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Recruiting Volunteers
September 10th, 2008Listen live on:
Questions? [email protected]
AIM: DFA Night School Paid for by Democracy for America, www.democracyforamerica.com, and not
authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
Welcome to DFA Night School!
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Questions?
Email: [email protected]
AIM Instant Message: DFA Night School
Live blog: www.blogforamerica.com
DFA Chair
Jim Dean
Tonight’s Trainers
Matt Blizek
Night School Host
Democracy for America
Bryan HagenyDeputy Training Director
Democracy for America
3 Questions? [email protected]
Susan Smith, Tampa DFA
Sandra Verthein, Northside DFA
‘People’ powered campaigns
Volunteers are the “soul of a campaign”
Volunteers build long term progressive infrastructure
Why We Need Volunteers
Never question the value of volunteers. Noah’s Ark was built by volunteers, the Titanic was build by professionals--Unknown
4 Questions? [email protected]
You Have to Ask!You will never get what you do not ask for
Not asking for favors, but giving opportunities
Embrace the No!
5 Questions? [email protected]
Announcements don’t recruit volunteers
What is a potential volunteer’s relationship to the campaign?
What’s My Motivation?
6 Questions? [email protected]
Candidate
Social
Issue / Ideological / Partisan
Relational
Antipathy for Opponent
If you aren’t sure why someone is volunteering, then ask!
Higher response rates all around
Details about the campaign aren’t as important
Make it about you
Make it fun
Network, Network, Network – Build a snowball!
Who to Ask: Relational
7 Questions? [email protected]
Campaign Lists
Voter File
Allied issue advocacy organizations
Labor Unions
High Schools & Colleges
Community Organizations and Faith Communities
Everywhere!
Who to Ask: Usual Suspects
8 Questions? [email protected]
Remember, busy people are more likely to say ‘yes’!*
*Why do you think they’re so busy?
How to Ask: Basic Tactics
The more personal and interactive the ask the better the response
9 Questions? [email protected]
High Response rates
Low Response rates
High Time
Commitment
Low Time
Commitment
Canvassing
Emails Tables
Meetings
Posters
House Parties
Phones
Volunteer Referrals
Questions?Email: [email protected]
Instant Message: DFA Night School
10 Questions? [email protected]
Stories from the Field
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• Northside DFA Issue Forums
• http://my.barackobama.com
• Networking – Make business cards
• Be visible & aware
• Don’t be ashamed to talk politics with people!
How to Ask: The Five CsConnect – Establish rapport and trust
Context – Explain how they are helping us win
Commit – Get a solid commitment to volunteer
Catapult – Get them invested
Confirm – Remind them of their commitment
12 Questions? [email protected]
Crunching the Numbers
13 Questions? [email protected]
Question: How many volunteers would be needed to reach 500 voters with a weekend phone bank?
Step 1: Calculate the number of hours needed: 500 voters / 12 (contacts per hour) = 41.67 hours
Step 2: Calculate the number of volunteers per shift to recruit:42 hours / 2 shifts / 3 hours per shift = 7 volunteers per shift
Answer: You will need to recruit 7 volunteers willing to work a 3 hour shift each day
Homework• Make a List of 15 possible volunteers from
your social network and ask them
• Sign up together for the ‘Million Doors for Peace’ campaign next weekend!
www.milliondoorsforpeace.org
15 Questions? [email protected]
Next Week on Night School
Canvassing & PhonebankingSeptember 17th, 2008
www.democracyforamerica.com/canvass
www.democracyforamerica.com/trainingrequest
Request a DFA Campaign Training in 2009!
16 Questions? [email protected]
Thank you for joining us!
Need to catch up on earlier Night School presentations?
Order previous semesters on DVD:https://democracyforamerica.com/contribute/nightschool
Join the DFA Trustwww.democracyforamerica.com/trust
17 Questions? [email protected]
