Delphine writes:

Would people in the US start with metro-area chapters, state-based chapters, regional sections? Or with a national one?

That's an interesting question. When we started EFF (now 18 years ago), the organization itself was not chapter-based, although we did initiate memberships within a year. But at least three groups of individuals -- in California, Texas, and New York City -- started down the road to forming chapters pretty quickly thereafter. One of them, EFF-Austin, is still around. It's separately incorporated and conducts its own activities within Texas independent of EFF's national and international activities. (There are also EFF-like organizations in Canada and Australia and elsewhere, I believe.)

--Mike