Welcome, comrades! This page is primarily intended to serve as a starting point for those who are interested in DSA, or have recently joined, and want to know how to get involved with our local chapter here in Charleston, SC.
We recommend visiting this page on the national DSA website to learn more about the organization: About DSA.
There are several ways for members of the public to contact and stay in touch with Charleston DSA. If you are a local member in good standing, the best way to stay up to date with internal communications is to join our Discord chat server. If you email us at info@charlestondsa.org, using the email address you used to pay dues, we will get you set up. If you aren't yet a member, sign up here! Not yet ready to make it official? You can find us at any of the following places:
Email us at info@charlestondsa.org
Join the official Charleston DSA Mailing List for regular updates via email
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Bluesky
Follow us on Mastodon
You can join DSA by paying dues on the national website here: Join DSA! If you elect to pay dues on a monthly basis, a percentage of your dues will be sent to us, your local chapter, from the national organization.
Once you pay dues to national DSA, you will automatically become a member of your local chapter if there is one close to you! Charleston DSA’s chapter officially covers Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties. However, we are currently the only chapter in the South Carolina Lowcountry, so we encourage any at-large members across the state to reach out so we can help you get involved or get you in touch with DSA organizers in your area.
Contact membership@dsausa.org to change the email address associated with your membership.
You can fill out a form on this page if you need to update your mailing address: Change Your Address.
Make sure you submit the address change form using the email address associated with your membership. When you receive the email confirming the change, it won’t actually include your updated information. You can email membership@dsausa.org if you want confirmation of the change, and you can also request a new confirmation email with your updated information.
Welcome, comrade! As soon as you sign up, your information will be sent to the chapter nearest to you. If that's us, you can expect to receive a welcome email within a week that will provide you with a number of resources and next steps, including how to join our Discord server, which is where most of our internal communications take place. If you joined over a week ago and haven't heard from us, please email us at info@charlestondsa.org, using the email address you used to pay dues, so we can get you connected!
All new members can also expect to receive a text or email from a member of leadership to set up a meeting within 1-2 weeks of their joining. We want to get to know everyone who joins to make sure you're supported in joining the chapter and getting to work as soon as possible!
We also encourage all of our members to check our events calendar regularly - even if you're brand new, all of our members are welcome to attend General or Committee meetings, socials, and any other chapter events. We're so excited to meet you!
Charleston DSA is a democratically organized member organization. Our work is done through 3 primary bodies: our elected Officers, Committees, and Campaigns.
All members in good standing are eligible to run and/or vote for elected officer roles. Regular elections are held at our annual general meetings, and each position has a one-year term.
The elected officers are:
Two Co-Facilitators
Treasurer
Administrator
Outreach Chair
Community Chair
Education Chair
Technology Chair
At-Large Officer
A Committee is a subgroup within Charleston DSA focused on a particular goal within the chapter. Committees elect 1 co-chair to serve alongside the Committee Chair, who is an Officer position elected by the full chapter. You can learn more about our Committees and their current activities on the Charleston DSA Committees page of this website.
Much of our work gets done through our Committees, and we encourage all members to get involved in at least one.
Our current Committees include the following:
Media
Community
Education
Technology
Campaigns represent priority issues that chapter members build and execute together that have a specific demand or end goal the campaign is seeking to achieve. A campaign will be considered officially adopted by the chapter once a majority vote has approved the proposal at either a general, regular, or special meeting
Charleston DSA is committed to creating a space that is welcoming and inclusive to members of all genders, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations and other identity groups. We do not tolerate harassment, abuse, or harm in any form. If you experience any form of harassment from a member, please email our chapter’s Grievance Officer at hgo@charlestondsa.org.
Charleston DSA adheres to DSA’s national harassment policy and grievance process: DSA Harassment and Grievance Policy.