
Life membership is how members build the branch's permanent infrastructure.
Already an NAACP member somewhere else, or joined on naacp.org and landed as a member-at-large? Your membership is real; it just is not attached to Columbus yet. Email membership@naacp614.org and we will help move it to Branch 3177.
/
MEMBERS
/
Already a member? Here is what you can do today.
Six things a member can do right now. Never received your digital card? National's Contact Center emails it: (410) 580-5777.
COME TO THE NEXT GENERAL BODY MEETING
First Tuesday, 6:00 PM, The Maroon Culture Lab. In person and online. Bring a question and a neighbor.
FIND, JOIN, OR JUST ATTEND A COMMITTEE
Tell us your top two committees on the interest form and we place you. You do not have to join a committee to attend its meetings. Come to one. Come to several. Use your power and use your voice.
SEND SOMETHING TO THE SIGNAL
Events, wins, calls for help, community news. Email comms@naacp614.org and Communications amplifies it.
WORK THE ELECTION
Registration deadlines, polling places, poll worker sign-up, and the election events in front of us.
OPEN YOUR MEMBER PORTAL
Your national dashboard: membership, digital card, renewal, and contact updates.
BRING ONE PERSON
Share the join link. The member who brings five others multiplies everything.
