Virginia Grassroots Coalition: Lessons Learned from the 2017 Virginia Election

“This wasn’t a one-off, just because of Trump wave. The progressive grassroots have organized in Virginia and are working for the long-haul.”
— A Siegel, “Lessons from Virginia’s Grassroots: how to mobilize, fight, win,” Daily Kos

When you’re a grassroots organizer, elections can bring out a whirlwind of emotions from hope and joy to sadness and sometimes defeat. And after those moments, when the tides start to calm, it’s important for those involved to take a moment to reflect.

Reflect on what was done right, what could be improved, and what can be done now. After the 2017 Virginia Elections, The Virginia Grassroots Coalition, a coalition of 40 grassroots organizations in northern Virginia and Washington D.C., interviewed 16 different campaigns as a small working group, including campaigns who won and some who lost.

The coalition asked these campaigns a series of questions that were designed to determine how grassroots organizers can better support Democratic candidates in the Virginia House of Delegate and Senate Races.

“Sometimes we [as organizers] come into organizing with ideas, but instead we should be flexible and good at listening to the needs of the campaign. The best work is done when we are really listening to [each-other].” Sharon Sutler, The Virginia Grassroots Coalition

An example of this flexibility can be seen through the subsidizing of technology;

“When grassroots organizers could identify a suite of tools and offer that to the campaign it allows the campaign to pick and chose from what they most need help with.”

And we’re incredibly proud that one of the platforms offered in this suite of technology was Hustle.

“Like phone banking, texting can be used to increase candidate name recognition and boost funding […] Texting has the advantage of engaging younger populations in their medium of choice. Adults under the age of 45 send an average of 85 texts today. Peer-to-peer texting allows for volunteers to have “real conversations” with the voters they text. This medium is perceived as more personal and also appears to have greater success in engaging these voters than email.

[…]Most campaigns believe that texting will be be the wave of the future. See, Texting Comes ofAge. However, to be effective, campaigns need access to these apps early to allow time to test and modify them, as well as to train staff and volunteers.

Grassroots volunteers can offer to participate in texting campaigns. Tech-savvy volunteers can assist campaigns who need help to:
● Research and screen texting tools;
● Analyze and test the effectiveness of the tools;
● Provide guidance to the campaigns in selecting the most suitable tools.”

You can read more lessons learned in the report produced by the Virginia Grassroots Coalition by checking it out here: How the Grassroots helped flipped VA Blue

A big thank you to Sharon Sutler for assisting with this incredible post.