Volunteers

Recruiting Volunteers

September 10th, 2008Listen live on:

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AIM: DFA Night School Paid for by Democracy for America,www.democracyforamerica.com, and not

authorized by any candidate orcandidate’s committee.

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DFA Chair

Jim Dean

Tonight’s Trainers

Matt BlizekNight School Host

Democracy for America

Bryan HagenyDeputy Training DirectorDemocracy for America


Susan Smith, Tampa DFA

Sandra Verthein, Northside DFA

‘People’ powered campaigns

Volunteers are the “soul of a campaign”

Volunteers build long term progressiveinfrastructure

Why We Need Volunteers

Never question the value of volunteers.Noah’s Ark was built by volunteers, theTitanic was build by professionals--Unknown


You Have to Ask!

You will never get what you do not ask for

Not asking for favors, but giving opportunities

Embrace the No!


Announcements don’t recruit volunteers

What is a potential volunteer’s relationship to thecampaign?

What’s My Motivation?


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 asimportant

Make it about you

Make it fun

Network, Network, Network – Build asnowball!

Who to Ask: Relational


Campaign Lists

Voter File

Allied issue advocacy organizations

Labor Unions

High Schools & Colleges

Community Organizations and FaithCommunities

Everywhere!

Who to Ask: Usual Suspects


Remember, busy people aremore 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


High Response rates

Low Response rates

High TimeCommitment

Low TimeCommitment

Canvassing

Emails Tables

Meetings

Posters

House Parties

Phones

Volunteer Referrals

Questions?Email: [email protected]

Instant Message:DFA Night School


Stories from the Field


• Northside DFA Issue Forums

• http://my.barackobama.com

• Networking – Make business cards

• Be visible & aware

• Don’t be ashamed to talk politicswith people!

How to Ask: The Five Cs

Connect – 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


Crunching the Numbers


Question: How many volunteers would be needed toreach 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 willingto work a 3 hour shift each day

Questions?Email

[email protected]

Instant Message DFA Night School


Homework

• Make a List of 15 possible volunteers fromyour social network and ask them

• Sign up together for the ‘Million Doors forPeace’ campaign next weekend!

www.milliondoorsforpeace.org


Next Week on Night School

Canvassing & PhonebankingSeptember 17th, 2008

www.democracyforamerica.com/canvass

www.democracyforamerica.com/trainingrequest

Request a DFA Campaign Training in 2009!


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Volunteers

Education

Transcript of Volunteers