CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

I could use some advice about setting up CiviCRM for my current situation. 

I have never used Drupal or CiviCRM before and am getting to know it from the documentation and with working with it.  Currently I have it installed in a folder (http://lightbulbchoice.com/petition) but this is just for me to get used to the software and I am open to putting them on the main domain if that is what is needed.

I own the site LightBulbChoice.com and we want to start a petition campaign to encourage US lawmakers to roll back anti-incandescent light bulb legislation.  To do this we will need a main area for the overall campaign, but also the site will need separate sections for each State where local organizers would have a place to organize and each can have petitions focused specifically to their congressman.  I would want each State area to be accessible to people who register from that state, and to myself and other up-level administrators.

My first thought was that I could have each state be a subdomain like:  http://newyork.lightbulbchoice.com or http://california.lightbulbchoice.com  But that might not be necessary or doable.

Or, I have been told that I could set up different "organizations" for each state.

Do you have any suggestions on how best for me to structure the site?

Your advice is greatly appreciated.