Deadline: today and every day until November 6 –
We gave you the lowdown on canvassing and phone banking, the most effective Get Out The Vote (GOTV) tools. Next up, and ideal if you can’t travel to a flippable district or make phone calls: peer-to-peer text banking!
Texting voters is effective, fast, and flexible. You can do it on your phone, computer, or tablet. And best of all, you can fit it into your busy schedule — during breaks at work, riding on BART, any time you’ve got a few free minutes.
There are different texting platforms, but the basics are similar: sign up, read the instructions, join the platform’s Slack channel (a chat room where you interact with team managers and fellow texters), and log into the platform. Finally, follow directions to choose a workflow and request to be added.
For most platforms you can text from your phone using an app, or from your computer by logging into a website. Both have initial messages you’ll send out; after that you’ll reply to people who respond, using canned answers tailored for each workflow. You’ll also apply certain tags to help the organizers know how to proceed with each person texted.
Here are some great choices to dive in and start texting for The Blue Wave!
IndivisiText
Indivisible National’s texting team, IndivisiText, uses the common texting app and website Hustle, which works either on a phone or computer. To get started:
- Read the texting training guide
- Take this quiz, then follow the instructions to join Hustle and IndivisiText’s Slack
- Check the IndivisiText Hustle campaign tracker to see what’s available each day (9 AM to 9 PM local time where you’re texting), join one of the open channels, and post that you completed the quiz
- Post in the campaign Slack channel you choose from the tracker, and tag a moderator to say you completed the quiz
- Open the Hustle app or website and start texting! Post questions on Slack, where the moderators are great about responding
- IndivisiText automatically reassigns to another texter to conversations that are inactive for about 20 minutes, so along with replying to the people you texted, you’ll also help out by following up for others.
Resistance Labs
Resistance Labs (RL) also uses the Hustle texting interface and communicates via Slack and a private facebook group
- Sign up here and follow the directions at RL’s New Volunteer Training
- See the Workflow Instructions, and once you’re set up, for new workflows fill out the Shift Sign-Up form
- See the RL Texter Help Center here
- Note that on RL only you can reply to responses from the people you’ve texted, so make sure to check frequently.
MoveOn
Moveon.org’s texting team uses Spoke rather than Hustle, and also has its own Slack chat room to organize requests for workflows and support. You can learn more and join the team here.
VoteWithMe app
Finally, want to personalize your texting along with reaching out to strangers? The VoteWithMe app uses public records and your own network to pinpoint the highest impact potential voters whom you already know. You choose who to text, and you can personalize a suggested reminder to make sure they vote. Read more about using this very effective app to motivate your friends to vote in our article.
The Bottom Line:
Don’t want to wake up on November 7, 2018 and feel like you did on November 9, 2016? If you haven’t done any canvassing, phone banking or text banking yet, the time is NOW. If you have, it’s time to DO MORE!
- Join us and bring everyone you know to The Last Weekend GOTMFV Palooza!! Saturday & Sunday November 3-4 from 9 AM to 9 PM: full-service GOTV MACHINE – with phone banking and texting into multiple critical races, training and technical assistance, handouts, FOOD, and the best part: SAVING DEMOCRACY WITH YOUR FELLOW WARRIORS!!
- See other upcoming opportunities to phone & text bank and canvass, sign up at our “Volunteer to Flip the G-D- Congress” list & calendar, also easily accessible on our home page
- Check out other opportunities to canvass, phone or text bank with these great organizations IEB works in coalition with:
- Join Indivisible Berkeley in canvassing, phone or text banking, and more! Check out IB events here.
- See the East Bay for TJ Cox events calendar to support the CA-21 congressional candidate.
- Canvass in CA-21 with Swing Left East Bay. Check upcoming events and sign up here.
- Knock on doors to help flip CA-10 for Josh Harder. Info & sign up here.
- Canvass with Working America AFL-CIO in CA-10 (Modesto) and CA-21 (San Joaquin Valley).
