Relational organizing

Twelve years ago, the Obama campaign switched to a computer driven approach that maximized door knocks and phone calls at the expense of personal connections.

Volunteers never spoke to the same voter twice.

Everyone was impressed with the computerized system, including Ken.

But Ken saw a simple way to add even more value. He realized that adding strong personal connections to the computerized system would yield even more votes.

Today’s campaigns continue to use the same formula pioneered in 2008, and they still work. Ken makes campaigns dramatically more effective by nurturing personal relationships between organizers, volunteers and voters.

Having a Voter Database is Not Enough.

Vote builder is a great place to start. It allows the campaign instant access to the numeric results (doors knocked, phone calls made, voters contacted, etc). When we add personal connections and improved volunteer training, we dramatically improve results.

Quality of contacts is as important as quantity. A friend-to-friend contact, be it from one volunteer to another or from a volunteer to a voter, is dramatically more effective than an anonymous contact.

When you don’t speak with the same voter twice, you lose that connection.

You become impersonal, and it doesn’t just affect voters, it affects campaign staff and volunteers. Volunteer recruitment and reminder calls are similarly depersonalized.

Having volunteers is Not Enough.

Quality of volunteer effort is likewise important. One pair of novice canvassers may jointly knock on 20 doors and speak to 4 voters without bringing home a single completed commit-to-vote card.  A single star volunteer might knock on 80 doors, speak to 30 voters and come home with 25 completed commit-to-vote cards.

A novice canvasser cannot be transformed into a star volunteer in an afternoon,  but, every volunteer can be made more effective every time they canvass.

We can train volunteers to be strategic, smart and most of all, effective.

Furthermore, making volunteers effective is the best way to keep them motivated and engaged. The effect at the polls is dramatic.

Real on-the-ground experience counts now more than ever.