young democrats of america vote pledge manual

8/14/2019 Young Democrats of America Vote Pledge Manual

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Vote Pledge

Manual

2008


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Table of Contents

Introduction...3

The Vote Pledge: The Basics....4

Peer-to-Peer Messaging...5

Getting Vote Pledges...6

Online and on Facebook/MySpace.......7 Street Teaming....8 Community Service10 Events..12 High School/College Campus...14 Traditional Campaign Contact.16

Printable Vote Pledge.17

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Introduction

YDA: Building Infrastructure for the Young Voter Revolution

The Young Democrats of America (YDA) is the nations largest youth-led, partisan, political

organization. YDA mobilizes young people under the age of 36 to participate in the electoral process as

voters, activists, leaders, and as candidates. The Young Democrats of America has been the official

youth arm of the Democratic Party since 1932, and is considered a non-federal 527 political

organization.

YDA has over 2,300 local chapters in all 50 states with over 216,000 members, including middle

school, high school, and college students, young workers, young professionals, and young families,

reflecting the broad diversity of our nation and the Democratic Party. Our programs engage Young

Democrats through their local county, college, or middle and high school chapters, through state and

regional programming, and nationally through campaigns and issue advocacy work and at ournational conferences and convention.

Young Voter Revolution

YDAs goal is to build a permanent bloc of young Democratic voters. Our Young Voter Revolution

campaign program uses a proven peer-to-peer model to identify young voters, engage them with peer-

to-peer communication and education, gets supporters to commit to vote with a Vote Democrat vote

pledge, and then uses traditional and innovative methods to turn out the vote. It has been found that

if young people make a pledge to vote Democrat, they are more likely to turn out to the polls on Election

Day, and are more receptive to GOTV tactics approaching an election.

Based on the evaluated results of previous YDA campaign operations, we know that the best way to get

a young person to vote is when another young person asks them to, person to person, face to face.

Nothing not new media, not celebrities, not big events on college campuses is more effective to

increase the youth vote. The vote pledge is a key component of this and is where YDA is focused.

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The Vote Pledge: Basics

What is a Vote Pledge?A vote pledge is a simple way for you toask your peer to commit to voting for

Democrats and collect their information

so you can remind them to vote on

Election Day.

Why Vote PledgeOur studies have shown that when a

vote pledge is signed a young person is

more likely to show up to vote. Its a

really simple way to engage in issue-based conversations and then get a commitment to vote for

Democrats.

Peer-to-Peer

We talk to other young people so that we can build a consistently reliable voting bloc of young

Democratic voters. That effort starts when we talk to our peers about the issues that are important.

We ask them to sign a pledge to Vote for Democrats, add their information to our database,

communicate with them throughout the year, and then hold them to their pledge on Election Day.

Collect and Use Information

Vote pledges help you collect the most up-to-date and accurate information for those youve spoken

with so that you can remind them to vote and turn them out on Election Day. Not all of these young

people will be registered to vote, so you can also get them registered now that you have their contact

information. And, young voters are more likely to show up on Election Day after multiple contacts from

their peers thats YOU!

Build Membership

Now that you have information for other young people in your community, you can invite them to events

that your chapter is having and build your membership. The vote pledge is a not only a campaign too;

it is also a membership building tool.

How to Get Vote Pledges

Getting vote pledges is easy and there are multiple ways to collect them. This manual is designed to

give you some ideas about how to collect vote pledge cards in your community. It explains the ways

that we have found success in collecting vote pledge cards, but by no means is the manual an

exhausted list.

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Heres to building a bloc of young Democratic voters!


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Peer-to-Peer Messaging

Introduction

An effective peer-to-peer message is critical to any vote pledge effort. The Millennial Generation has

been over-marketed to since the early 1980s and so traditional campaign messages dont work.Thats why peer-to-peer, and your personal story, is the most effective way to reach a young voter.

How to act Dont wear a suit!

Be yourself (what you wear, words you use) Get ready for rejection Practice makes perfect The interaction should be quick Be confident Be welcoming

How to Talk Simple (not dumbed down) Credible Not Salesman Be Clear Listen and Learn Make it a conversation - use a script to practice, but not during the actual conversation Make it real to them with specific stories

How do you start

Types of Conversations Initiate conversation (street team, door knocking, phone call) Transition conversation (friends, bar, tabling, comm. service project)

How do you finish

Actually Ask Will you pledge to vote for Democrats on Election Day? Wait till the person fills out the pledge card. Chat with them. You can find out more

information that will help you move on to the next pledge in a street team setting or get

them more invested in other activities

The Big Secret on How to Do This Right: JUST DO IT

Keep doing and evaluating. You can only find out what works best for your campus orcommunity through trial and error.

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Getting Vote Pledges

Our vote pledge strategy is focused on two areas: Homes and Hangouts

Getting vote pledges is a simple and effective way to engage young voters and get them to pledge tovote for Democrats. The more personal these interactions the more effective they are, so we highly

recommend that your own social networks be leveraged first. Once you have tapped your social

network there are many other ways and places to collect a vote pledge and the following pages are

dedicated to the different tactics we have found to be most helpful. They include:

Online and on Facebook/MySpace Street Teaming Community Service Events High School / College Campus Traditional Campaign Contact

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Getting Vote Pledges:

Online and on Facebook

IntroductionCollecting vote pledges with the peer-to-peer model involves contacting young voters where they live

and where they hangout. The popularity of online social networks has made the Internet a place where

Millennials do both.

The Social Network Explained

Your friends on MySpace and Facebook are your online social network. It is important to reach out to

those members of your social network to collect vote pledges and encourage them to do the same with

their own social network.

Facebook

Find Facebook groups in your state with members likely to support Democrats. Send amessage to the group administrator asking them to message their members about the vote

pledge.

Search Facebook for users in your state that identify themselves as members of theDemocratic Party or as liberal. Send a message to those people asking them to sign the vote

pledge.

Remember to start with your own social network and ask them to sign the vote pledge. Thenask them to do the same to their friends.

How to Write a Good Email

Choose a clear message and a clear action. If you cant keep it simple, dont send the email. Limit messages to 5 to 7 paragraphs. A clickable rectangular graphic aligned to the right of the opening paragraphs will always get

the most clicks.

Do not embed links in a larger paragraph. Allow them to stand alone with whitespace aboveand below.

Use formatting like bold, underline, and italics sparingly, and only to drive the main point.Use Local Blogs

Find the local blogs in your state. A good resource is leftyblogs.com

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Contact the author of the blog asking if they would be willing to share/write about the votepledge on their blog.


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Street Teaming

Introduction

We cant only contact people at their homes because we wont get enough contacts at the doors andnot everyone is registered to vote. We have to go to where young people hangout. Street Teaming

means that we take our effort to the streets to places where young people hang out so we can talk to

them where they feel comfortable.

Where to Street Team

Well, where do young people hang out?

Coffee shops Bars Movie Theaters Parks/outdoor venues Comic book stores Sporting events Metro/subway/bus stops Mall Concerts Work

How to Street Team

Logisticso Materials: pledge cards, clipboards, pens, T-shirts/chum for visibilityo Go in groups: exchange phone numbers with group members for safetyo Have locations planned out and/or set-up in advance

Messaging (see peer-to-peer messaging on page 6 for more)o Conversational style use scripts to practice from, not during the real conversationo Use personal stories to relateo Keep it simple, but dont dumb it downo Keep it quicko Make an ask Will you pledge to vote for Democrats in November?

TIPS

Call Ahead or Show Up?o Set up in Advance

Use relationships of members, supporters, elected officials, etc. to set it up.Meet with Manager in person, while not busy, to make arrangements.

Have giveaways to attract more people.

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Calling ahead is better but sometimes you have to get into places that theywont let you.

o Showing Up


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Buy product of the place drink coffee, buy a drink, buy a comic book, etc.Pick multiple places, stay at each no longer than an hour.

Go in a Group - team up in twos this can make the interaction more fun and engaging. Keep conversations quick and easy. Dont be afraid of rejection it is definitely going to happen.

Program Examples

Bowling Alley BlitzEach week the bowling alley hosts a midnight bowling event. We will attend this event

and collect vote pledges from the young people in attendance. We have spoken with the

bowling alley owner and will have a lane located in the middle for the entire night. YD

members/volunteers will wear Young Voter Revolution T-shirts, walk around collecting

vote pledges, and bowl! The goal is to collect 50 vote pledges.

Downtown Pub CrawlWe have arranged with five local bars and late night hangouts to collect vote pledges onThursday night. We will patron each location for no more than 45 minutes. 15 Young

Democrats will be part of the Pub Crawl team and our goal will be to collect 400 vote

pledges throughout the night.

Charity/Cause WalkAfter participating in the cause walk (Walk for Breast Cancer, Jump for your Pump, etc)

YD participants will mix and mingle with other participants and get them to Pledge to

Vote! Voter registration forms will also be on hand.


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Community Service

Introduction

Community Service is just another outlet for your chapter to collect vote pledges. Doing communityservice events will appeal to another set of potential young activists. It also gives you a great chance

to land some positive publicity for the Democratic brand.

3 Targets for Vote Pledges at Community Service events:1. Collect vote pledges from the volunteers themselves2. Collect vote pledges from those being served3. Collect vote pledges from those in the surrounding area

Partnering with Allied Organizations

There are many community-based groups that would be interested in helping your chapter with a

community service project. Think about organizations that share common values, on any issue, and

talk with them about having a joint community service project. You'll not only appeal to a broader

base of potential volunteers, recruit new members, but you will also build coalitions with groups that

you can call on again in the future. Remember, these new members/partner groups attract and appeal

to young activists that may not see themselves as Democrats but your effort to bring together the

organizations in a common cause may help make this connection. Coalition partner examples

o Sierra Club (environmental groups)o Democrats Worko Habitat for Humanityo Ethnic community groups - NAACP, Brown Berets, etco YMCAo Local labor unionso Red Cross - local affiliateso United Way Homeless Project

Visibility

Community service events are a great way to gain publicity through local news media, letters to the

editor, blogs, and much more. Having a communication plan is essential for ensuring that you will be

making the most of your event. Be sure to include each of these elements in your plan and a point

person to handle that aspect.

Event Examples Knocking for Cans

Just like a traditional young voter canvass, but this time you knock on doors collecting canned

foods to be donated to a local shelter or food bank. This is a great way to engage potential

young voters into a conversation and a chance to collect a vote pledge. Leave literature at

the doors talking about your effort.

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Emergency Disaster ReliefMobilize your chapter members, friends, community members to put your values into action


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when it is needed most. Wear t-shirts to identify your group amongst the other volunteers.

Beach/Park/Neighborhood Clean-upClean up your area of choice and raise awareness about pollution, illegal dumping, and other

environmental consequences of littering. Wear t-shirts to identify your group during the effort.

As you run into people while cleaning up, strike up a conversation and get them to sign a vote

pledge. Your community will thank you.


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Events

Introduction

Events are one of the most obvious places to gather vote pledges because of the potential of a largenumber of young people in a small location. Its a good bang for your buck.

Type of Events

County Fairs Concerts Festivals Street Fairs Movie Premiers more progressive movie showings are good crowds for you Anywhere large amounts of young people gather

Having a Booth or Not

Some events offer booths and this may or may not be advantageous to gathering vote pledges. You

should scout the event first and assess the cost. You should also find out whether or not youre able to

street team the event, even without a booth. Having volunteers who roam the event talking to young

people can be effective and this may be the better strategy depending on the event.

Tactics and Tips

Dont just stand behind the table get out from the booth so you can meet and greet.Having multiple volunteers will help with this, as you can divide and conquer.

Make your booth relevant what message will grab peoples attention? If youre at anenvironmentally-themed event, then youll want to use an environmental hook. Maybe

partnering with a friendly organization, or using a petition with an environmental focus

would be in order.

Bright shiny objects attention-grabbing objects bring people to your booth. Sometimesyou dont need a relevant object to draw an audience. For instance, if its a block party, try

something like a big shiny disco ball, and HUGE blow-up duck, a wading pool, whatever

large, totally irrelevant object you have at your disposal. One idea would be getting a full-

costume for one of your members that attendees will want their picture taken with.

Games for people to play make the booth interactive. This can be anything from aninteractive survey where attendees vote for their answer with their pledge cards, or it

can be an actual game like a bag-toss, ball-throw, etc.

Giveaways lots of organizations would like the publicity they could get from donating aprize or gift card or gift certificate to your YD group.

Have music many festivals or other events allow for you to have music at your booth.You can also try things like streaming video, etc., where appropriate.

Performers attract attention everything from musicians, to people dressed up inpolitical dress, to dancers.

Give your booth flare dress up with flags, bunting, ribbons, balloons, buttons, hats,anything you can to ATTRACT ATTENTION!

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Have volunteers with clipboards roaming the event to find people not going to the booth.You can also use the sticker option below. Mobile volunteers with clipboards can be great


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street teams for some large events. Always have a base for them to come back to get

more forms, drop off completed forms, ask questions, etc.

Have volunteers in the crowd to direct young people to your table. This is a great spot foryour volunteers who are great with striking up conversations. Having some kind of tool

like a sticker or candy or anything for these volunteers to use will help break-the-ice with

event attendees. Assign volunteers at your booth who can talk to event attendees more in-depth about

pledge-to-vote, young democrat activities and chapter(s) events, etc.

Give your volunteers flare its ALWAYS a good idea to give your volunteers something forshowing up. A t-shirt, a gift-card, and most important, a personal thank you note after

the event.

Other Tips:

Use a tag-team process for tabling. If you have a team out in the midway awayfrom the booth, they can be handing out stickers or flyers and directing interested

people to the booth to actually be talked to more at-length about vote pledge andother materials.

Stickers are a GREAT way to identify people at events. While these stickers will helpspread some visual cues throughout a crowd, they also let all your volunteers,

particularly your street teams, know which event attendees have already been talked

to. Stickers are generally inexpensive and may be a better use of our resources than a

handout or flyer.


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High school/College Campus

Start with Accountability

So you want to get vote pledges on your campus, but dont really know where to start? The first step ismaking a plan - a real, written down on paper plan. Failure to plan is a sure way to plan to fail. The

second step is to get your chapters buy-in on the written plan. Allow them to help with the planning,

and most importantly put it up for a vote so that everyone has a stake in the programs success, not

just the president.

Some tips for writing your chapter plan: Start with a campus calendar

Analyze the amount of days you have to work with, look for other events you can piggy

back on, schedule the time when you will have vote pledge activities.

Write your plan like a field programInclude daily, weekly, and monthly goals. (Setting benchmarks and goals is the only way

to determine if your program was a success)

Give everyone ownershipIn addition to event based vote pledge goals, include a set number of individual goals for

each member. (ex: each chapter member will collect eight vote pledges from non-

members and turn them in by Oct. 25)

Things you should implement immediately

Use your social network first:o Email the vote pledge link to your email address booko Get members to phone bank their friends and cell phone listo Have members message their Facebook friends with the vote pledge link.

Just like candidates who want to run for office when they are looking forstart up money, if you cant move your friends to support you. You might

as well not be in politics.

Have vote pledges at everything you do (meetings, in class, at the coffee shop) Tabling, every day (see the helpful tips in the previous chapter to do this right) Class Raps

o Start finding teachers/professors who will let you pitch the vote pledge and havethem available after class. Hand them out to your classmates.

Things to Avoid

Registration is only half the battleVoter registration is very important, but our work doesnt end there. It is also

important to focus on keeping track of voters you register and making sure they get to

the polls (ie. running a strong pledge to vote program to turn them out).

Dont let your chapter be forced to work with the College Republicans!Dont waste your time! While there may be some appropriate joint ventures, like a

debate, for the most part all we do when we involve the CRs in an activity is get them

free attention that they wouldnt have received on their own.

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Visibility only = bad strategy


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Being seen is certainly important, but it is not the only answer. In fact, most of the

hard work happens behind the scenes.

Social OnlyMany chapters fall into the trap of becoming a primarily social club. While keeping

the chapter fun is important, you also need to build a culture of activism. Members

who only show up for parties do not help you achieve your goals. Tuition isnt the only issue that students care about

Talk about a wide variety of issues.

Places to get vote pledges on high school and college campus

Move-in and Welcome Week New student orientations Greek Organization meetings Student Government meetings Inter-Chapter Competitions Organized dorm storms recruit captains from each building and each floor Facebook / MySpace Cell Phone Parties (call your friends) Concerts Hangouts Tailgating Coalitions which progressive/like-minded groups can you partner with?

Program Examples

Dorm StormingDorm residents canvass their neighbors about the upcoming election. Its important to

have one person from that floor on each canvass. Canvassers talk to their neighbors and

encourage them to vote, fill out vote pledge, and tell them that theyll get a reminder tovote on Election Day.

Mock ElectionA twist on tabling, setting up a mock election can be a great way to collect vote pledges.

You can do this simply with a table and a shoe box, or go all out and ask the county

election commission to bring out a couple of real voting machines. This is a great way to

teach new voters how to do it on Election Day.

Free ConcertFree live music draws crowds. Get a local band to play a set somewhere for you, preferably

on or close to campus, and collect vote pledges from attendees. It is also helpful to have

the band or a speaker make an appeal from the mic.

Classroom Canvass or a Class RapFind the big classes throughout the day and have a student in those classes make

announcements about the upcoming election and filling out vote pledges. Go early to a

class and make an announcement right before class begins.

TablingTable every day, but get out from behind it. Talk to people, meet and greet, and welcome

people (peer-to-peer). Dont just sit behind your table and expect people to come to you.

Make it fun and interesting. Talk about issues and have information available. Take sign

ups, not on a sign-up sheet, but on vote pledge forms.


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Traditional Campaign Contacts

IntroductionDoor to door is still the best type of contact its the face-to-face interaction that makes the biggest

impact for young voters. Your ability to connect with them at their door is valuable to our peer-to-peer

efforts.

Ways to get a list

Voter file Membership list Voter registration drive Campus Directory Facebook

CANVASSINGCanvassing is the act of knocking on the doors of voters who you want to talk to about your cause.

Canvassing and similar face-to-face interactions are the most effective form of peer-to-peer outreach

because it is this connection that persuades that voter to you and your issues. Canvassing is time

consuming but it is THE most effective interaction that you can have.

Effective Conversations at a Door

NO scripts make it a conversation Practice Make it chatty and quick Make it credible you are the best persuasive voice so use your story and make it real

Canvassing Tips

Find other people to canvass go in groups for safety and fun Recruit volunteers: remember the rule of two always recruit twice as many as you need Areas with a high density of young voters are more effective

PHONE BANKSA phone bank is when one or more people use phone lines to dial the phone number of voters who you

want to talk to about your cause. Phone banks can be a cheap and easy way to reach a lot of people

it is not as effective as a face-to-face meeting but it is better than no contact at all.

Use your social networko Have your participants call through their mobile address book

Use your vote pledge cardso Use the information youve collected from other vote pledge cards to phone bank

and remind them to vote on Election Day or invite them to a future event

Use your free cell phone minutes

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o Dont call too late but its generally ok to call young people after 9:00pm.


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Young Democrats of America

Name: _______________________________________________________________

Email: _______________________________________________________________

Cell: ________________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________

City: _______________________________ State: _________ Zip: _________________

I pledge to vote for change on Nov. 4th ______________________________________

www.YoungVoterRevolution.com


They say we dont care.

They say we dont vote.

They say we dont matter.

We know better.

We will prove our generations political power by voting for change, by voting for

Democrats. By rising up and voting in large numbers for Democrats, we will steer

our government in a new direction and improve our communities. Join millions

of others and be a part of the Young Voter Revolution by voting for Democrats onNovember 4th, 2008.

for Democratson November 4th

Pledge to Vote

I will volunteer to help get my friends and neighbors to the polls.

I will get 8 of my friends to pledge to vote for Democrats in 08.

Remind me to vote with a text message.

You can also pledge online atwww.YoungVoterRevolution.com

Paid for by Young Democrats of America.Not authorized by any candidate or candidates committee.


Name: _______________________________________________________________

Email: _______________________________________________________________

Cell: ________________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________

City: _______________________________ State: _________ Zip: _________________

I pledge to vote for change on Nov. 4th ______________________________________




They say we dont vote.They say we dont matter.

We know better.

We will prove our generations political power by voting for change, by voting for

Democrats. By rising up and voting in large numbers for Democrats, we will steer

our government in a new direction and improve our communities. Join millions

of others and be a part of the Young Voter Revolution by voting for Democrats on

November 4th, 2008.

for Democratson November 4thPledge to Vote




You can also pledge online atwww.YoungVoterRevolution.com

Paid for by Young Democrats of America.Not authorized by any candidate or candidates committee.


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Name: __________________________________________________________________________

Email: __________________________________________________________________________

Cell: ___________________________________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________________________

City: ____________________________________ State: _____________ Zip: ___________________

I pledge to vote for change on Nov. 4th ________________________________________________




They say we dont vote.

They say we dont matter.

We know better.

We will prove our generations political power by voting for change, by voting for Democrats. By rising up and voting in large

numbers for Democrats, we will steer our government in a new direction and improve our communities. Join millions of

others and be a part of the Young Voter Revolution by voting for Democrats on November 4th, 2008.

for Democratson November 4th

Pledge to Vote




You can also pledge online at


Paid for by Young Democrats of America.

Not authorized by any candidate or candidates committee.

young democrats of america vote pledge manual

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