Get Out the Vote Phone & Text Banking

Why host a phone or text bank to reach voters?

Phone or text banking involves individual outreach to voters through phone calls or text

messages. Contact from a trusted organization can help prepare and motivate people to vote and

is more effective than emails or postcards. Include phone or text banking as part of your Get Out

the Vote strategy in the weeks leading up to the election. Benefits include:

 Flexibility to organize in-person, at a distance, all at once, or over many shifts

 Enjoyable for your staff and volunteers

 GOTV messages can be paired with wellness checks, invitations to events/services, or other

messages you want to get out to your community

Instructions for organizers:

Before starting, please read over this packet in its entirety. If you have questions, you can reach

out to info@nonprofitvote.org. Keep in mind that it may take 3-4 days for a response.

Every good phone or text bank has four key ingredients:

1. A list of clients/voters to contact

2. Staff or volunteers (bankers) to make the calls/texts to voters

3. A script to guide their interactions

4. A tracker to record voters’ answers and important notes: Download our template.

What if I don’t have a list of clients or community members that includes their name and

phone number? We recommend targeting a small geographic area (such as a City Council ward)

using the data firm L2. You can get a few hundred names and numbers for around $50 dollars.

Who should I ask to phone/text bank? How many people should I ask? For every 100 phone

numbers, recruit two people to phone/text bank for two hours (you could also recruit four people

for a Power Hour!) Consider asking staff to participate, as well as committed volunteers, members

of your board, or even program participants. Members of a local youth leadership program make

great bankers. Recruit bilingual speakers if many people in your community speak languages

other than English at home.

How do I use the scripts? How do I train my bankers? Download the phone banking script as a

Word doc here and download the texting script as a Word doc here. Text that appears in curly

brackets and highlighted should be filled with your organizational or state information. Head to

Voting In Your State for links to your state’s website. If text appears in double angle brackets, it

indicates that your bankers will use the dropdown menus in the tracker to select the voter’s

answer (ex: <<RECORD whether they’re voting early, by mail, etc>>). Start banking sessions with a

quick training: ask bankers to read through the script and then have them open the tracker and

review the options in each columns’ dropdown menu. Make sure there is a staff member or lead

volunteer that bankers can contact if there are questions or issues.

Get Out the Vote Phone & Text Banking

Thank you for phone-banking with {organization}! This is a great service to voters in our

community and will help make sure their voices are heard at the polls.

What every phone banker should know

If this is your first time phone-banking, welcome! This is generally a very positive experience for

both the caller and the voter being called. Keep in mind the following:

 It will feel awkward at first and that’s okay! You’ll start feeling more comfortable after the third

or fourth conversation.

 Most people won’t pick up and you may only have a handful of conversations with voters. This

is okay too! Every call makes a difference.

 You never have to stay on the phone with someone rude or aggressive. If you feel

uncomfortable, disconnect the call and make a note in the tracker.

On the next page there is a script to guide you through conversations with voters. You may

reword the script to make it sound more like yourself or if you find that people are confused by a

question. If voters go off-script, use the table on the 2

page for help.

General conversation outline:

Intro – Who you are and whether you’ve reached the intended voter

Q1 – Checking if they have voted

Q2 – Asking how they will cast their ballot (early, in person, by mail)

Q3 – Prompting them to ask a friend or family member for help

Tracking

Use this {tracking sheet link} to see your list of voters/phone numbers and to keep track of your

conversations. Use the drop down menus (click on or hover over the cell to see the options) to

record whether the voter answered the phone and what their responses were to your questions.

Use column H to record any additional notes that are important.

If you run into any issues, your contact for the phone bank is {Name} at {phone number}. They are

on call to assist you.

Thanks in advance for helping our community out! Happy calling.

Phone Banking Orientation

*START CALL*: Hi, I’m [Your Name] calling on behalf of {Organization}. Am I speaking with

[Name of Voter]? <<Record response in column C>>

If YES: Good. *Continue to Q1 – Check if they’ve voted*

If NO: Sorry about that! We’d still encourage you to vote because everyone should be heard

in this election. *END CALL*

Q1 – Check if they’ve voted: We want our community to participate in the upcoming elections on

{election date}, especially in {state or city}. We do not represent any political party or candidate.

First, have you already voted in this election? <<Record answer in column D>>

If YES: Great, thanks for being a voter. If you haven’t already, ask a friend or family member

to vote too. Have a great day and thanks for talking! *END CALL*

If NO: No problem *Continue to Q2*

Q2 – What’s their vote method?: Which method do you think you will use to vote in this election:

voting early, voting by mail, or voting in person on election day?

If YES/METHOD: Great! <<Record vote method in column E>> *Continue to Q3*

If NO/DON’T KNOW: The election is coming up soon! We recommend voting in person early

or on election day if you haven’t already requested your ballot by mail. You can avoid lines and

vote on your own schedule. {Insert state specific voting early information} *Continue to Q3 *

Q3 – Ask a friend for help: Do you have a friend or family member who can help you think

through how you will cast your ballot? <<Record in column G>>

If Q3 YES: That’s great. We hope you can help represent our community this year and

thanks for being a voter! *END CALL*

If Q3 NO/DON’T KNOW: That’s okay – you can go to canivote.org, that’s CAN, I, VOTE, DOT,

ORG to learn more about the election. Can I make a note for someone from {organization name}

to follow up with you? Thanks for talking today and for being a voter! *END CALL*

*****Use sample responses on the next page if the voter goes off script*****

Phone Banking Script

Sample responses

They don’t know there’s an

election

This year there are elections that impact our community.

We want everyone to be represented, so visit {LINK} to

learn more about what is on the ballot. Thanks and have

a good day! *END CALL*

They don’t live in state

Sorry about that! We’d still encourage you to vote to

make everyone is heard in this election. *END CALL*

They don’t speak English

Do you have someone who speaks English nearby? I can

talk to a family member or a friend. *Wait* If not, no

problem. Thank you for your time! *END CALL*

Don’t call me/Angry

We will make a note not to call you again. Sorry to bother

and have a nice day! *END CALL*

How did you get this #

{Describe how you got their number (client list, list pulled

from eligible voters, etc)}

Other voting problem (mail

ballot lost, problem with

registration, etc)

Unfortunately, this isn’t an issue I can help you with, but

you can go to {LINK} to look up the local elections office.

They will be able to answer your questions and give you

next steps. Thank you! *END CALL*

{OPTIONAL – Decide if you want phone bankers to leave a voice message for voters who

do not pick up. Remove this section if you do not want them to leave a voicemail}:

*Voicemail*: Hi, this message is for [Name of Voter]. I’m [Your First Name] calling on behalf

of {Organization}. We want to make sure our community is represented in the upcoming

elections on {election date}, especially in {state or city} We do not represent any political

party or candidate. I’m sorry I missed you. Please go to {LINK} to learn more about the

upcoming election. Thanks, and happy voting!

Setting Up a Text Bank

The sample texts below can be used with text bankers recruited by your organization or through

a vendor such as ThruText or CallHub. If you are using your own text bankers, complete these

steps to get outreach started:

1. Select a text message from the list below and fill in highlighted information, or create

your own text message.

2. Using the sheet labeled “Text Banking” in the template tracker, add your text message to

cell B4 for quick reference. Make a copy of the sheet for each text banker and then add

your list of names and phone numbers for text outreach.

3. Walk text bankers through the tracker. Make sure each text banker has a unique list of

names and numbers. Discuss with your text bankers whether they should continue

texting with voters who respond that they need help/have a question or if bankers should

simply record responses in the tracker for someone else to provide follow up.

Sample Text Messages

Hi voter! This is [NAME] on behalf of {Organization name}. We want our community to show up

this election and have your vote influence decisions about education, housing, transportation,

and criminal justice. Have a question? Just reply or send STOP to opt-out.

Hi! This is [NAME] from {Organization name}! Do you know who you're voting for yet? Check out

your city's voter guide and your voting options at {state, city, or county website}. Send STOP to

opt-out or just reply for help.

Hi! Thanks for getting #VoteReady with {Organization name}. Our local elections are coming up

soon! Have you chosen how you’re voting yet? Let us know or get help by replying! Send STOP

to opt-out.

Hello! This is {Organization name} with a reminder to vote in Tuesday, November 2nd's election!

Check out your ballot ahead of time at {state, city, or county website}. Any questions? Just reply

for help or send STOP to opt-out.

Sample Texts for Text Banking