Rootcampcoretraining101

DemocracyFest 2005 ™

GFA ROOT CAMP™ CORE TRAINING 101

Austin, Texas
June 19, 2005

For activists who have had little or no previous training
and for training mentors who want to try this at home.

Hosted by

Co-Sponsored by Democracy for Texas
and My Vote is My Voice

Copyright © 2005, Grassroots for America
Reprints with proper attribution and grassroots distribution are encouraged.

GFA Root Camp™ –2– Core Training 101

CONTENTS

Welcome, Introductions .......................................................................... 4
Overview of Agenda

Campaign Basics...................................................................................... 6
Campaign Organization and Management

Volunteer Management......................................................................... 16
Recruiting and Developing Good Volunteers
Putting Volunteers to Work

Data and Data Mining for GOTV......................................................... 30
Banking the Vote with GITV

WORKSHOPS
Earned Media for Grassroots Activism...................................... 50
Activating Your Base................................................................... 62
Maximizing Year-Round Visibility and Productivity................ 64

ADDENDA
I. About Root Camp™................................................................. 68
II. A Race Well Run .................................................................... 69
A Guide for First-Time Candidates Running for Public Office

III. Talking to Swing Voters........................................................ 79

10:00–10:15 a.m.
Introductions, Welcome. Overview of Agenda
Pam Paul, Ralph Miller, Sandra Ramos

Adults learn by doing and from others’ experience.

Today’s Root Camp™ sessions will cover the core subjects required to organize, fund,
manage, and promote campaigns and political advocacy efforts in your community. This
will include an overview of Campaign Basics: from Fundraising and Volunteer Recruit-
ment, Management, and Training to Data Mining for GITV/GOTV and Media. The goal
of Root Camp™ is to make available tools for activating your base and maximizing
year-round visibility and productivity by sharing diverse experiences and unique per-
spectives.

Root Camp™ concepts and processes are designed to be adapted to your local areas and
political landscape. We encourage the organic growth of activist empowerment
through collaborative teamwork and activist-engineered—and championed—ideas!
By continuing to share our best practices and resources, whether as Root Camp™ tools
and connections transferred during these sessions, or those discovered through other
channels, Root Camp™ serves as a launching pad to push ahead your own activism
back home. You are passionate about what you are doing. The better we do it, the
more impact your efforts will have.

Root Camp™ is about empowerment: saving activists time, money, and energy
by helping them to not have to reinvent the wheel. Root Camp™ is designed to
cultivate an organic, activist collaborative designed to self-perpetuate a grass-
roots educational and training community.

Many of the tools needed to manage a local training are available to users through our
Mentoring program and at www.rootcamp.us. For those of you interested in pursuing
grassroots training further, Root Camp™ trainers and Mentors have access to an intra-
net for networking national grassroots training efforts, staying in touch and in tune
with what other individuals and organizations are doing in regard to training across the
country, and maintaining identities through connection to the process. On the public
site, a national map directory is available to help grassroots leaders quickly find
and/or provide training events near them.

Tailoring Root Camp™ to your local communities is as simple as fitting your
particular needs, skill sets, and resources into the Core Training framework. How
you build your local training teams and curriculum and/or add or use resources and
tools from the Root Camp™ resource kit is up to you; whether you choose to par-
ticipate in regular get-togethers such as Meetups or state meetings, develop and fa-

cilitate live or online trainings, or engage activists and community members through
networking among trainers, issue groups, supporters, resources, tools, and sharing of
best practices, the resulting effort will be one of promoting the network in a
manner that builds a vibrant national training community.

Supporting Root Camp™ logistics includes adapting a promotion package and setting
a fee structure that reflects your local needs and base. The Root Camp™ Mentor Certi-
fication process ensures training quality and networking control and standards. Ac-
knowledging the need for an agreed-upon set of Standards to define what is a
Root Camp™ training, an Editorial Board has been commissioned to set parame-
ters for the Root Camp™ Courseware, Certification Program, and Talent Bank
qualification.

Root Camp™ empowers grassroots leaders to nurture home-
grown talent and online resources for local deployment.


10:15–11:00 a.m.
Campaign Basics
Campaign Organization and Management
Sandra Ramos, Aldon Hynes, Marsha Moody

CAMPAIGN BASICS
Campaign Organization
and Management


Elements of a Campaign:
Goals, Strategies, and Tactics — Managing People, Time, and Money

Every political campaign has its own unique set of variables, yet each campaign
contains elements that are similar to most other campaigns. This class and work-
book are designed to lead you through a process to formalize how you think about
campaigns and how you fit in. The course material is designed to help you focus
on what you need to learn to develop a winning campaign.

While there are many uncontrollable variables inherent in any campaign, formaliz-
ing your efforts will be rewarded by an increase in focus and clarity about the road
ahead.

What is a campaign?
An electoral campaign is an organized, coordinated set of programs designed to
deliver specific messages to targeted groups of voters. An electoral campaign is a
conversation between the candidate and/or proponents of an issue, proposition, or
initiative, and the voter that culminates in an effort to turn out supporters at the
polls.

Remember: You are a strange person.

You think about politics every day.
You are partisan.
You believe that politics is a means to change.

Know: Voters are normal.

They are skeptical of politics and politicians.
They care about things that affect their daily lives.
They do not want to be told what to do.

The campaign is a conversation.

When the strange talk to the normal, they must speak normal.
Direct voter contact delivers the campaign’s message clearly, directly,
and personally.
The best voter contact allows for feedback.


Strategy and Tactics
Strategy

The science and art of military command exercised to meet the enemy
in combat under advantageous conditions.

Tactics

The science and art of disposing and maneuvering forces in combat.
The art or skill of employing available means to accomplish an end.

Are you clear on your campaign’s strategic goals?

Do you understand the message and key issues/themes?

Do you know your key targets, ranked in order of importance?

Have you identified key problem areas?

Do you have a calendar?

Do you know your job?

The ultimate goal is a list.
The entire campaign is about creating a list of voters who will support your candi-
date. Voter contact that allows for feedback is the only way to determine exactly
who supports your candidate. Data is the backbone of a modern campaign. Data
is collected through your voter contact program.


What do campaigns require for resources?

People, Time, and Money
There is no magic. There is only hard work and concentration on the goal. Those
who tell you differently either don’t know or have never worked in a field effort.
Keep your goal in mind. Victory equals a specific number of votes.

Your voter contact program is a sieve that you construct to pass through the elec-
torate and find the number of votes you need to win.

If the locals don’t do it, it won’t get done.

Success can be imported, but it is very expensive and does not last.
You will never be more invested in success than the locals.
When the locals are committed, success can happen without you.

Do not worry about who will get the credit.

Keep focused on the objective. There will be no credit if you do not succeed.
There will be more than enough credit to go around if you succeed.
Do not allow internal politics to corrupt your team.

“Some” is not a number, and “soon” is not a time.

The management of limited resources requires that you deal in specifics.
If you cannot count it, do not do it.
Never give or accept an assignment that is not qualified, quantified, and time
limited.


Campaign Organization

Typical Campaign Structure

Individual campaigns vary as much in structure and organization as do can-
didates for office. In general, most campaign structures look something like this:

Campaign Coordinator (Management/Administration)—The people who
manage the day-to-day operation of the campaign. This would include the
Campaign Coordinator and immediate administrative staff.

◊ There is only one captain of a ship. But to remain as captain, you must treat
your crew with civility and courtesy and listen to their needs, or there will
be mutiny.
◊ Secondly, “Money is the mother’s milk of politics.” Nothing is free, except
what you don’t pay for. The campaign coordinator is responsible for every-
thing—most importantly, making sure that all the other coordinators are do-
ing their jobs.

Fundraiser—raises money and is the only one (besides the candidate) to talk
to donors.

◊ The second toughest job in a campaign is that of the fundraiser. If you have
no money, you have very little campaign. In small campaigns, the fund-
raiser may also be in charge of insuring the campaign finance reports are
done on time in conjunction with the campaign treasurer (who is usually a
friend of the candidate who signed on for the job, but might not know what
to do).

Data Coordinator—Data is the backbone of a good campaign; this should be
the only person to touch the database, and s/he should understand how to ma-
nipulate databases for maximum benefit—from inputting data to supporting all
field activities.

◊ Without accurate data, a campaign will fail.
◊ This person is the lifeblood of the campaign.

GFA Root Camp™ – 10 – Core Training 101

Media/Public Relations Coordinator—The campaign can include a com-
munications director and/or a press secretary. In larger campaigns, this can also
include additional press staffers that do everything from send radio actualities
to clip newspapers. Speech writing staff may also be located here or in re-
search.

◊ The Press Secretary or Communications Director is the only person who han-
dles press inquiries, writes press releases, and coordinates speechwriting
◊ This is the person who makes sure that everyone is up on the message and
that the message is getting out—i.e., the voice of the local campaign. Respon-
sible for all signs and “swag.”

Volunteer Coordinator—The field operation contains the staff and volunteers
who organize the campaign in the precincts. They work to move the campaign
message, identify voters, and get out the vote through voter contact; the Volun-
teer Coordinator ensures there are enough volunteers for all these tasks. This
person should like people and not get frustrated by chaos. Since it’s all about
field, this person is critical to the campaign.

◊ It’s all about field. You can run the best media campaign in the world, but
if your voters don’t vote, you will lose. If a campaign has 1,000 persons
signed up to help, all you need is an active 10 percent of volunteers to win
the election.
◊ Direct voter contact. Field recruits the volunteers that will talk directly to the
voters on your behalf.
◊ Visibility, telephone banking, canvassing, and GITV/GOTV are part of the
field effort. You will need a person to work with you on each of these ef-
forts.

GOTV Director—Your campaign must make adjustments throughout the day
in response to information coming in from the field. This may mean shifting
volunteers to areas where large numbers of your supporters are not showing up
to vote. Ultimately, these types of decisions should be made by one person,
typically the field director, rather than being left to the discretion of each indi-
vidual precinct captain.

Other Staff
◊ Someone to answer campaign phone
◊ A part-time runner (to run errands); students with new licenses
make good drivers (but don’t forget to check their insurance!)
◊ A scrounger (to acquire things for campaign)


Management/Administration

The Campaign Manager’s Job
The Campaign Manager runs day-to-day operations and coordinates with all
staff. This is the person who handles the schedule. The Campaign Manager must
be familiar with the Political Landscape in which the Candidate is working; should
be engaged and fully understand the Theme and Message. S/he must direct the tar-
geting of voters and implementation of the Campaign’s Strategy and Tactics. Writ-
ing the Field Plan, which is prepared by a Field Manager in larger campaigns, is
handled by the Campaign Manager in most campaigns.

The Campaign Manager is responsible for everything—most importantly making
sure that all the other coordinators are doing their jobs.
The Manager must possess good communication skills and an ability to make deci-
sions. Campaigns collapse when the decision maker refuses to make decisions on
critical issues and tactical matters. The worst thing that can happen in a campaign is
analysis paralysis. To paralyze a campaign by over-analyzing the outcome of deci-
sions will result in missed opportunities and the wasting of resources.
This organization is filled with volunteers, not paid staff. Remember, you can
never fire a volunteers — they just stop coming in!

In a campaign, the job of Campaign Manager is especially difficult. Never before has
there been a coalition of special political interest groups (SPIGs) in the election process.
There will be the usual active ten percent of the volunteer base who wants to do some-
thing in a typical campaign, but there are quite a few groups who bring are now attract-
ing additional people to help. Your job is to bring those groups into the campaign. You
must reach out to each of them and give them a meaningful job in the campaign.

Your first job is to listen!


You, a Candidate?

[Note: Although some of these materials may refer to a particular party, the materials were in-
cluded because they are equally applicable to any party's officeholders and campaigns.]

So you are thinking about serving your community by running for public office.
Even if you aren’t politically experienced or well known, your eagerness to serve,
combined with your passion for an issue or desire to make a difference, is your
calling card.

Before You Announce Your Candidacy

The best thing you can do as early as possible is talk with a sitting or past
Democratic officeholder from your district such as a state representative, select-
man, or town clerk, or the chair of your local Democratic Committee. Then seek
out community leaders to ask for their input or advice. Ask what issues are impor-
tant to them and just listen. Personalized “Thank You” notes show respect for the
people who gave you their time, and you’ll get positive feedback.

Start Your Calendar

After you have “interviewed” a legislator or political officeholder, find out the
dates for filing your candidacy from your town/city clerk. Stop by the clerk’s of-
fice in advance and ask for a copy of the filing document so you’ll know what in-
formation you’ll need when you formally file in person.

Sign Up for Candidate Trainings

Sign up for all the candidate trainings you can find. They’re often free or have a
small fee, and are priceless. In addition to opportunities your state party provides,
there are several other activist organizations that may be offering training sessions.

Family of Candidate

Make sure they have a specific task (e.g., fundraising, walking specific districts);
otherwise, they will be looking for things to do and will be more of a distraction to
the campaign than an asset.

For more information on becoming a candidate, see Addendum II: “A Race Well Run: A
Guide for First-Time Candidates Running for Public Office.”


Campaign Organization: How to Do It All

Campaign Daily Structure

The daytime is used for preparation for the field campaign and to make fund-
raising calls. Calls can be made to seniors if you pull a targeted phone list. Re-
member that a campaign is full of long days and nights, so make sure you don’t
wear yourself out early. Office hours can be from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., to allow for a
little sleep.

Typical Campaign Structures

I. Campaign Manager structure—smaller, local campaigns
a. Manager runs the show
b. More tightly integrated to Candidate

II. Consultant structure—larger campaigns
a. Campaign manager executes day to day; Consultant makes all
decisions
b. Consultant crafts message and strategy
i. General Consultant
ii. Mail/Media Consultant
iii. Field Consultant

A winning campaign has a winning field plan.
A field plan is an amazing thing. It tells you exactly what resources you need and
when.

Things To Consider
When putting together campaign operation field plans, you must consider and be
familiar with the campaign’s Theme, Message, Objectives, Tactics, Outreach, Cal-
endar, Timeline, Budget, and Evaluation Benchmarks.


SAMPLE ELECTION CALENDAR (2006)
(JUN 2006) (JUL ’06) (AUG ’06)
-5 Months -4 Months -3 Months

• Internet outreach net- • PURCHASE EARLY • Order lawn and store
working and group VOTER FILES signs
list building; inter- • Voter registration • Materials to printer
active media releases • ESTABLISH MEDIA • Begin early walking
• Organizer training GOALS • Produce voter outreach
• Obtain and review • Establish GOTV goals Materials and inter-
campaign baseline • New release topic II active media pieces
polls • Begin ad placements
• News release topic I • Set voter contact plan
• News release III: voter
awareness efforts

(SEP ’06) (OCT ’06) (NOV ’06)
-2 Months -1 Month ELECTION MONTH

• Begin distribution of • VOTER AWARENESS • GOTV—Get Out the Vote
message pieces; roll VISIBILITY EVENTS • ELECTION DAY! Be-
out roadside signage; • Voter awareness letter- gin door knocker deliv-
release yard signs writing campaign ery at 5:00 a.m.; activate
• Volunteer training • Contact early and ab- Election Day plan.
• Begin MAILINGS sentee voters—GITV • Study election results; is-
and SENDING of di- • GITV phone banking sue prepared statements;
rect media and elec- • Flyer key neighbor- conduct winner press
tronic distribution of hoods with literature conferences, and cele-
October interactive • Confirm volunteers for brate!
media voter awareness work- • Submit evaluation re-
• Yard and storefront shops ports to Precinct Cap-
signage distribution • Hire Election Day staff tains and Team Leaders
• GITV—phone bank- • Election Day training
ing and voter aware- kits to Precinct Captains
ness


11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Volunteer Management
• Recruiting and Developing Good Volunteers
• Putting Volunteers to Work
Sandra Ramos, Aldon Hynes, Marsha Moody

VOLUNTEER
MANAGEMENT
Recruiting and Developing Good Volunteers
Putting Volunteers to Work


Volunteers and Outreach

Volunteers:
The Invaluable Campaign Resource

You can spend thousands of dollars on mail and TV—which are helpful—but
nothing will win a campaign more than your ground work. That means you need
volunteers.

People

The campaign is about talking to voters. Every part of the campaign uses resources
(people, time, and money) to support the conversation the campaign has with the
voters. Since paid media and fundraising consume over 75% of the campaign’s
budget, the rest of the campaign is forced to rely on the people to compensate for
the lack of money. These people are called volunteers.

Why do people volunteer?

Volunteering fulfills some need for the volunteer.

Recognizing that need will make us better managers.

Volunteers are Donors.

Volunteers are like donors. They give us their time, instead of their money.

They should be treated like donors:
Targeted
Educated
Solicited
Thanked
Re-solicited


Remember what happens when we substitute people for money.

If volunteers are used to accomplish a task in place of money, it take more time
to complete the task.
Volunteers are not free. It costs the campaign resources to recruit, train, and manage
its volunteers.
The campaign must decide what tasks are going to be done by volunteers and which
are going to be paid for with cash.

Field operations are volunteer-intensive.

In the field communications model, the campaign recruits volunteers to deliver the
campaign’s message to voters. The proper recruitment, training, and management of
the volunteers are, therefore, critical to the delivery of the campaign’s message. Poor
volunteer management will mean poor message delivery.

Volunteers are necessary in all parts of the campaign to support
paid staffers and sometimes even to manage parts of the campaign.

It is typical in major campaigns to have volunteers act as assistants to paid staffers.
The campaign cannot perform well without the services of volunteers.
They may be looking for a paying job and see volunteering as a step toward the
payroll.


Election Day Assignments

You will need the following to run a good Election Day operation:

GOTV director
•
Office staff
•
Precinct captains (precinct leaders)
•
Phoners
•
Poll watchers
•
Passers
•
Drivers
•

You will get a flood of folks who are used to showing up for Election Day. By
then, you will have won the election, but it’s OK to get them to work anyway. So
what do you need volunteers to do?

Precinct Captains
These people must be your field lieutenants who make sure that operations run
smoothly, that all resources are used correctly, and that the office is notified immedi-
ately of any potential problems. They must not get bogged down doing any one particu-
lar thing, such as passing out palm cards. Specific responsibilities for the precinct cap-
tain include making sure that all volunteers get to the polling place on time, that the
polls open and close on time, that all volunteers get a breakfast, snack, and lunch, and
that all positive voters get to the polls to vote. It is absolutely critical that your precinct
captains be reliable. You must test them at various intervals throughout the campaign to
find out which ones will perform and which will not. You cannot simply make assump-
tions based on their history of support. Precinct captains should also be asked to call in
to the office when the polls open, at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m., and after the polls close.

Poll Watchers
This is the most important job inside the polling place on Election Day. Poll watchers
must be capable of keeping track of everyone who votes. You must have an accurate list
of all supporters who have not voted so you can get these people to the polls. Poll
watchers are responsible for making sure all voting is done in a fair manner. This means
they must be familiar with election law and assertive enough to challenge any suspi-
cious activities. They must start the day by making sure that the ballot box is empty be-
fore voters begin arriving and finish the day by helping the precinct captain supervise
the ballot counting. Because this is a tedious, all-day job, it is best to have a morning


and an afternoon poll watcher for each precinct. Poll watching is also a technical job, so
these people will need training.

Passers
There should be a minimum of two people assigned to each polling place who are re-
sponsible for visibility. These people start their day by making sure your signs are in
place around the polling place one hour before the polls open. They finish their day by
making sure that all campaign signs have been cleaned up. During voting hours, they
should be stationed outside the polling place to pass out your literature, sample ballots,
and palm cards. You should do something fun, like asking all passers to wear your
campaign colors. These people should be widely known and persuasive because they
represent your last chance to influence voters before they go into the voting booth. They
should also be chosen according to local factors and be as familiar as possible with the
voters. You will probably need to assign eight people to pass at each polling place to
guarantee there are no less than two on duty at any given time.

Drivers

At least one—preferably two—people should be assigned as drivers to each precinct or
area. These people may also serve as passers, but their primary function is picking up
supportive people who need a ride to vote. They should begin their day by putting door
hangers on all doors of all supporters at 4 or 5 a.m. During the day, the precinct captain
should give them a list of names of non-voting supporters at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 5 p.m.
The list will be provided by the poll watcher. The drivers will visit each house on the
list, remind the residents to vote, and offer them a ride to the polling place.

Phoners
You should have at least one person making phone calls from a house or office in each
precinct throughout the day. This person should be calling all supporters and reminding
them to vote. The calls can start as early as 8 a.m. and should continue throughout the
day.


Training Your Volunteers
To make the best and most dependable use of volunteers,
you must train them. Frequently.

Every volunteer must be trained to accomplish the task he or she is assigned. Training
means teaching adults the proper way to accomplish the task. Teaching adults is hard.
Most adults respond poorly to lecture and worse to written instructions. You want to in-
sure that the task at hand is done well. It is part of your campaign’s conversation with
the voter. Quality control is critical.

The best way to train adults is to have them learn the task under your instruction and su-
pervision in a way that gives them hands-on experience. In the example of the envelope
stuffing, volunteers should be shown how the labels are applied, how the letters are
folded and inserted into the envelope, and how the postage is applied. These seemly triv-
ial steps will matter when the recipient of the letter ascribes the slipshod application of
the label or the multi-creased letter to a poorly run campaign.

Every volunteer must be trained.
Training insures quality control.
Adults learn best by doing.
Use role-playing in your training.
Demonstrate techniques. Observe execution. Demonstrate again.
Good management requires that volunteers understand why what they
are doing is important.

Only when you are satisfied with the volunteer’s abilities do
you allow him or her to represent the campaign—whether that
representation is stuffing an envelope or knocking on a door.

Every time a volunteer comes back, he or she is trained again.
Subsequent trainings will take less time.
Quality control demands that everyone is trained every time.

After you have trained your volunteers, be available in case
they have questions or problems.

A volunteer should know to whom they report and whom they can ask for
assistance.


Never set up a system where the volunteers are unmanaged and then expect
timely, quality completion of the task.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of every local campaign.

A good volunteer is worth his or her weight in gold.
Make sure all your volunteers are treated with respect.
Post welcome signs around your campaign office, hang photographs, and do
whatever else is necessary to keep your office friendly and open to volunteers.

Try not to run a sweatshop.

Make volunteering fun.
Feed your volunteers.
Schedule time for breaks.

REMEMBER: You cannot thank your volunteers enough!

Thank volunteers as soon as they arrive.
◊ Be aware of how they will be greeted.
Thank them when they finish.
◊ When the task is complete, thank the volunteers again. This is the begin-
ning of the crucial re-solicitation. If their task has been enjoyable, recruit
them to come again on the spot. Do not use the hard sell, but as you thank
them make sure they know how much they are needed and appreciated.
Thank them with special recognition.
◊ Give superior volunteers recognition in the campaign. You can have a vol-
unteer recognition in the office.
A little candidate attention goes a long way.
◊ You can send personal “Thank You” notes from the candidate and senior
staff. You can never thank them too much.


MANAGEMENT
Good management requires that your volunteers understand how what they are do-
ing fits into the campaign’s plan. Training means not only teaching adults the
proper way to accomplish the task at hand but also explaining how that task is part
of the campaign’s conversation with the voter. Simply telling 34 volunteers “We
have to stuff 10,000 in three hours” is not very motivating. Instead, Let them in on
the plan. Tell them:

“We have to stuff 10,000 envelopes in the next three hours so that they can
be in the mail by 10 p.m. We are stuffing letters to known Democratic do-
nors with information about our candidate and our issues. Beginning next
week, our candidate and fundraising committee will call all these donors to
solicit contributions. Our getting their letters in the mail tonight means that
the donors will have the information in front of them when the candidate
calls and will be more likely to contribute. Our goal is to raise $50,000
from these calls in the next three weeks so that we can go on television be-
fore our opponent. You are critical to this effort. Please take your job seri-
ously.”

Now they are part of the campaign. They know that they are important.

CLEAR COMMUNICATION
“I don’t know” and “I have a problem.”

Everyone should learn and use these phrases. The bottom line is that you’re work-
ing on the campaign because you want to win, and you shouldn’t be afraid to ask
for help and let people know when you don’t know something. It’s called “team-
work.” If you’re a manager, you should listen for these phrases; how you address
them can make the difference between the success and failure of your campaign,
between winning—and losing! Some campaign workers do not know these
phrases; their campaigns are disasters.

Ignorance spreads, problems metastasize.


Food
You cannot expect workers to be on their feet for 16 hours straight without food,
drink, or rest.
◊ All Election Day workers should be fed and rested, if only briefly.
◊ Food should be delivered to poll watchers and poll workers.
◊ A poll worker who is not delivered food may have to leave the polling place
to eat, and there is a chance they might not return.
◊ Nothing is more disheartening for a worker than to see the opposition workers
being brought food and a drink during the day.
◊ Election Day food varies from region to region and can get quite interesting,
so be sensitive to where your workers are from!
◊ The campaign should at least provide coffee and doughnuts in the morning,
sandwiches at midday, and dinner in the evening for workers on Election Day.
◊ Organizing Election Day food is a good task to give the volunteers who do not
like to do voter contact.

You must pass out perks to the best volunteers from time to time.
◊ This may mean a free pizza or the chance to shake hands with a VIP who
comes to the district to campaign for the day.
◊ Some campaigns also post the name or photograph of the volunteer who has
worked the most hours that month.
◊ This will either create loyalty or jealousy among your volunteers, so let your
volunteer coordinator do as he or she thinks best.

You must set regular schedules for all the volunteers possible.
◊ This makes the volunteers feel more important and allows the campaign to
schedule work for them to do.
◊ Volunteers will come to think of the campaign as a regular part of their week.
Wednesdays can become “Suzie’s Day” to go help out at the campaign, etc.

Use volunteers wisely.
◊ If someone shows up ready to knock on doors, get that person some materials
and get them out on the street.
◊ If volunteers feel that you do not need them, they will not come back. On the
other hand, if they believe there is always important work to do, they will start
showing up regularly at the office.
◊ Do not send a volunteer that speaks only Spanish into areas where no one will
understand them. Don’t send English speakers into Spanish-speaking areas.


KEEP YOUR VOLUNTEERS OUT OF DANGER!

Make sure that your volunteers also receive some basic training to stay out of trou-
ble.
They should be warned not to engage in any illegal or provocative behavior.
You never want to find yourself going on television to explain that your campaign
was indeed responsible for some disaster, but “we cannot control the actions of a few
over-enthusiastic volunteers.”
The opposition is working hard enough to cause you problems, so there is no reason
to cause your own.

What do you need ?

Let’s make a list of things you might need. And remember, you are going to need
these things for every day your office is open!

Food
o Coffee, sugar, tea, sodas, water, doughnuts, pizza, cups, plates, nap-
kins, spoons, forks
Paper products
o toilet paper, hand towels, copy paper—reams and reams and reams
Cleaning products
o Got a toilet? Need cleaning products.
Office Supplies
o Light bulbs, pens, pencils, computers, desks, tables, chairs, filing cabi-
nets, markers, highlighters, in-boxes, phones
o Calendar
What else?

o

o

o

o

o


Management Exercise
List some tasks you will need to have your volunteers do.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

Now, how many hours will you need to get those tasks done?

HINT:
Break each task down into its smallest unit and then calculate how many
volunteers it will take given the time allocated.

Remember:

Total Units/ Units per Hour = Hours Needed
10,000 Units/ 100 per Hour = 100 Hours Needed

Hours Needed/ Hours Allocated = Number of Volunteers Needed
100 Hours Needed/ 3 Hours Allocated = 33.3 or 34 volunteers

Who will help you, and how will you organize them?


If you need 34 volunteers to accomplish a task, how many do you recruit?

A) 34
B) 50
C) 68

The answer is: it depends. The answer is certainly not 34. You should always plan on
fewer volunteers showing up than committed. Will 50 do? Perhaps, but they ought to be
volunteers whose reliability is proven. It is better to figure your recruitment goals at
twice the need until you get a better idea of the reality of the volunteer pool.

Suppose you have 117,000 absentee ballot voters in your county with phones. This is a
non-duplicated number, which will be the target of phone banking. How many phone
callers will it take for you to call all these voters, and how long will it take?

Let’s make it simple.

For example……………

How many calls can a person make in an hour? Q or 20
How many hours will a caller call in a day? H or 8
Q times H = C or 160 (total calls per phone per day)

OK, so how many callers do you really have per day? P or 25
P times C = X or 3900 (the total number of calls per day)

D or 30 (Number of days it will take to call) = 117,000 divided by X

This is the number of volunteers (P) that you need to feed and care for during the
next thirty days (D). See how this works?

Where are you going to work?
Office location

It’s got to be free or donated.
Attached to this training manual is an in-kind contribution form.
o Everybody who gives to this campaign must fill out a form. You will need to
keep a copy and give them one. That means you need a copy machine, right?


VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT
Plugging In Your Volunteers:
Making a List and Crunching the Numbers
A campaign, like any major undertaking, can be broken down into a series of
tasks. Successfully managing and coordinating your volunteers requires an thor-
ough understanding of these tasks. Even something simple such as holding a quick
visibility rally should be broken down into a set of tasks so that you can assign
volunteers where you need them. A few simple steps can help you allocate your
volunteer resources efficiently.

Working With Volunteers: Key Principles
1) Volunteers should feel valuable.
- Volunteers should be greeted upon arriving, never left standing.
- Volunteers should always be given CONTEXT for their task.
- Volunteers should feel that you have a task waiting just for them.
- Give them something appropriate for their experience.
2) Give specific tasks and set clear goals.
- The goal will give them a sense of purpose and direction beyond the big-picture
“win the campaign” goal.
- Achieving a challenging goal gives volunteers a sense of accomplishment.
- Volunteers are more efficient when you are nearby, working or supervising.
3) Treat them well.
- Feed them. This is especially important on E-day. On E-day, deliver the food
yourself.
- Pass out perks (eg, picture with the candidate) to your best volunteers.
4) Lead by example
- The second most inspiring sight for volunteers is to see staff roll up their sleeves
and do the dirty work alongside volunteers.
- The most inspiring thing is when the candidate joins in.
5) Before they leave . . .
- Schedule a time for volunteers to come back again.
- Better yet, work out a schedule for the month.
- Make sure you do a quick debriefing to see how everything went and to give
them forward momentum for when they come back. Ask big, ask for a lot.
Plug them into leadership positions quickly. They can handle it.
6) Work out a good volunteer tracking system.
- Know what they did, what they’re good at, and how to reach them again.


THE BASICS OF VOLUNTEER ALLOCATION
1) Create a list of tasks needed to complete an objective.
2) Calculate the time it takes for each task to be finished.
3) Determine how many volunteers it will take to finish the required tasks in
the time you have.
4) Assign volunteers.

Example: Voter contact.

Objective: Identify 500 voters’ preferences in the next three days
Tactic: Phonebanking

1. List of tasks
a. Calling voters
2. Calculate time requirements
a. You know (or we’ll assume):
i. 30 calls/hour
ii. 33% avg. contact rate
iii. 80% response rate
iv. 8 voters ID’d/hour
v. 500 voters ID’d = 62.5 hours of calling
3. You have call hours arranged for three shifts, 5:30–8:30 p.m.
a. One person calling for one shift = 24 voters ID’d.
b. You need 21 (20.83) shifts filled.
c. 7 volunteers calling on 7 phones for 3 hours each in the next 3
days accomplishes your objective.
4. Assign volunteers
a. Do you have 7 scheduled to come in? Will you need to recruit
them?

A good campaign does the math.

The above is an example of a small objective with only one major task. More
complex objectives require more planning (see the planning section of this train-
ing). If you do the math, you’ll be able to predict and troubleshoot any potential
problems or shortfalls (if, in the above example, you only had five phones, you
would realize you could have a problem and fix it before it’s too late).


1:15–2:20 p.m.
Data and Data Mining for GOTV
Banking the Vote with GITV
Sandra Ramos, Sarah John

DATA AND DATA MINING
FOR GOTV
BANKING THE VOTE WITH GITV


Data – Numbers! Numbers! Numbers!
The key to a successful campaign

Lets face some real facts!

All politics is local.

Most people look at the Blue and the Red in terms of the whole nation.
This is a terrible mistake.

Do you know your state?


Take another look at America!
Make your message clear to the parts that matter!

What can you expect in terms of output from your county?

The Electorate
The foundation of any campaign is an accurate vote count. The first step in that
process is determining registration and probable turnout for the race. Check with
the elections department or registrar of voters for the county in which your elec-
tion is being held.

How many voters can you expect to be working with?


So, How Do You Do It?
First you will need to contact your County Registrar and get the voter file (“WITH
HISTORY”) from them of all persons who have requested absentee ballots for your
election.
Find your Registrar.
Get to know her/him; s/he is your friend.

Find a Data Person.
You must find the data person who will get you the data you need.

Tasks to be done:
1) Get the Voter File from your County. Local County Central Committees have a
free copy that you can get, or you may need to make arrangements to buy it by
getting an in-kind contribution of the file.
2) Then you must get the copy of the Absentee Ballot Request List, which is a
separate file, and it will cost. The file type will depend on the county data system.
You must find out how often this absentee file is renewed with data.
3) Your job is to identify the cost and get the files donated in-kind or buy them
yourself and submit an in-kind contribution form to the campaign.
The cost of the files will vary from county to county.
4) When you get the Voter File, first dump all members of opposing parties from the
file (keep Independents and “Declined To State Party Affiliation” voters).
They are not in your universe. Keep the dumped file in an archive; you will need it
later.
5) When you get your absentee file, run it against the cleaned-up Voter File and
dump all members of opposing parties from the file; again, they are not in your
universe. Remember that your county may or may not have the resources to do
calling of all voters. Your job is making sure that you have a list that is usable.
Remember, 78% of all absentee voters will vote. THIS GROUP OF VOTERS
ARE THE PRIORITY. Your job will be to update the file and keep the callers
and walkers with the most current data.
6) Check the dump against the archived file to make sure that you purged all the
members of opposing parties out.
7) Next set up your absentee file in whatever database program you are using for a
call walk sheet.


Get-In-The-Vote (GITV)
Data: the lonely, thankless job.

Do Absentee Voters Vote?
The answer is yes— when they are asked!

The reality is that many absentee voters return their ballots as soon as they
get them. Why are they not being pulled out of the robocalls and GOTV
mail? The answer is simple: somebody will lose money! Mail and media con-
sultants are not paid to win the election; they are paid for their products.

Voters make up their minds and vote when they want to!
GOTV begins when absentee ballots are received. Not on Election Day!


Working with Data for GITV and GOTV

Eight Weeks Before Election
Get the Voter Files and set them up.
Prepare the initial absentee ballot walk/call lists.
Run the Voter File against the Absentee File to fill in missing phone numbers.
o If you have a reverse directory available to you, run the missing voters
and get the missing phone numbers.
Get the call/walk lists to the Volunteer Coordinator.
Get the total voter number list by precinct to the Campaign Coordinator.
Establish a spreadsheet by precinct of absentee ballots to retrieve campaign
targets in each precinct.

Six Weeks Before Election
Get the new absentee file from the county and add all new persons who have
requested absentee ballots.

Four Weeks Before Election
Get the new absentee file and add all new persons and remove all persons who
have voted.
Print new call sheets for each precinct or print a list of all who have been added
and voted so that volunteers can add or remove voters.

Two Weeks Before Election
Get the new absentee file, add all new persons, and remove all who have voted.

One Week Before Election
Get the new absentee file, add all new persons, and remove all who have voted.

Election Day
Get the new absentee file, add all new persons, and remove all voters who have
voted.


Print new call sheets for each precinct noting the outstanding absentee ballots
and all identified and targeted voters for Election Day.


Get-Out-The-Vote
GOTV is the culmination of all of your campaign’s work. You have conducted an ongo-
ing conversation with the voters. Your campaign plan identifies how many votes you
need to win. Through targeted, direct, and personal voter contact you have identified each
of your supporters. You have run an aggressive absentee/vote-by-mail/early vote effort.
Now it is time to get your supporters who haven’t voted to the polls.

GOTV is not the time for persuasion. Now is the time for get-
ting your supporters to the polls. On to Election Day!
Election Day Assignments
Remember what we discussed earlier when we covered election day assignments?
You will need the following to run a good Election Day operation:

GOTV director
•
Office staff
•
Precinct captains (precinct leaders)
•
Phoners
•
Poll watchers
•
Passers
•
Drivers
•

You will get a flood of folks who are used to showing up for Election Day.
By then, you will have won the election, but it’s OK to get them to work anyway!


MAP MADNESS!
Cutting Turf is Not Mowing the Lawn!
Sarah John

Why Map?

Resources are limited: Time, People, Money!

• Good maps save Time!
• Good maps save People! Increase volunteer efficiency and improve their
experience of being on the street: they’ll come back for more!
• Good maps save Money! Get the job done the first time = less mail, fewer
calls, more votes!

Good maps increase turnout! You win!

Nuts and Bolts
• Goal: provide canvass teams with quick, efficient, accurate means to reach
voters.
• Use for ID/persuasion canvass, lit drops, GOTV, candidate walks, registra-
tion drives.
• Some folks are geographically challenged. Make it possible for them to
help you by mapping and routing for them.
• Tool Kit: Map Point, MapQuest, Streets and Trips, Google Maps, ADC
Book Maps, AAA. Swiss Army Knife.
• Most campaigns work forwards: Sort out voters, make a map, find how to
get to them. Must redo with every new set of voter ID’s or change in uni-
verse.
• Must redo with every new campaign. Many last-minute hours staring at
maps to find locations and sort voter lists.
• Often canvassers are just given a list and a county map—the “do it your-
self” method.
• Don’t do this!
• Time, People . . .


Tool Kit

maps.google.com
• Nice maps!
• Can easily shift map area with mouse.
• All streets named.
• Can’t export image.
• Can’t import large files, pins addresses 1 by 1 only.

Mappoint.msn.com
• Must search set address.
• Hard to read.
• Unnamed streets or lost perspective.
• Can’t import files.

MapQuest.com
• Poor magnification, less detail.
• Can’t import large files.
• Directions can be inaccurate.
• Easy to find given address location.
• Tool Kit.

Streets and Trips
$50 software must be installed.
•
Entire country! Enlarges as desired with dragpoints.
•
Shows one-ways, obstacles, street breaks.
•
Can import large pinpoint files and locate them easily.
•
Can export list of voter names and addresses onto map as data im-
•
port file.
• Multiple locations can then be routed visually.
• Can be routed using buttons on program for limited routes (yard
signs), but this feature is not very useful for voter ID routes.

Swiss Army Knife combination tool.


Precincts or Districts?
Working a District where you will cover the entire territory is different from indi-
vidual precinct work. You will hit every street at some time. However, your organiza-
tion will be improved by using precinct maps for both efforts.

• Overlay the boundaries of the precinct, and draw boundaries clearly on the
map. Label the top with precinct name, number, ward, CD, magisterial dis-
trict, other identifiers. Multiple copies.
• Verbal descriptions can be challenging! But they can help when schematic
is confusing or area is complex.
• Divide area into natural groupings: by neighborhoods, by street groupings,
by geographic barriers, by highway barriers. This requires a good look at
the map with thought to travel connections. Use S&T to locate travel obsta-
cles (one-ways, frontage roads, streams, etc).
• If possible, drive the area!

Kindergarten es Gut!

• Color each split to help it stand out on the map. Provide multiple copies, at
least one per team, no less than two.
• Stay within the lines! Don’t send a team outside of the precinct boundary
except in very rare circumstances ( e.g. road doesn’t connect within its own
precinct).
• Make master list, alphabetical, every street or road in precinct. Excel is very
nice for this!
• Make separate list of streets for each grouping or “split” or “cut.” Mark the
“split” number on master list as well. Print one sort as master, one sort by
split number, then alphabetic.

Keep It Simple!

• Obtain the registered voter file from the electoral board, auditor of elec-
tions, state party, or county committee. Data should include name, address,
birth date, primary voting history.
• Tag the voter file with information from phone banks, earlier campaigns,
and events—support, volunteer, yard signs, issues.


It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over!

• Beat Feet on the street or drive to voters as most efficient for your area.
• Return to office and retrieve all maps, routes, markers, pens, info from teams.
• Debrief for any problems or problem areas.
• Feed and water your teams. Thank them!

After the Ball…

• Capture your data after every canvass! Do not rely on “the Precinct captain
knows everybody”!
• Data entry of all new ID’s, all changes to household information (deceased,
moved, new voters).
• Capture any info re: issues that matter to the household. Yard signs? Absentee?
Will they volunteer for you?

Swiss Army Maps

• Routes can be permanent if you will be covering an entire district, every door.
• If only going to ID’d doors (may be only your voters and/or only persuadable
voters), then routes themselves may vary as ID’d households are added during
a campaign, and will vary again with next campaign/election. But…..
• The maps and splits never change until there are new streets, new boundaries.
• No last-minute all-night sessions to cut turf.
• Once it’s done, it’s done.
• This will save you many hours during each election campaign, which adds up
over a ten-year districting cycle: People, Money, Time!

Rules of the Road

• An average canvas team can cover 75 houses per hour for lit drop. Slower if more
rural or voter contact.
• Never, ever, send out a lone canvasser.
• Teams can do odds/evens or leap frog, but members stay in sight of each other and
don’t enter homes.


Walking Precincts

In this campaign there will be little time, if any, for walking precincts, but assum-
ing that there is some (you always have to be ready), the data person will be re-
quired to produce a precinct list that includes all voters registered to your party as
well as Independent voters with the walk list based upon the phone exemplar.

Each walker will be given a precinct that is set up to be walked.

The script is simple:

Hi. Is Mr./Ms. ___________ at home?

I am campaigning for _________________.

Have you made up your mind yet?

[If they say “no” then say . . . ]

I am voting for __________ [or issue campaign] because s/he has
the best chance of beating ___________ and has always been the
only candidate who has demonstrated fiscal responsibility by
balancing the budget while providing health care for everyone.

Can I count on your vote on Election Day?

[Mark the household on your list with yes, no, or undecided. Keep
walking.]

Thank you for your time.

If it is early in the campaign and you have more time to talk, the contact can
grow into a longer conversation with a swing voter. If you have such a luxury,
take a minute to review the “Talking To Swing Voters” guide, prepared by
Todd Smyth, included in the Addenda.


Phone Banks

You are already behind!
You need to hit the ground running.

The phone bank is one of the most commonly used forms of voter contact
for voter identification and voter turnout.
These can also be used to recruit volunteers, raise money, and build crowds
for events.
The field director should determine which precincts or which voters are to be
called each night.
The phone bankers should make the calls in priority order.

Once you decide what part phone banking is going to play in your overall voter
contact program, you then need to determine:

how many phone calls you need to make,
the number of identification phone calls and GITV calls,
how many phones you will need to complete the calls,
and then calculate the number of phones and hours it will take to do the job.

Once you’ve calculated the number of calls and number of phones you need, you
should decide whether you want to make the calls through volunteers on your
own phone bank or use volunteers phoning at home.

Let’s face it: this is going to be a cell phone operation.
The cheapest way to make calls is to use volunteers making calls from home or at
a central location using cell phones.
“At home” phoners are the least reliable of all phoners.
o Volunteers phoning from home require a lot more supervision, and it is un-
likely that all but the best volunteers will complete all of their calls.
A good strategy is to use paid phones to call your most important target areas or
voters, and then use volunteers to call the less crucial areas.


Phone Bank Location

The location should have room for a separate break area. The phone bank
coordinator should be present when the phones are being put in to make sure they
are installed in the correct location.

Phone-Bank Location Checklist

Is it safe?
Does it have adequate heating and air conditioning?
Does the building have enough phone lines and cable pairs?
Are the acoustics good in the room where you are putting in the phones?
Is there a rest room available?
Is there free or accessible parking?
Can you get there by public transportation?
Is the building accessible to the disabled?
Are there tables and chairs?
What else can you think of?

Phone Bank Coordinator: Supervision Is Critical!

The phone bank coordinator or volunteer coordinator should listen to each
phoner as he or she makes the first few calls. Not everyone is suited for
phone calling.
The phone bank coordinator is responsible for making sure the phone bank
is full.
The coordinator should schedule two to three shifts a day.
Remember to recruit twice as many volunteers as you have phones.
It is the job of the volunteer coordinator to make sure that each phone bank
location and volunteer has the right phone lists to call.
Clear instruction should be given on the method used by the campaign to
mark the phone lists. The marking systems should be displayed promi-
nently on the walls in front of each phone.


Phone-Bank Kit

Sign in sheets
Script
Instructions
Voter list on paper or computer list on computers
Tally sheet
Fact sheet
Cue cards
Volunteer cards
In-kind contribution cards

Phone Rules: Make sure you understand what you are doing.

Smile—they can tell.
Make calls in priority order.
Stick to the script.
Use a uniform marking system.
Don’t get into prolonged discussions; move on.
Allow for five rings.
Ask to speak to an adult.
Leave the sheet blank if the phone was busy or if no one was home.
If you get a wrong number, don’t cross the name off. Try to find the correct
number elsewhere.

IMPORTANT: Most phoning should take place during the evening hours
(6:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) and all day Saturday (10:00 a.m. –
9:00 p.m.). Sunday calling is acceptable in some areas, but not
in others. Also, daytime phoning during the week is an option,
particularly if you are falling behind schedule. You will have
to concentrate on voters over 65 during the day, as they are the
ones at home.

What do you say when you call a voter from a phone bank?
In a normal campaign a script for a straight identification call is used. But we don’t
have time for that. In GITV and GOTV we know that there will be thousands of vot-
ers with ballots in their homes. Your job is to harvest them.


Sample Phone Tally Report Sheet:

Item Today Cumulative

Number Hours Called
Total Calls Placed
Busy – No Answers
Total Calls Completed
Total Yes
Total No
Total Undecided
Total Voted

Supervisor’s Instructions For Phone Bank

As supervisor of the phone bank, you will be responsible for all phoning activity
and the general productivity of the phone bank.

You will be calling from lists of registered voters in the targeted pre-
cincts.
o The phone coordinator will give your phoning lists to you.
You will be responsible for keeping your phones filled during all phon-
ing hours.
You will need to hold a training session for your phoners the first night.
o This need only last about one-half hour.
o Rehearse the phone message with volunteers, instruct them in
marking the tally sheets, etc.
Run shifts for 4 hours.
Assign phoners on a shift basis each day.
Be pleasant and courteous.
Encourage your phoners constantly.
Reward good performance.
Be watchful for trouble areas with phoners.
It is your responsibility to total all tally sheets and compute the statisti-
cal evaluation sheets. Do this at the end of each shift.
Collect special request forms periodically.
o Don’t let them pile up.
o Refer them to whoever will do follow-up with more information
about your candidate, issue, or campaign.


Vote by Mail Script
Callers, remember: you are the voice of the campaign; you must sound courteous to the
rude, apologetic to the angry, and bring a smile into the house that you are calling. Think
of being on the other end of this call yourself at dinnertime. Make sure that you rest
every twenty calls. If you are tired or upset, it will show in your voice. If you have any
questions, stop and ask your team leader.

Reaffirmation script:

Hi, my name is________, and I’m a volunteer with the ______ Campaign.
I am sorry to bother you. May I ask, have you sent in your mail-in ballot?

(If yes, say thank you and hang up, mark your call sheet “voted,” and go on to the next
voter. If they say they haven’t received it yet or if they haven’t mailed it in yet, say….)

I need your help; I am calling you to ask you to join me and other voters
in choosing ____________________. Have you made up your mind on
who you are voting for?
(If they say anything really negative, apologize for bothering them and hang up and mark
your call sheet “no.” If they say they are a supporter, you say…)

It is important to make sure that all the ballots are postmarked by
_________. Is there anything I can do to help you cast your ballot?

(Mark your sheet “yes” and say thanks for your support, and keep dialing.)

(If they say they are undecided, say…)

One of the reasons I am voting for ___________ is that s/he was the first
__________ to ____________________. S/He is the only candidate who
has balanced a budget, created thousands of jobs, and provided health
care for all of the residents of his state. He has inspired the largest
grassroots organization in the country, forever revolutionizing the
American political process.
(If they say they still haven’t made up their mind, say…)
OK, but remember to vote by [Date]. We need for you to show the [the
Other Guys] that we are focused on _______________.
(Mark your sheet “undecided” and say thanks for taking the call, and keep dialing.)


Typical Election Day Schedule
Be there at 5:00 a.m. on Election Day.
Continue Mail-In Ballot Drive through GOTV. Drivers begin distributing doorknock-
ers, and precinct captains arrive at polling place. Captains put up signs at key locations
around the polling place. Poll watchers arrive at 5:30 a.m. and supervise the preparations
to open the polls.

7 a.m. Polls Open
Poll watchers and passers are in place.
Poll watchers begin crossing off names, and passers begin handing out
sample ballots.
Precinct captains phone in to the headquarters and advise that every-
thing is running smoothly.
Captains then buy coffee and doughnuts for their workers and the
judges.
9 a.m. Calls Begin
Phone calls to supporters start from various locations and continue
throughout the day.
1 p.m. Lunch
Precinct captain buys lunch for volunteers.
2 p.m. Second Run
Poll watcher gives precinct captain the index cards for all positive vot-
ers who have not voted.
Precinct captain gives cards to drivers who visit supporter homes and
give election reminders.
Precinct captain calls in to the office.
Field director may give orders to move volunteers according to poll
watcher results.
5 p.m. Third Run
Precinct captain gives cards to drivers who visit supporter homes and
give election reminders.
Precinct captain calls in to the office.
Field director may give orders to move volunteers according to poll
watcher results.
6 p.m. Dragging Voters to the Polls
Precinct captain gives these cards to drivers who drag any remaining
voters to the polls.
7 p.m. Polls Close
Poll watcher and precinct captain supervise the ballot counting.

Volunteers clean up signs and other campaign literature around the polls.


Sample Election Day Scripts
To identified supporters only: Make sure that you have the polling place for this precinct in a
clear place for you to see.

First Call (8 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

“Hello, Mr./Mrs./Ms.___________? This is _________. I’m calling for __________.
The election today will be very close and _____________ will need your vote. Can we
give you a ride to the polls, or help you vote in any other way?” (If an absentee voter,
say…Please take your ballot to any polling place and turn it in.)

IF YES: (Fill out service slip / Q slip and give it to the appropriate person.)

IF NO: “As you know, you vote at ________ and you can vote until ____________.
Please do vote today, Mr./ Mrs. / Ms. ____________. Goodbye.”

IF VOTED: “Thanks for voting.” Mark on the sheet.

Second Call (2 p.m. to 5 p.m.)

“Hello, Mr. / Mrs. / Ms. ___________? This is __________. I’m calling for _______.
We called this morning, but since then we have found out that not many people have
voted yet, so your vote is doubly important. Is there anything we can do to help you
vote? A ride?”


IF NO: “As you know, you vote at ________ and you can vote until ____________.
Please do vote today, Mr. / Mrs. / Ms. ______________. Goodbye.”


Third and Last Call (5 p.m. to Closing)

“Hi, Mr. / Mrs. _____________. This is ____________. The voting looks to be very
close, so ____________ really needs your vote. Can we give you a ride to the polls?”


IF NO: “OK, but please vote before ________ . There are only _____________ min-
utes left to vote. You vote at____________. Thank you, Mr./ Mrs. / Ms.
____________. Goodbye.”


2:30–3:30 pm Workshops I // 3:40–4:40 pm Workshops II
(choose one session per period from the following)

• Earned Media for Grassroots Activism
Bill Moyer and Brett Heath-Wlaz

• Activating Your Base
Quintus Jett and Megan Matson

• Maximizing Year-Round Visibility and Productivity
Nathan González


Earned Media for Grassroots Activism
Bill Moyer and Brett Heath-Wlaz

EARNED MEDIA
FOR GRASSROOTS ACTIVISM


The Communications Model

Campaign Message

PRESS
CAMPAIGN VOTER

Feedback

What is your campaign about?

Theme and Message
Theme

The overarching rationale for your candidacy—the answer to the question,
“Why you, now?”
Races with incumbents are about the incumbent!

The challenger must argue change.
Reagan,1980: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”

The incumbent must argue continuity.
Reagan, 1984: “It’s morning in America.”
Lincoln, 1864: “...Best not to change horses in the middle of a stream”

Carter vs. Ford Change
•
Carter vs. Reagan Continuity
•
Mondale vs. Reagan Change
•
Dukakis vs. Bush Change
•
Clinton vs. Bush Change
•
Clinton vs. Dole Continuity
•
Kerry v. Bush Change
•


Message: The message is a set of facts that reinforces your campaign theme.

Your campaign plan is a series of communications.
• Each message should reinforce a larger theme.
• Each message should be as personal as possible.
• You are trying to build a bridge between the candidate and the voters; each
message is one support of that bridge.

The Message Box

Think and anticipate “SWOT” (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).

What we say about us: What we say about them:

What they say about us: What they say about themselves:

Our theme:

Our message:


Now that you know your campaign’s theme and message, it is your job to repeat
that message in every communication with the voter.
27–9–3
Now that you have an idea on how to develop your campaign’s theme and mes-
sage, how do you best best convey your message to the people?

In 27 words in 9 seconds to make 3 points.

27 – 9 – 3

The 27-9-3 rule forces you to use clear and concise language and allows for easy
and consistent repetition. Give it a try.

Develop for yourself a 27-9-3 message for:

What do Democrats stand for?

What’s so great about Social Security?

Why do you deserve a raise?


Why are you totally justified in getting a new _________? (e.g., pair of shoes,
new car)


Message in the Field
The Five “C”s: Concise, Clear, Consistent, Convincing, and Contrastive

A campaign will spend the majority of its resources trying to get the candidate’s mes-
sage out to the right set of target voters. You must know what the message is and be able
to restate it. Remember, in many communities you are the campaign. Local press will
look to you for advice and input into the story. You have to know what is going on if
you are going to be quoted.

Good Messages are CONCISE.
27-9-3. Go directly to the point. Avoid the complicated syllogisms. A good
message can be expressed in a few phrases.

Good Messages are CLEAR.
Use stark language. Leave no doubt about whose side you are on. Earned Me-
dia must complement and reinforce what is being said by the candidate and
paid media. This can only happen if you are clear.

Good Messages are CONSISTENT.
Repeat, repeat, and repeat. Voter are barraged with a steady stream of conflict-
ing information every day. You have a very small window of opportunity to
reach the voter. Having multiple messages dilutes your ability to deliver a con-
sistent theme. You must stay on message and repeat that message over and
over and over again. Your message must be consistent and reinforcing.

Good Messages are CONVINCING.
Never, never, never lie. No short-term advantage gained through lying is worth
the loss of credibility that occurs when caught in a lie, but truth is not enough.
Voters must believe what you are saying; you must be credible. You risk
credibility trying to convince voters of something they do not believe or care
about. Is your message about something they care about?

Good Messages are CONTRASTIVE.
Your goal is to draw a distinction between you and your opponent. Voters need
to have a basis on which to decide between you and the other(s); your job is to
provide favorable contrast. Remember that you are battling for the moral high
ground, so your message should be based on values. The practices, policies,
and history of the candidate are there to help you reinforce your message.

Campaign communications in the field involves public policy issues and positions.
Your job is to clearly establish in the voter’s mind a clear impression about your


candidate or issue. Your candidate or spokesperson must be seen as sharing voters’
values and beliefs.
What is “Media”? A mediated mode of communications. For our purposes, the
media is an amplifier, a tool for getting out our message.

Your Press Secretary or Communications Director should be the only person
who handles press inquiries, writes press releases, and frames issues for the
speechwriters.

It’s all about the message!

Control the Middle Box
Who’s in the middle box?
♦ Reporters
♦ Editors
♦ Publishers and Owners

Nine Steps to Controlling the Middle Box
1. Be honest and straightforward, and stay on message.

2. Keep the message clear.

3. Speak to your issues.

4. Speak with one voice.

5. Funnel questions to the candidate.

6. Refer appropriate questions to experts; help the Media get the story. (And don’t

forget the VNR if you can afford it!)

7. Let humor evolve naturally; don’t force it.

8. Remember that everything you say will be used against you.

9. Be prepared; become a trusted resource. Think Out of the Box!


Press Relations
Your job is to communicate with the voters. The reporter’s job is to communicate
with the voters about you and your race. Controlling the middle box requires an
understanding and appreciation of the reporter’s job. It also means that the cam-
paign must actively seek out and nurture a relationship with the reporters, editors,
and news organizations that will cover it.

Earned Media is the campaign’s attempt to deliver its message to the voter via a
credible third party: the news media. As with all communications where a third
party is interposed between the sender and receiver, success depends on our ability
to control the middle box in the communications model.

Earned Media Is Credible!
(Third-Party Validation)

What’s news?

Your news items should be:
♦ Relevant—People have to care about it.
♦ Quotable—Think 27-9-3.
♦ Sensory—You understand the story beyond just the words.
♦ Innovative—Find a unique focus to set the stage for your message.
♦ Timely—News is Now!

Earned Media Includes:
♦ News articles/segments—any reported story in the paper or on the air
♦ Letters to the editor (LTEs), op-eds, and editorial endorsements
♦ Radio and TV interviews and appearances
♦ Talk radio call-ins
♦ Public service announcements (PSAs)


ORGANIZATIONAL CHARTS
FOR TRADITIONAL MEDIA

TELEVISION
Owner
AND RADIO

Manager

Community Affairs
News Director

Assignment
Anchors Reporters Producers
Desk Editor

Publisher
PRINT
(newspapers)
Managing Editor

Columnists
Editorial International City Editorial National
Desk Editor
Page Desk Board Desk
Editor Editor Members Editor


Know your story to target your contact.
Should you call the Assignment Desk Editor or the City Desk?

All stories are local – even if they get national media!
No matter how big the story, always find the local angle.

Working with the Press
Managing Relationships
Do you have to like the reporters who cover you? No, and they do not have to like
you. Your relationship is based on a mutual need to communicate with voters and
readers. Develop and manage your relationship with the press based on a mutual
understanding of your roles and professional respect.
Do it early in the cycle – credibility takes time to build.
While you should always be friendly, rarely if ever think that reporters are your
friends; or if they are, they are chatty ones! Don’t give cause for a misunderstand-
ing, don’t try to force a reporter to take a partisan bias in your favor. Yours is a
relationship of mutual benefit. But only if you work at it. Understand that and de-
velop it. Reporters may become your enemy if they feel slighted, if they think they
are being lied to, or otherwise dealt with in an unprofessional manner. Undertake a
concerted campaign to develop and nurture a relationship with the most important
reporters.

Rules for Working the Press

Never lie. Even shading the truth can come back to haunt you and open up
your character as a question on the campaign.
There is no “off the record.” If you want to say something off the record,
don’t say it. Find another way to get it into the dialogue.
Stay on message. Strategy demands that you engage your opponent on issues
that favor your candidate’s election. Do not get moved onto the opponent’s is-
sues.
Meet deadlines. Reporters work on deadlines. Know and honor them.
Be prepared. Anticipate the reporter’s questions. Figure out how you are go-
ing to state your message when a reporter tries to move you off of it.


Be quotable. This may mean being clever, insightful, or witty. It always means
being brief.
Remember that in campaigns, as in life, truth is an elusive concept and an elusive
target. Understand that any issue can be framed in multiple ways. Framing is a
small part of the larger skill of messaging and communicating with the media.

All our communications with the media should keep in mind that the whole cam-
paign is telling a story. All our communications should reinforce that story. Frame
the truth using your language, your points, and your quotes.

Press Tools
A reporter’s job is to cover the news. You can’t help them do their job if you are
not making any. Not everything you submit will get covered. You increase your
chance of coverage if your news is relevant, quotable, visual, innovative, and
timely.
Relevant. Does your story matter to voters? Is it connected to current news?
Quotable. Is there a quote that carries your message? Is it witty?
Visual. Does the setting of your news tell a story? Does the candidate look
natural in the setting?
Innovative. Is the event new and unusual? Is it easy for the press to cover?
Timely. Does your news speak to what is happening now?

Read previous articles written by reporters assigned to your campaign. Listen to
political talk radio and call-in programs. Get an idea of how you think the reporter
will cover the race.

Media Advisory
Media advisories are informational statements of the candidate’s schedule of up-
coming events. They are a “heads up” to the media, so that they can prepare to
cover your campaign. Advisories should follow the same format as the press re-
lease, but clearly state “Media Advisory” at the top center of the page.

Statement
A comment attributed to the candidate about a news event.

Press Release


This is the basic tool of the press operation. It must be newsworthy, well-written,
and concise. The press release is your message written the way you would like to
see it in the press.

The press release should include:
Campaign name
Contact person with phone number and email address
Dateline (e.g. September 12, 2003—Las Vegas, NV)
Headline—a succinct statement: message of the release

The release should be printed on campaign stationery and should be no longer than
one double-spaced 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper. Use legal-size stationery if you need
more space.

—SAMPLE PRESS RELEASE—

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Joe Smith, 802-555-1234
Friday, April 1, 2005 joesmith@mail.com

Democracy for Vermont Fights to Protect Social Security
Local Group Urges Congressman Sanders to Reject the President’s Plan

BURLINGTON, VT – Today, members of Democracy for Vermont (DFV) delivered
individual testimonials of the impact Social Security has had on the lives of local citizens
to Representative Bernie Sanders, urging him to reject the President’s plan to privatize
the system.

“America’s Social Security plan has been one of the most successful Democratic
programs in our country’s history,” said Joe Smith, Head of the Democracy for America
Burlington Meetup. “As these testimonials portray, Social Security has been a safety net
for millions of Americans, and we think that Congressman Sanders should be aware of
the views of his constituents.”

In an effort to protect this critical institution from destruction and guarantee a
dignified retirement for all, Democracy for America (DFA), TrueMajority ACTION and
local Meetup groups across the country have started a campaign to gather stories from
local citizens highlighting the impact that Social Security has had on their lives.
Throughout the month of April, members from these groups will be meeting with their
local and state representatives to voice their opposition to the President’s privatization
plan.


For more information, please contact: Joe Smith at (802) 555-1234 or
joesmith@mail.com.

###

—SAMPLE PRESS RELEASE—


Activating Your Base
Quintus Jeff and Megan Matson

Activating Your Base
Building the Base through Branded Actions
Myths about Outreach:
Can We Build Rainbow Coalitions?


Building the Base through Branded Actions
Megan Matson

Building your base through strategic, branded, bite-size, and open-source actions around
common-ground issues to get more new people hooked on localized participation on a
national level. Focus is given to the urgency of establishing systematic outreach to un-
registered likely progressive voters through the maximum leveraging of volunteerism
combined with strategies from the for-profit world of marketing. Concluding with the
imperative of energizing while informing, and the utility of distilling overwhelming,
generalized issues down to tangible, specific actions.

Myths about Outreach: Can We Build Rainbow Coalitions?
Quintus Jett

Miniature breakouts (2–4 people each) to verbally share experiences, interactively de-
veloping a collection of these experiences into a public list in real time as well as a
larger group discussion and summary to conclude.


Maximizing Year-Round Visibility and Productivity
Nathan González

MAXIMIZING YEAR-
ROUND VISIBILITY AND
PRODUCTIVITY


Maximizing Visibility and Productivity
Nathan González

The Democratic Party is losing market share. This is clear. Over the past twelve
years, we’ve seen a steady decrease in the percentage of voters registered and vot-
ing as Democrats. Even before losing control of the House, Senate, and Executive,
traditional Democratic others were growing increasingly alienated from the formal
Party Structure. But we must hold onto our base, in both the red and blue areas,
and create a reason for others to join and work with us.

Maximizing Year-Round Democratic Visibility and
Grassroots Productivity

We must be visible in order to promote the Democratic agenda twenty-four hours
a day, seven days a week, and three hundred sixty-five days a year in every state
and county in the nation. Activists need to work in concert with the Democratic
Party’s national, state, and county committees; district committees; and Dem-
ocratic clubs in ways we have never done before. By doing so, we will be able to
integrate the new grassroots dynamic that has so invigorated the political scene
since 2003 with those who have been there through thick and thin and have the
wisdom and knowledge to guide us to those goals in 2006, 2008, and beyond.

Newfound progressive activism gives us the passion to reach new heights. Groups
such as Democracy for America, the Progressive Democrats of America, and other
organizations, constituency groups, and gender and sexual rights organizations—
all are now a part of the organization we call Democrats. We must open our arms
and welcome everyone to the Democratic Party table so that we can harness our
energies—not fragment them—nor duplicate our efforts or put our time, money,
and other resources into efforts to reach goals that are unattainable. In other words,
we must set our priorities straight and learn to maximize our productivity by
accepting the reality of our present—facing it head on and with courage and con-
viction.

In order to enact this Greater Vision for Democracy, we must work to find ways to
incorporate both Democratic politics and all the other aspects of the progressive
movement. It takes a plan of action that includes allowing each of us to discover
our niche or purpose, empowering our purpose through support in building our
communities, and then integrating our communities in a peaceful and practical
manner. By networking and connecting groups across the country, both those po-
litically entrenched in the Democratic party and those that may not be, we can cre-
ate the larger community movement that will ultimately change the direction in
which our country is headed. By learning from each other how we can enhance all

our efforts, we will ultimately create one powerful and polished package. All the
pieces of this movement, however diverse and different as they may seem, are
equally important to the fabric of our society. They are the foundation of our na-
tion. By working together in a spirit which embraces the ideals we have in com-
mon and uniting through our communities by sharing our connections and our re-
sources, we will not only elect more Democratic candidates and have a say in the
political system; we will also create a more citizen-powered America.


4:45–5:00 p.m.
Q&A, Wrap-Up
Sandra Ramos, Pam Paul, Ralph Miller


ADDENDA
I. About Root Camp™
II. A Race Well Run:
A Guide for First-Time Candidates Running
for Public Office
III. Talking to Swing Voters


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