ORGANIZERS GOTV CLIFF NOTES Evan Sutton Digital Director, American Federation of Teachers

AGENDA Intro: Engagement Organizing I: GOTV Cliff Notes GOTV Misperceptions Common Mistakes Easy Time Savers II: Maximizing Volunteers During GOTVGOTV Setting up Staging Locations Volunteer Roles and Responsibilities Staging Location Management

Identify, Train and Develop Local Leaders Invest in Local Communities Develop Networks and Teams Maintain a Consistent Presence/Power Base ENGAGEMENT ORGANIZING

GOTV is totally different from what I’m doing now I don’t need to do reminder calls for GOTV/E-Day I should be knocking on doors! There will probably be a problem at the polls Poll watchers are a waste of time COMMON MISPERCEPTIONS

Insufficient organization/no contingency plans Not providing contact info to volunteers Not tracking packets Mismatching messengers Sloppy rides to the polls system Emphasizing low turnout COMMON MISTAKES

Have your turf printed (2x) 24 hours in advance Scout your polling places Drop data entry for GOTV (except if EV is ongoing) Tier your turf, keep a master, and mark packets Have a “phone tree” EASY TIME SAVERS

Local, accessible base of operations Problem: No Contingency Plan Staging locations spread the risk and give you a backup if a problem occurs at another location (power outages, copier/phone issues, etc) Problem: Challenges at the polls, or emergent needs in the field Staging locations make rapid response easier by locating bases of operations closer to polling places and voters WHAT IS A STAGING LOCATION?

Staging Locations Boost Capacity By: Moving your operations closer to your volunteers Locating your operation closer to your target audience Food for Thought: Poll reports can easily be picked up and brought to a local staging location to refresh lists quickly! Volunteers who otherwise may have said “I can’t make it” may decide to show up when they learn it’s right around the corner Giving leaders high-level ownership of your campaign WHY SHOULD I USE A STAGING LOCATION?

Staging Locations Should Based on a Combination of Factors including: Problem: Mismatched messengers By using staging locations, you will match your messenger almost by default, as you’ll be sending people to talk to their neighbors, and neighbors generally share demographic traits Volunteer Capacity GOTVTargetsGOTVTargets Geographic Distance STAGING LOCATION GUIDELINES

CASE STUDY General Election -7 Field Offices -37 Field Organizers

Turf miles E-W 8.5 miles N-S 56,000 registered voters Problem: Unclear roles/organization Staging locations distribute responsibility, and make phone-tree creation easier by geographically distributing your volunteers! CASE STUDY

Staging Location Director – Ensures that all activity takes place as scheduled Canvass Coordinator – Trains and manages canvass volunteers Food for Thought: Giving volunteers distinct roles and responsibilities reduces the risk that any given piece is overlooked or mishandled! Your Comfort Captain can double as rapid response, location scout, or ride provider! Data Coordinator – Intakes and organizes all data Comfort Captain – Generally in charge of morale VOLUNTEER ROLES/TEAM STRUCTURE

9:00am – SLD reports for duty, opens SL 9:30am – Other team members arrive, continue setup* 10:00am – Volunteer training – 10:15am – SLD reports packets out to FO 12:00pm – Shift 1 returns, Shift 2 training – 12:15pm – SLD reports packets out to FO Hint: If volunteers are intent on doing visibility, ask them to do high- traffic canvasses from 7-10am! 2:00pm – Shift 2 returns, Shift 3 training – 2:15pm – SLD reports packets out to FO 4:00pm – Shift 3 returns, Shift 4 training – 4:15pm – SLD reports packets out to FO :00pm – SLD closes SL, reports final totals to FO STAGING LOCATION TICK TOCK

Your Job IS to: – Keep volunteers on track – Ensure that things are running smoothly – Collect reports and distribute resources – Be a voice of calm Your Job IS NOT to: – Manage all volunteers – Clean up every mess – Change the game plan halfway through – Knock every door yourself STAGING LOCATION MANAGEMENT

Stay Calm, Have Fun! FINAL STEP