5 Calls 2018 Midterm Challenge Week 3: Adopt a Key Race

Welcome back! In Week 1 and Week 2, you laid the foundation for you and your friends to successfully vote (if this is our your first visit, catch up via the Midterm Challenge Introduction).

Now it’s time to take a step out of your comfort zone and get that vote out even further. That’s right, we’re talking about campaign volunteering.

Your challenge this week is to pick a key race and help them. Here’s how:

1.PICK A KEY RACE — If you already have a candidate that is near and dear to your heart, embrace it — that’s your race! If you want some inspiration or suggestions, check out House and Senate races near you from Swing Left or state legislature and governor races from Flippable or Sister District. You can also browse the extensive database at Black Women in Politics, which lists candidates up and down the ballot (note: not all candidates listed here are progressive so do your due diligence). If you want to join an existing volunteer team, check out Mobilize for events near you.

2. JOIN THEIR CAMPAIGN — If you don’t already have a link, google for their campaign website and find them that way. Get connected to what they are doing by signing up for their email list, liking their facebook page, etc.

3. HELP THEM— It will vary campaign to campaign, but your goal is to support them with time and money, as much as you can spare of both or either. First, see if they have any remote volunteer opportunities posted on this list of progressive campaign opportunities. You can also check Mobilize to see if an event has already been organized near you. If not, contact them directly to ask. Now, make the calls — commit at least one hour to phone banking (phone banking is the most effective remote GOTV tactic, more than texting or postcards), and also donate whatever you can; every little bit helps.

4. GET YOUR FRIENDS TO HELP — Now, amplify your impact by inviting 5 friends to join you. Send them a message that says something like:

“Hey I know you were interested in helping out with the midterms. I just signed up to volunteer for [NAME’S] campaign because [“it’s a key race and they are a great pro-choice candidate”…or whatever reason you have] — want to join me to phone bank from home? [LINK]. I also donated; here’s the link for that: [LINK]”

5. COMMIT NOW TO HELP IN NOVEMBER — The weekend before Election Day is a critical time for GOTV efforts. Sign up for The Last Weekend, and they will contact you with volunteer opportunities then, as well as tailored opportunities for you in the meantime.

6. SHARE YOUR SUCCESS — Make sure you are logged into your 5 Calls account and then click “I did it” to record your success in this week’s challenge. Then, follow the prompts to tell everyone on social media what you accomplished, using the hashtags #MidtermChallenge and #GetInvolved. This will not only help build momentum for yourself but also within your network.

Alternate Option: If you cannot volunteer or donate right now, for whatever reason, go ahead and skip #3 and focus on #4 — aim to get 10 friends either volunteering or donating to your key race.

That’s it for this week — pat yourself on the back and do a biceps flex in the mirror to congratulate yourself for doing your part to swing a critical race.

Next week, we’re turning our attention back to you and your …your hint is “make your plan”.

And our weekly reminder — 5 Calls is a volunteer-run non-profit. We appreciate your support!

More Details on Challenge Design and Supporting Data

This is overwhelming, how can I choose one race to support? You don’t have to pick just one of course; it’s great if you have the time and money to support several races between now and the election. But realistically most of us don’t, which is why we suggest starting with one race you are focused on. The resources shared in Step #1 allow you to focus on a certain criteria to guide you. Either a type of race (federal or state) and / or a geography (close to you, swing district, etc), and / or a demographic (women / people of color). So one approach is to pick one of those a criteria as your top priority and then do a random pick within the options there, e.g., focusing on federal races in key geographies could lead you to Jacky Rosen who is running for Senate in Nevada (against Dean Heller).

Nooooo I don’t want to call people. Do I really have to phone bank? The reason we advocate for phone banking is because more so than other methods, it has been studied and found to increase voter turnout, particularly when done by volunteers (vs professionals). Studies of less personal and less interactive methods (specifically emails and robocalls) have indicated they are not effective at GOTV. We would extrapolate this finding to suggest other one-way or less conversational methods like postcards and texting to follow that trend and be less effective than phone banking. More here: https://isps.yale.edu/node/16698