Start a chapter

Five steps. About 4 minutes. Nothing is final — you'll see a plain-English review at the end.

1Cause

2Tier

3Safety

4Co-admins

5Review

Step 1 — Pick a cause

Stand uses a curated tag list. This keeps the site non-partisan and makes you findable by people who care about the same thing.

Cause (pick one)

Don't see yours? Email stand@voliaventures.com and we'll review new tags monthly. No party-political tags — Stand is non-partisan.

Chapter name (optional)

We'll suggest a name from your cause + county if you leave this blank.

Step 2 — Who can find and join?

These tradeoffs are concrete. Pick honestly based on your members' situation.

Public most open

Who can find it: Anyone with a search engine.
Who can join: Any Stand user, no approval.
Member list: Visible to all members.
Recommended for: Neighborhood associations, volunteer clubs, issue groups without retaliation risk.

Approval-only recommended

Who can find it: Listed in Stand's directory.
Who can join: Admin reviews each request.
Member list: Visible only to members.
Recommended for: Most civic chapters — gives you a gate without hiding the work.

Invite-only

Who can find it: Findable in search, but no join button.
Who can join: Only people an admin directly invites.
Member list: Members only.
Recommended for: Tenant unions, labor organizing teams, groups that want visibility but no walk-ins.

Invisible highest privacy

Who can find it: Nobody. Not in search, not on the map, not even listed on your profile.
Who can join: Only people you send the direct link to.
Member list: Members only. Counts hidden outside.
Recommended for: High-risk organizing. If you lose the link, we can't recover it — that's the point.

Step 3 — Safety defaults

Most chapters skip this. Read the box carefully — it's a single choice that changes eight settings.

Organizing that could get me in trouble? Check this if your members could face retaliation from an employer, landlord, state agency, or physical violence for taking part. (Examples the platform hears often: repro care, gender-affirming care, labor organizing, tenant defense, immigration defense, cannabis.)

Because you checked this, your chapter will start with:

Tier forced to Invite-only (you can tighten to Invisible, but not loosen).
Map pin precision set to state-only — no street, no neighborhood.
Chapter chat disappearing-message timer: 7 days by default.
Member count hidden from non-members.
Event RSVPs visible to admins only by default.

You can change any of these later. Saying no now does not stop you from adding protections later either.

Step 4 — Co-admins

Every chapter needs at least one co-admin. Solo-admin chapters die quietly — this is the most common way a community loses its organizing history.

Succession plan: if the primary admin goes silent for 60 days, your co-admins can promote a new primary by majority vote. You can adjust that threshold later.

Co-admin 1 — Stand handle or email

Co-admin 2 (optional but recommended)

Co-admins get a notification and have to accept the role before it takes effect.

Step 5 — Review (plain English)

Here is what your chapter will look like. Nothing is saved until you confirm.

Cause: — not set —
Chapter name: (auto-suggested from cause + county)
Who can find it: Not set
Who can join: Not set
Member count visible to non-members?: Yes, rounded to nearest 10
Map pin precision: Street-level (default for Public)
Disappearing messages: Off
Co-admins: — none added —
Succession rule: If primary admin inactive 60 days, co-admins vote a new primary (majority).

Stand · an independent civic tool · part of the Volia Ventures portfolio · stand@voliaventures.com