Face-to-face conversations
Face-to-face conversations with voters, whether at their door or out in the community, have long been the gold standard in voter turnout, registration, and engagement. At Swing Left, we believe that those conversations are more important than ever, especially in a media environment plagued by polarization and misinformation. We know that having meaningful conversations with voters and other activists is key to winning.
Embedding relational organizing for increased impact
Since 2017, Swing Left has connected with over 50 million voters through phone calls, door-to-door outreach, and Vote Forward letters. Now, we're using the insights we've gained to sharpen our strategy and develop new, innovative ways to reach the voters who matter most.
Our early conversations help us educate voters, combat misinformation, and show the community that we’re not waiting until right before the election to reach out. The impact of a single conversation with a voter may only last a few weeks. That’s why, this early in the election cycle, we’re focused on adding an element of relational organizing into everything we do, including “vote tripling” and sharing pro-democracy messages with friends.
What is Relational Organizing?
Relational organizing is simply reaching out to someone you already know—someone who trusts you—and it’s much more effective than having a conversation with a stranger. This isn’t new, but we know that it works. In fact, research shows that relational organizing is at least twice as effective as traditional engagement methods.
With vote tripling, we are encouraging the voters we talk with to then talk to three other people in their life about voting and what’s at stake in this election. This approach is particularly effective for engaging voters who don’t regularly participate in elections.
Throughout all of our conversations, whether with voters whose door we knock or with fellow activists at protests, we will utilize vote tripling as a way to maximize our impact. To do this, we have relational postcards available for you to order and utilize at your high-traffic canvass, door-to-door canvass, or in any other creative ways you can think of! The people you talk with simply fill out the card with their address and the names of their three friends. Then, close to Election Day, you’ll mail them back their card!
And, with our relational postcard, you can also ask voters and activists to take it one step further and commit to continued engagement with their network! We know that sustained or repeated contact with an individual voter creates a more lasting impact than just one conversation. In addition to receiving a postcard reminder, they can sign up to receive one text every other month with pro-democracy messages to help start conversations with their friends about issues and voting.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes! You can use the relational postcard in any swing state or swing district. Our long-term success depends on building relationships with voters now. And with our relational postcard, we help people get in the habit of talking to their friends and family about why voting matters, making them even more likely to vote themselves!
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Relational organizing is incredibly powerful but it’s not easy for us to know who everyone’s friends are unless we talk to them. An individual person’s network of friends and family might be vast and just because someone lives in a safe blue area doesn’t mean that they don’t have connections to voters in swing states or districts. When talking to those voters, encourage them to think about any friends and family they might know in a swing state or district they can reach out to.
The past election cycle showed us how much the media is filled with misinformation and polarization – no matter where you are located, engaging with your community through relational organizing offers a way to combat GOP misinformation and spread pro-democracy messages directly to voters outside our typical activist networks.
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Every face-to-face conversation with a voter is an opportunity to recruit volunteers! By using our relational postcard and committing to regularly texting three friends, the voters you talk to are already taking their first volunteer action. This is the perfect time to go one step further and ask them to join your group.
There may also be times where the people you’re engaging are particularly likely to be volunteer prospects—such as a Pride festival in a deep blue city. In those cases, you may prefer to exclusively focus your conversations on volunteering. For those cases, Swing Left also offers volunteer recruitment pledge cards that we can send you free of charge.
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Registering voters is a great way to help us win in target districts – it helps us expand the electorate, ensure more voices are heard in elections, and even shift the outcome. Plus, registering someone to vote opens the door to more conversations about future elections, the issues they care about, and even volunteering! See Swing Left’s High Traffic Canvass guide below for more information.
If you’re heading out to register voters, we highly recommend bringing along our relational postcards. Encouraging new voters to contact their networks not only reinforces their commitment to voting but also creates opportunities to reach other first-time voters through their personal connections. And often, many of the people you’re engaging will already be registered voters, so the relational postcard offers you a way to have a productive conversation with those folks.
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Often, campaigns do not set up their field efforts until six or fewer months before election day and there is critical work that Swing Left can and must do early. In those cases, choose the Host a Swing Left canvass option below and we’ll help you get set up to canvass a list of Democratic voters with our script and relational postcard.
If there is an active campaign, then yes! Swing left works to support the campaigns in our target districts. Choose Host a canvass carpool below to organize a carpool or meetup at a campaign-organized canvass, where you’ll use their script and materials once you arrive. Reach out to your organizer if you need help getting connected to a campaign!
Ready to start having face-to-face conversations?
Select which type of face-to-face conversations you’re planning, depending on where you’re located, how your members are interested in engaging, and whether there’s a campaign structure set up yet. Need help choosing? Reach out to your Swing Left contact.
Talk to like-minded
prospective volunteers
and/or voters
Use Swing Left’s relational postcards and/or recruitment pledge card
Travel to a swing district to knock on doors before the campaign is active
Canvass Democratic voters with Swing Left’s script and relational postcard
Participate in a
campaign-organized canvass
(when available)
For these events, you’ll follow the campaign’s script and use their materials
