Get Out The Vote Call Party: Host Agenda
Just remember: Have fun and make lots of calls!
If you need any help, call the hotline or email . The hotline is open weekdays from 5-9 p.m. ET and 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. ET on call party weekends. Just call (800) 831-6703 any time during the party for help.
Party Day Prep
It's the day of your party! Make sure you've:
¨ Printed off enough call sheets and scripts for your guests. (You'll get an email the Thursday before your party with links for both).
¨ Tested your connection to the audio and video messages for your party. (You’ll get an email on this week letting you know that it’s been posted to the party guide.)
¨ Set up your computer to display the 2012 Election Call Party page: moveon.org/organize/callparty
¨ Make a plan to celebrate when attendees get a “yes.” It adds excitement and builds motivation when we celebrate success. Here are a couple of ideas for when someone gets a “yes”:
· Hand out a glass and a piece of silverware to clink.
· Use the paper thermometer available in the host guide.
· Come up with a simple cheer like “Yes for Obama.”
¨ If you need help at the party, ask a few guests to take on a "helper" role, including:
· Greeter: helps people who come in late, and gets them oriented
· Reporter: makes sure everyone reports their total number of calls after each page and collects their call lists before they leave
· Call helper: checks in with folks as they call and sees if they need help or have questions
· Food helper: takes potluck desserts that guests bring and puts them in a designated spot
· Clean-up crew: helps clean up after part
1. Get the party started and quick introductions (10 min)
We recommend starting the party no later than a few minutes after the designated start time, though it's likely that people will continue to arrive later. Let guests know where to put their food or drinks, where the bathrooms are, and anything else they should know for the party.
· If guests arrive late, they should be quickly briefed and prepped on the program. (You can do this, or ask for a volunteer to do it.)
· If guests need to leave early, confirm that they have recorded the results of their calling.
Here’s what you should say: “Thank you, everyone, for coming out to a Get Out The Vote Call Party! My name is ____, and I’m your host today. Today we’re going to spend most of the time making calls to other MoveOn members in battleground states to ask them to volunteer to help get out the vote for President Obama.
If you are calling for one of the key Senate races, say: “Today, we’re going to spend most of our time calling MoveOn members in [state] to ask them to volunteer to help get out the vote for Senate candidate [candidate’s name]. A victory for [candidate’s name] not only means another progressive champion in the Senate—but it could maintain Democratic control of the Senate.”
“But before we get started, let’s do a quick round of introductions.” [Tip: If you have 8 people or less, do lighting round of names. If you have 8 or more people, ask everyone to turn to the person next to them for quick introductions.]
2. Listen to the special call party message from MoveOn Field Organizers, Jason Barnaby and Eric Lundy, who are working along side other MoveOn members in Ohio to get out the vote for President Obama. (10 min)
This is a short message from Jason Barnaby and Eric Lundy, two MoveOn National Field Organizers, who are in Ohio for the final week of election season to help get out the vote along side MoveOn members in Cincinnati. They talk about what’s at stake this election season, what it looks like on the ground in Ohio, and why the calling we are doing is so critical to winning this election. (You’ll get an email the week of your party letting you know that it’s available in the host guide and the Party Page).
After hearing the message, take a few minutes to have a discussion. Here are some sample discussion questions: What did you hear in the message that resonated with you? Why is this election personally important to you? Who is a person in your life that will be impacted by the outcome of this election and how? [Tip: Keep this to a just a few minutes. If you have 8+ people at your party, ask them to turn to their neighbors and discuss these questions in pairs for a few minutes.]
Before moving into call practice, here’s what you should say: “As we heard in the message from Jason and Eric, this election could go either way, and there is more on the line than ever before. It’s all going to come down to which side gets more people out to vote and that’s why every single call we make matters so much. Between now and Election Day we all need to make as many calls as possible to get out the vote in swing states and MoveOn has an online tool that allows us to do that from home. At the end of our calling time, I’ll talk more about how to do that, and hand out flyers with instructions on how to sign up to make calls from home.”
3. Call Practice (10 min)
The next step before calling is a quick practice exercise.
Hand out the calling sheets and call script / training handout (these are all part of the same document). Ask everyone to read over these materials, and then pair up for a quick practice, which shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Everyone should jump on the phones soon after—even if they don’t feel completely comfortable with the script, they should make the first call. Once they hear that the MoveOn members we’re calling are happy to hear from them, they’ll feel more relaxed moving forward.
(Optional) Call Training Video: Before pairing up callers for practice calling, you can watch the 5-minute call training video that provides tips on making calls. You can access the video through your host guide or by clicking here: http://vimeo.com/49930845
A note on the script and call sheet:
Before your party, check to make sure the state name at the top of your calling lists matches the state name at the top of your scripts. In most cases, everyone at your party will be calling MoveOn members in the same state. But in some cases, you'll be asked to print scripts for two different states or two different candidates and you should make sure to match the right scripts to the right lists. On each call list that you print out for your attendees, in the top left-hand corner under the "Page ID," you'll find detailed information about the office location, and time and date of the shifts you are calling for. You'll need to make sure that each attendee understands where to put the information in their call script—right where the script has a notation like [SHIFT1], [DAY & DATE], or [TIME]. If you have time, you can fill in the information on the call scripts before the party starts, or just help your guests fill it in before they start calling.
4. Start Making Calls! (2 hours)
Pull people back together before you start the calling and set the goals for your call party. (Each call sheet has 16 numbers. So to set your calling goal all you have to do is multiply the number of call sheets you distribute by 16). Then review the reporting process and last tips. Distribute call lists if you didn’t before.
Here’s what you should say: “Now that we’re trained, we’re ready to start the calling. One of the most important parts of this is tracking well and reporting clearly. There are full directions on your call script, but here are the main points:
· Spend as much time as you can on the phone—every number you call puts us one step closer to our goal. It’s normal that lots of people aren’t home. Keep moving through the page, and call back people who don’t answer if you have time.
· Smile and be friendly—you’ll have a better time and be more successful. It really helps even though they can’t see you!
· After every page of calls, report your own results by dialing our results hotline. When using the hotline, if you get a busy signal, try again in a few minutes.”
“Our goal is to call every single name on each call sheet I printed out. If you finish early you can ask for another call sheet. If we run out of sheets, you can call back through people you didn’t reach on the sheets you already have. Now, read the instructions again, look at our call sheets, and see if we have any questions.”
Once everyone has read through the sheets and understands them clearly, start calling!
“Let’s get started! Don’t get discouraged if you’re not making many contacts—not everyone picks up the phone, but even a few conversations in one day can make a big difference!”
5. Calling Results and Debrief (5 min)
Here’s what you should say: “We made __ calls tonight! How did you all feel making the calls? Any highlights to share? Any improvements to make for next time?”
You and your guests will get surveys after your party, but take a few minutes and ask folks to share highlights from their calls and what did or didn’t work while calling. Just take a few minutes to do this.
6. Get guests signed up to make more calls from home before Election Day! (5 min)
Before everyone leaves, make sure they know how to make calls from home in the final days of election season. If you have a computer at your party, ask folks to sign up to make calls from home before they leave the party: http://pol.moveon.org/2012calls/. Hand out the call party flyers to all your attendees.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are we calling and what are we asking them to do?
We are calling nearly two million MoveOn members in key swing states like Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, asking them to talk to voters by volunteering at a local Workers’ Voice, Environment New Mexico, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Fair Share Alliance office, or OFA offices. The shifts are anywhere from two to four hours long. Volunteers will be contacting voters by making phone calls or through door-to-door canvassing--whichever is most urgent in your area. In addition to recruiting volunteers to these offices we are also recruiting volunteers to work on two key Senate races: Elizabeth Warren in MA and Chris Murphy in CT.
Elizabeth Warren is a progressive champ who is in a tight Senate race against Republican Scott Brown in MA. Warren has a history of fighting for working families and taking on Wall Street.
Chris Murphy is in a tight Senate race against a Republican spending millions of her own dollars. Murphy fought for universal health care in the House and would be a progressive champion in the Senate.
MoveOn is working with allies on the ground. Who are our allies?
We want to maximize the number of shifts that MoveOn members can volunteer with in key swing states and so we are partnering with several strong national voter engagement organization.
Workers’ Voice
Workers’ Voice mobilizes grassroots activists in the fight for a better future for all working families, union and nonunion, in political and legislative campaigns. It emerged out of the labor movement in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, and its resources are directed by activists participating in a field program to elect progressive candidates and pass the legislation to improve the lives of working families.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
A national not-for-profit organization with its main offices in New York City and Washington, DC. The Action Fund is the nonpartisan advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The Action Fund engages in educational and electoral activity, including legislative advocacy, voter education, and grassroots organizing to promote the Planned Parenthood mission.
Fair Share
Colorado Fair Share organizes for an economy where every American gets a fair shot at a good job, a good education and a strong voice in our democracy. Through door-to-door community outreach and grassroots lobbying, Colorado Fair Share presses local and national government to do its job and stick up for working families against the privileged and powerful. They also help elect leaders who will work for a fair economy and work to defeat politicians who place extreme ideology or corporate profits ahead of ordinary people.
Obama for America
MoveOn is also recruiting members for volunteer shifts with local OFA offices in key swing states. We’ve recruited MoveOn members to OFA offices in the past and have had successful experiences with them.
Reporting Results:
How do we report our calling results?
Plan to have each guest report her or his calling results after he or she completes each page of calling. You will call the number located at the bottom of your call list. If there is a busy signal, wait a minute and try again.
How do we report call results?
There are step-by-step instructions about how to report your results both in the calling script and in the host guide. It’s crucial that we report our results as accurately as possible --so that volunteers receive accurate information about their upcoming volunteer shift and so we can keep track of how many members are volunteering in key swing states. Plan to have each caller report calling results after each completed page of calling. You will call the number located at the bottom of your call list. If there is a busy signal, wait a minute and try again.
· How do we report people who can’t make shifts but still want to volunteer?
We report them as a “no” and send them to moveon.org/2012 where they can find upcoming volunteer shifts. (Note: The link moveon.org/2012 is conditional based on your zip code. If you are in a call party state, the page will direct you to the online calling tool. If you are in a swing state, you’ll be directed to upcoming volunteer shifts.)