ACTION PLAYBOOK

Remind Your Friends to Vote & Volunteer

  • Pull your personal networks off the sidelines and get them to commit to voting (and ideally, volunteering!) in this year's election.

    1. Identify friends in a toss-up district or battleground state

    2. Draft a personal message

    3. Reach out

1. Identify friends, family, and acquaintances to contact

We want to do two things: boost election turnout and multiply our impact by creating more volunteers (…to boost election turnout).

First, consider whether you have contacts in battleground states and add them to your list (check The Cook Report’s Electoral College Ratings; states in the Toss up category are “battleground states”). The way things work, votes cast in battleground states will have an outsized impact on the election. If you’re racking your brain as you think through your network, Facebook and LinkedIn can be a great place to start. You might also check in to see which states have Senate Races in the Toss up or Lean categories.

Next, write a list of 5 friends or family members you can nudge to vote (or better yet: volunteer) in this year’s election cycle.

2. Draft a personal message

The message tone should match your recipient, but it’s important to include the following:

  1. Raise awareness: Borrowing from the Climate on the Ballot Briefing, explain the high stakes of this election and why they should plan to vote and volunteer. Remind them that elections are often won or lost by remarkably slim margins. Reassure them that their vote matters and every volunteer hour will make a difference.

  2. Put voter information in their hands: Share information about deadlines in their state/city for voter registration, ballot requests, and voting.

  3. Get them plugged in as volunteers: Share a link to help register people to vote, sign up to be a poll worker, or join an Hour of Action.

  4. Offer the opportunity to donate: Some people can’t make time to volunteer, but are eager to do more than vote. Donating — any amount — is another great alternative. Share some high-impact donation links!

  5. Ask them to spread the word. The most effective thing they can do after making a plan to vote, volunteer, or donate is to invite 3 more friends to do the same. If you’re making this ask, you can share this playbook link with them.

3. Reach out

When you’re ready, start texting and calling! A direct text or call is your best bet. 1:1 or 1:2 outreach usually gets the best results because there’s less opportunity to diffuse accountability. If you must send a group text or email, add one element of personalization and send separately to avoid the perception of mass communication.

And that’s it, playbook complete! Feel accomplished.
Thank you for taking action.

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Want more action?
Go to the current Action Plan

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