• Canvassing Rural Areas

    Nov 08, 2021 by Ben Holse (he/him)

    canvassing

    Canvassing Rural Areas: Door to Door Is Not the Same Everywhere

    Canvassing rural areas present a unique set of challenges. You want to door knock as many homes in these areas as you can. Grassroots canvassing is the most effective method of volunteer voter contact so plan for the door-to-door canvas program to take time and resources. You also want to be conscious of your resources and canvas in a way that makes sense for both you and your canvassers. Below are some of our favorite grassroots campaigning suggestions to overcome the challenges of rural canvassing:

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  • Grassroots Campaign - Mitigating Virtual Volunteer Flake Rate

    Mar 01, 2021 by Ben Holse (he/him)

    Grassroots campaign volunteers having a meeting over a video call

    Grassroots Campaign Planning - Get Your Virtual Volunteers to Come Back

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  • Grassroots Organization: Make Your Volunteers Feel Valued

    May 01, 2017 by Elena Veatch

    grassroots

    Grassroots Organization: Volunteers Are the Heart and Soul- Treat Them That Way.

    Volunteer recruitment is a crucial component of any strong grassroots organization. Whether these folks are phone banking, canvassing, or staffing events- your volunteer base (or lack thereof) can make (or break) your campaign.

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  • List Building for Nonprofits | Organizational Best Practices

    Jan 09, 2017

    list-building best practices photo

    List Building for Nonprofits: Tips to Build a Movement 

    List building for nonprofits is extremely important. These are people you can turn to for donations, taking action on your behalf, volunteering, and more. When list building, it’s important that you follow a few best practices. This will ensure you’re getting the best possible supporters and doing so in the best possible way.

    1.  Never, ever buy a list. Buying an email list may seem like a fast and easy way for list building for nonprofits, but almost always this is a bad idea. First of all, the people on a list you buy haven’t opted into receiving emails from you. They may not even know what your organization is or be a supporter of your cause. This will lead to more people unsubscribing. Second of all, most bulk email systems (the good ones) will not allow purchased lists to be uploaded into their systems. This is to prevent spam. Don’t be a spammer!

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  • GOTV: What To Do With Your Leaners

    Nov 01, 2016 by Ben Holse (he/him)

    Get Out The Vote Tips

    A GOTV Question for the Ages – What to Do With Your "2s"?

    ID-ing your supporters is an important part of any field campaign especially for GOTV. There are a variety of ways for Voter ID to help Get Out The Vote. One common method of voter ID using a 1-6 scale to measure each individual’s support score, with 1 being a solid supporter, 3 undecided, 5 firmly opposed, and a 6 not home.

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  • What Is Paid Canvassing and Do I Want Some?

    Apr 09, 2015 by The Campaign Workshop

    paid canvassing

    Spoiler: You PROBABLY Want Paid Canvassing

    This may come as a shock to many people, but not every political campaign has people lining up to volunteer like President Barack Obama’s did. In fact, that was the rare exception, and for many campaigns, getting more than a handful of volunteers is a miracle. We know that high-quality, face-to-face canvassing is the best tool in our arsenal for both persuasion and turn out, but not every campaign has the footprint to cover a robust field operation using volunteers or campaign staff alone. In fact, many won’t. That’s where paid canvassing comes in.

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  • Engaging Your Campaign Supporter List

    Mar 03, 2014 by Ben Holse (he/him)

    campaign supporter racoon

    Building a Campaign Supporter List: Keep Your Campaign Supporters Engaged!

    Your organization has developed a strong campaign supporter list. That’s great news! Now let’s make sure we keep your campaign supporters involved with your campaign or cause. Email is undoubtedly one effective method of communicating with your campaign supporters. There are, however, a variety of other ways to engage with your campaign supporter list as well. Here are a few suggestions:

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  • Tips to Mitigate Volunteer Flake Rate in Your Grassroots Campaign

    Oct 17, 2013 by Ben Holse (he/him)

    5 Tips for Reducing Campaign Volunteer Flake Rate

    Stop Grassroots Volunteers From Bailing

     Running a grassroots campaign is hard. There are always going to be grassroots volunteers who sign up for shifts and do not show up. That’s why when organizing an event, you can generally assume a 50% flake rate (percentage of grassroots volunteers who do not show up for their shift).  More often than not, however, with the right coaxing, you can get a volunteer, who would have otherwise failed, to turn out for their shift. Below are a few suggestions to help you to mitigate your flake rate.

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  • Canvassing Rural Areas

    Sep 16, 2013 by Ben Holse (he/him)

    Canvassing Rural Areas image

    Canvassing Rural Areas: Door to Door Is Not the Same Everywhere

    Canvassing rural areas present a unique set of challenges. While you want to canvass as many homes in these areas as you can, as grassroots canvassing is the most effective method of volunteer voter contact, you also want to do so in a way that makes sense for both you and your canvassers. Below are a couple of suggestions for overcoming the challenges of rural canvassing:

    1) Open up your specs as wide as you can when pulling a list for sparsely populated areas in order to create the densest turfs possible.

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