Precinct Organizing: Building Networks Across Precincts October 2 nd, 2007 Paid for by Democracy for America, www.democracyforamerica.com, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate s committee.
Tonight s Trainers Arshad Hasan DFA Training Director Night School Host Annette Osterlund Think Precinct Democracy for Colorado Patricia Waak Colorado Democratic Party Chair Parag Mehta DNC Training Director 2 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Goals for this Session 1) Work with other precincts in your state 2) Gain the support of your state party 3) Get briefed on the DNC s plan to organize in every precinct 3 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Our Mission in 2008 Election by election, state by state, precinct by precinct, door by door, vote by vote we re going to lift our Party up and take this country back for the people who built it. --Howard Dean 4 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Think Precinct! www.democracyforcolorado.com Think Precinct Organizing Manual Developed in 2004 by Democracy for Colorado www.thinkprecinct.com 5 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Precinct Foster Care Some precincts need some TLC to get started Recruit some of the best volunteers from your own precinct and the surrounding area Focus should be on finding and mentoring new local precinct leaders 6 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Coordinating Your Actions Case Study: Angie Paccione fundraisers This model can also be applied to canvasses, phone banks, etc Power in knowing you re part of something bigger 7 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Get Your State Trained Coordinated with DNC 50-state staffers Sanctioned and promoted by Colorado state party Results -- Douglas County, CO Tom Tancredo s district 200 precinct leaders attend Dem Performance increased by 10-20% in 2006 8 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Precinct Organizing & State Parties Precinct Organizing builds statewide Party infrastructure Strong County Parties = Strong State Party Motivates local activists and emboldens them to take action and keeps them engaged after the election! 9 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Listener Submitted Questions I ve been to a couple of meetings, but my local party doesn t seem that interested in helping what I m doing. What can I do to make them more supportive? - Kim in Illinois 10 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Listener Submitted Questions Are there other any states that are using the Think Precinct materials? - Trish in Florida 10 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Listener Submitted Questions I ve been trying to adopt a couple of neighboring precincts, but it never lasts very long. What are some tips to finding local volunteers and then keeping them on board afterwards? - Tom in Wisconsin 10 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Organizing in Every State Problem: Too many communities not getting the Democratic message Solution: Organize Everywhere! Goals 203,000 precincts w/ leaders 33,000 counties supporting them 500,000 activists by Labor Day 2008 11 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Grassroots in Action We will begin work now in all communities, and not show up two weeks before the election We will also begin to work in communities where our message has not been heard 12 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Grassroots in Action Grassroots Activist Precinct Volunteer Precinct Coordinator Precinct Captain County Party Field Organizer State Party DNC 13 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Personal Contact We need a strategy which 1. Sustains personal contact 2. Occurs at the neighborhood level 3. Supports grassroots activists and volunteers Contacts Needed for Just One Vote Mail Phone Canvass 389 460 14 Data represents composite values across multiple randomized -control studies including Gerber & Green, Yale University 14 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Empowering Jerome TONY SPP Field Organizer CHRIS Smith County Stacy Precinct # 12 Leader TODD Wade County MARISOL Bell County ALAN Precinct #14 Leader Give Jerome the tools to take his country back Jerome Precinct Leader 15 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Jerome Identifies His Friends and Acquaintances 16 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Gets Support from the Party Access to data and walk lists Customizable literature for localized messaging Jerome is now ready to talk to his neighbors 17 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Jerome Finds Two New Neighborhood Activists Recruit 1 JEROME Recruit 2 New Activists Get Their Own Universes 18 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
And the Organization Expands! 19 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
The Vote Builder (VAN) One voter file One platform One list to rule us all! 20 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Kick-off the Vote Democrats across the country will start the clock on our countdown to victory with One-Year-Out House Parties in November where activists will: Learn about the Neighbor-to-Neighbor Program Pledge to contact their neighbors at least 3 times Begin contacting voters to train on and test the system 21 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Incentives Local precinct leaders will get: Training and support from the Party Recognition as grassroots leaders Access to insider briefings, private blogs, and events 22 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Listener Submitted Questions How do I find out who are the DNC 50 state coordinators in my state? -Lorie in MO & Sharon in FL 23 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Listener Submitted Questions Since the studies that you cite say that door to door contact is so much better than phone banks, should we bother running volunteer phone banks or just turn all of our attention to canvassing? -Sue in Texas 23 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Listener Submitted Questions Since it s been over 3 years now since the 50 state strategy began, how well is it working on the ground and are there plans to continue it after the 2008 election? - Jim in Nevada 23 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Homework 1) Adopt a nearby precinct or hold a local inter-precinct event 2) Attend a Kick-off the Vote precinct party this November 24 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Our 4 Part Series Getting Started Recruiting Your Precinct Team Making an Impact Building Networks Across Precincts Audio & presentations available online www.democracyforamerica.com/nightschool 25 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com
Thank you for joining us! Need to catch up on earlier Night School presentations? Order previous semesters on DVD (and help keep Night School free) Summer 2007 Semester on Fundraising now available! www.democracyforamerica.com/nightschooldvd https://contribute.democracyforamerica.com/trust 26 Questions? Email training@democracyforamerica.com