#Phone Banking

[fremedon]

I did my first phone bank of the season tonight, for my state's senate campaign.

I know we all hate the phone around here. But as a raging introvert with an audio processing disorder, I actually find phone banking hugely easier than almost any other phone interaction (and many in-person ones).

So I thought I'd write up a brief explainer of how it works.

The big thing to know about phone banking is this: It is largely not about persuading people to change their votes. It has three other, very simple, goals:

1.) Gather information to help the campaign determine where to concentrate its resources.

2.) Remind people that there is an election and get them thinking about and making an active plan to go and vote.

3.) Remind people of the candidate's name.

That's it. That's all you have to do. Two-thirds of the time they'll hang up on you and you won't even do that much. It's easy.

So. You sign up by going to the website of a candidate you'd like to support and looking for volunteer opportunities on their website. There will, somewhere, be a place to sign up to phone bank

You can phone bank from home these days; or you can do what I did tonight and go into a campaign office. If you go into the office, there will be campaign volunteers there who can answer questions for you and walk you through what to do, but you will also be within earshot of other people on the phone, so if background noise is a problem you might prefer to do it from home or bring noise-cancelling headphones.

They will send you a link to an autodialer, which you will call from your own phone or computer. The autodialer will work its way through a list of numbers. No one you are calling will be able to see your own phone number; they'll just see the number the autodialer is using.

The system will work its way through a list of numbers and only hand off to you when someone picks up. At this point, the screen will display the following:

1.) The name of the person you're trying to call;

2.) a set of buttons for how to record the initial response: Hung up, Answering Machine, Wrong Number, etc, and some version of You Are Actually Talking To the Right Person;

3.) an actual script for introducing yourself. You don't have to follow it exactly, but you can, and it will give you the points you need to try to hit--for introductions, that's usually going to be your first name, the campaign you're calling for, and that you are a volunteer.

If the call ends here--they hang up; they tell you you have the wrong number--you hit the button that best matches what happened, the call ends, and when you're ready you can tell the autodialer to send you the next call.

If the person is willing to talk, you click the button for that, and the screen will move on to the next page of the script--there will be some amount of information to give out--again, you don't need to read it all--one question to be sure to ask, and buttons to record their answer.

Most of the time, the question is going to be "Are you supporting this candidate," and your answers will be on a scale from Strong Yes to Strong No. For most of the campaign season, people answering either of those will be taken off the call list because they're not likely to change their mind; people who are undecided will keep getting calls. Right before the election, strategy will change from persuading the persuadables to getting out the vote, and then everyone who's already said they're supporting your candidate might get another round of calls to remind them to vote, and gather information about who has already voted and who the campaign should still be calling or sending canvassers to.

Sometimes there will be multiple questions; tonight, we asked three: Are you supporting the Democratic Senate candidate; Are you supporting the Democratic House candidate for whichever district we were calling; and--if they answered yes--Are you interested in volunteering.

You do not have to be able to answer every question or give a persuasive speech to phone bank for a political candidate. Very few people want to have a long conversation with you. If you do get someone who does, you have a script in front of you which contains talking points and often links to further information.

But the most persuasive thing you can do is the thing you have already done just by calling: you've let them know that someone near them, one of their neighbors, a real person with a name and a voice, cares so much about electing this person that they've volunteered their free time to make it happen.

You do need to be polite and positive at all times. That part is not really negotiable. No one that you're talking to is going to remember more than one talking point at most anyway--but they will remember that that nice person from the campaign was so polite and so cheerful. I am a salty gloomy bitch in RL, but my phone-sona brims over with love for my fellow fucking humans.

And you know, I really do feel some of that love, by the end of the night.

If you think this sounds like something you can do, I recommend giving it a try. It's an excellent way to channel your anxiety about the election into action, and it's not nearly as scary as it seems.

[originalleftist]

Did phone banking training yesterday, and made my first calls!

I only managed a few calls before I had to leave for a pre-planned engagement, and I'm still a bit uncomfortable with the process, but it feels a lot less daunting now.

I plan to make more calls today, and every day through Election Day (or until there are no more people to call).

I'd also urge other Americans to volunteer to do so if you haven't already, especially if you're living abroad and don't know how to help (in that case try Democrats Abroad).

[warpedwings]

Promises, promises, Misha.

[azeutreciathewicked]

AZ Canvassing Report: Friday

I finally got to walk around and canvass today, and it was great! We were in a neighborhood with mostly people of Mexican descent, and almost everyone was friendly and excited. Many had already voted, and several were planning to drop their ballots off tomorrow, so we gave them info on the nearest dropoff and its hours to help. I also made a new local friend: my canvassing buddy is big on several fandoms I'm into, and also is an avid reader of fanfic! So we got to geek out while traveling and walking around. So, I'm not saying you will meet your new fandom bff while doing GOTV canvassing... but I'm not saying you won't either. Seriously, if you have any energy to give this weekend, this is the time to spend it. Canvass, phone bank, setting up clipboards - reach out to your local Democrats or other group to see what you can do. You can go to Vote Save America to get connected to local volunteer opportunities.

Let's give everything we've got in this last push!

[rosielindy]

Phone banking doodle from yesterday. I had a couple of great conversations and one who trolled me spectacularly (not because of my message). It was actually quite hilarious. 😂

[thetransfemininereview]

can you share who you phonebank with? and maybe a little about your experience, if you don’t mind? i’m interested in trying it but very nervous bc i don’t know what it’s like at all. tia!

Hi! This is such a great question, I’m so glad you asked.

I actually don’t phone bank! I’ve been field organizing with boots on the ground, won’t say with who cause I’m not speaking for my organization on this platform, but I’ve been interacting with voters directly.

There’s two primary things to keep in mind when picking an org. Firstly, there’s what’s known as a “firewall” between candidates, campaigns, and political parties, and “non-coordinated” orgs who aren’t directly aligned with a political campaign. There are different laws for each, so deciding whether you want to volunteer for something specific, like Kamala Harris or the Democratic Party, or a broader organization that’s trying to focus more on issues can be a consideration.

Second, it’s important to know where their money comes from. In the US, election work can come from volunteer nonprofit organizations, but it can also come from PACs (Political Action Corporations). So if money in politics is something you’re ethically opposed to, you def should figure out where their money comes from.

If you’re looking for a starting place, this is a cool org to phonebank with:

[redinktill]

Phone bank for a better future!

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[jomiddlemarch]

Jen & Sarah are joined by podcast listeners and some of our favorite authors for weekly Saturday afternoon phone banks all election season long to keep the House and Senate blue. Phonebankers play games, win prizes, talk romance, meet new friends, and make some calls to save democracy! 

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[naomitess]

I did phone banking for the Colin Allred campaign last weekend and I was sort of shocked by how many people just said with their whole chest that they don't vote.

But also, one of them kept talking to me, and after a little more chatting, admitted that he HATES Ted Cruz.

"This is a really close race," I said. "He could actually lose! You could go to the polls and just vote against Ted and he could actually lose!"

He said he'd think about it. Anyway, the statement that Texas is not a red state so much as a non-voting state was really tangibly true when I was calling people, and also, a lot of Texans really hate Ted Cruz and it's worth trying to get them out just to vote against Ted.

hey my besties who live in red states: id like you to go out and vote anyway.

yeah, the electoral college means your vote doesn't count unless you win your state. it's a terrible undemocratic bullshit system. it's not going to change before this election,* so there isn't much point in complaining about it right now.

if you hold the belief that there's no point in voting because your voice will just be downed out by a chorus of bigotry- chances are other people in your state feel the same way. and because those people are not voting, it's impossible to know how many of you there are. the reason it's important to vote EVEN WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE is to make this number public.

when the minority in a state still goes out to vote:

- other members of the minority party know they aren't alone in their state. this encourages MORE people to vote in the next election

- the majority candidates are forced to divert some of their campaign resources away from swing states to secure a state they were already going to win

- the minority candidates are encouraged to spend some time campaigning in your state instead of abandoning it as a lost cause

- assuming you also vote in local elections, the minority is more likely to win representatives in the house

- who knows there might be so many of you that you fucking flip it by mistake

there has been a 700% increase in new daily voter registrations in the few days since Biden dropped out of the race.

thousands of people are deciding, right now, that voting is worth it. some of them live in your state. there is going to be a spike in blue votes across the country. this election is going to have the youngest voter turnout in history. this is the best possible time to join them. join us.

what have you got to lose? one afternoon?

[originalleftist]

Doing some more phone banking, this time in PA!

[rosielindy]

Yesterday’s phone banking doodle is a little darker, looks like a menacing elephant, which makes me sad because I love elephants. Just not to GOP kind.