When it comes to democratic grassroots organizing there are several tactics that will help ensure your success. These are things that have been learned by looking at what helped President Obama during his campaign in 2012. What’s good for him is good for you so it’s important to keep these tips in mind.
Have a Plan
Having a plan is important when you want to make sure that people will actually follow through. Research shows that even a simple plan increases the likelihood that you’ll reach your goal.
Point Out Past Involvement to Potential Volunteers
One way to encourage voting is to identify who voters are. When someone mentions that a person has voted in the past you’ll know that they’re committed. From here it’s simply a matter of subtly encouraging them to follow through by voting again.
Show Potential Volunteers Their Peers’ Involvement
During the campaign season, your volunteers should encourage people to vote. One way of doing this is by informing them that their neighbors are planning on voting. Psychologists say that this tactic works because people tend to go along with social norms. Therefore if their neighbor is doing something they’ll feel pressured to do it too.
Ask People to Sign an Informal Commitment
Another thing that we’ve learned from research is that even an informal commitment made by a person will increase the likelihood of them following through. This is something that you should take advantage of throughout campaign season. By encouraging people to sign an informal commitment they’re more likely to go to the polls and vote.
Avoid Myth Busting
Ultimately, when you take time to deny myths you’re actually reinforcing the statement that you’re trying to refute. For instance, if your candidate keeps telling people that they don’t flip-flop, people are bound to believe that the candidate will change their mind regarding certain issues.
Emphasize the Positive
You’ll find that emphasizing positive messages throughout the campaign is more effective when it comes time to get people to vote. In fact, these are better than traditional messages that emphasize negative things. So instead of saying that the reason you lost in the past was that a lot of people didn’t vote you should say that voting makes a difference.
The Bottom Line
Although democratic grassroots organizing may seem challenging, these tips will help make things easier for you. At the same time, they’ll also give your organizing efforts a boost so make sure you keep them in mind today.
