If you leave a GOTV training not daunted by your recruitment goals-you're doing it wrong. GOTV recruitment goals are always intimidating and yet they always (or almost always) get met with the right combination of preparation and determination. In order to meet those goals we have to be hungry for every shift. To help you meet your goals I've listed some things to think through in order to make sure no stone is left unturned. For the purposes of this blog (and any field program I oversee) a "shift" counts if your volunteer has committed to a specific date and time (and ideally location) for at least a 3 hour block of voter contact and it is recorded in whatever database you use. "I will drop by" "I will see if I can make it" and/or driving people to polls do not count as shifts. These happen best with a specific ask that includes a sense of urgency and details of the activity in question. For more on what makes a good vol recruitment script click here.
1) Every sign in from every event list you have- This is a no brainer. Of course you've been calling these lists all cycle but you've also probably ramped up your events over the past month. As soon as a GOTV event is over get it entered and get it called. People are most likely to be a yes while they're still excited.
2) Get specific shifts AT events. Why add an extra step to the process? Depending on the size of the event my absolute best practice is to have your event speaker announce to attendees that we need their help knocking doors and making calls during the next few days and instruct them to approach a staff member with a clipboard. Then have staff spread throughout the event hold up a clipboard filled with sheets like this one. Then THEY keep the sheet they filled out as a reminder and your staff member gets a record by taking a picture on their phone.
3) Ask people to bring a friend. So you're on the phone and you've locked in a shift for election day. Excellent! Next step "Awesome! Phone calls are always more fun with a friend. Is there anyone you think you can bring with you?" Boom. Additional shift.
4) Get remote phonebankers. The next few tips involve calling in the cavalry. If this is not your first time at the campaign rodeo chances are you have some people in your life who want to help but don't physically live near by. Now is the time to create a remote calling program- and make an ask of your family and friends. It's a great way for friends and family who don't have time to travel outside their safe districts to get involved. I recommend having one staff member or intern whose job it is to manage this and your out of state vol program so it doesn't turn into a throw away but a really program with accountability that augments your in-district operation.
5) Bring in out of state volunteers. You've got your out of state phone bankers but they want to do MORE, MORE, MORE! Identify some supporter housing and set to work. Again this works best when one person is dedicated to managing and following up with your OOS vol program. Places to look for possible out of state (or district) vols are Young Dems or College Dems in adjacent states/districts without a competitive race, out of state friends of staff or the candidate, and Presidential campaign alumni groups.
6) Talk to endorsing organizations. Your candidate has endorsements. Those endorsements are from groups. Sometimes those groups have local members. Identify their group leaders and set to work. Do you best to get names and contact information for specific volunteers with times and locations that they can help out. Depending on the group it might work better to have a "Planned Parenthood canvass for Katie" on the Saturday before Election Day rather than trying to slot in individual shifts. Have a conversation with the people who lead the group and find out what they think will work best. Be kind and flexible but also get specifics and let them know you are counting on them for what they commit to. Some is not a number and soon is not a time.
7) Invite endorsing candidates' staff. It's in everyone's interest to flip the house (or chamber, council etc) and let's face it- GOTV is a really fun holiday, especially when you get to parachute in from outside. If your candidate has friends or supporting electeds in a safe seat it may be that their staff is eager to help as well. (Note before someone jumps down my throat, staff volunteering on campaigns is just that, VOLUNTARY, no one is suggesting your endorsers break the law.)
8) Message your Facebook/Twitter likes. I've seen a lot of campaigns that contact people on social media who say they want to volunteer but leave untapped people who post messages like "Rooting for you!" or "You've got my vote!" Just like you'd call all your 1's and ask them to help during crunch time these people are low-hanging fruit who might just need to be asked to get involved. Slide into those DMs!
9)Ask every person who walks in to sign up for GOTV. Again, duh but does EVERYONE in your office know this or just the organizers? Train your whole staff and every rockstar volunteer to ask everyone who walks in the door the magical question "Have you signed up to take off election day with the campaign?" Hang giant post-it notes or other visual aids for people to sign up as soon as they walk in the door.
10)Your campaign staff. This is slight cheating but hey shifts are shifts. What is your call time manager doing on Election Day? Probably not call time. Be realistic (ex: maybe your Comms Director can knock some doors but at someone she'll probably also have to deal with the press) but also make sure your Campaign Manager sets the expectation that GOTV is all hands on deck. Then goes those shifts in your database!
Now go GOTVMFV!
Campaign Love and Mine,
Nancy
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