Group leader resource

Volunteer recruitment, cultivation, and escalation

To make the future we want a reality, it's going to take all of us working together to make sure we have a government that works for the people. Building a team of people who bring their unique talents and experiences to the table is key to accomplishing our goals. Organizing a community or campus is hard work, and it’s nearly impossible (and way less fun) to do alone. A solid team prevents burnout and allows you to get multiple things done at once. To build a stellar volunteer team, you need to recruit interested individuals and train them to become leaders.

Recruitment: Bring in new volunteers

Whether your group started five days ago or five years ago, we know you’re always looking for ways to engage new volunteers in your community.

Where to find volunteers

Relational Organizing

Prospective volunteers already in your network

Organizing is about relationships. Lean on the people you already know—your friends, family, and neighbors—to build sustainable collective power. Host a “friend bank” to help your group members effectively reach out to their existing strong ties about joining your group.

High-Traffic Canvassing

Like-minded, motivated community members

Head out to a busy area in your community where you’re likely to find folks who are interested. Maybe it’s setting up a table at a local event, taking your group to meet people at the farmers market, or collecting pledge cards on your college campus. Learn how to host a high-traffic canvass.

Other recruitment ideas:

Think digital: Review this digital organizing training on how you can leverage social media and online tools to recruit and retain volunteers.
Build skills: Train your group members on volunteer recruitment best practices using this slide presentation, and/or circulate this ‘hard ask’ guide.
Host voter contact events! Empowering folks in your community to take action together is a great way to bring them in and show them the value of joining a Swing Left group.
Depending on your location, we might be able to provide a list of Swing Left subscribers near you who are not yet members of your group, who you can call or text to invite them to your upcoming events. Follow these instructions to request and use a volunteer recruitment phone bank.

Talking with future volunteers

Start with a low-lift ask: Make sure a prospective volunteer’s first experience is easy and fun! This way they’re more likely to come back. Examples of good first asks:
- Invite them to a kick-off meeting or watch party
- Have them post on social media/invite people to your event
- Ask them to play a small role at their first event (e.g. help seal and stamp envelopes at a letter writing party)
Tell a personal story: When you’re explaining why they should get involved, tell them about a reason you think this work matters.
- Why are you organizing in your community or at your school? Take some time to think about this and practice telling a friend about it. This ‘story of self’ guide can help!
- Think about how your group fits into the landscape of your community. What is your unique value proposition, and how might you tell that story?
Listen to what matters to them: We know that the political is personal, and volunteers are affected by the decisions that our government makes every day. If someone isn’t sure their work will matter, ask them to tell you about what they care about. People connect to so many issues. Here are some common ones:
- Health care
- Economic justice
- Racial equity
- LGBTQ+ rights
- Access to abortion
- Women’s rights
- Student debt and the cost of college
- Gun safety
- Attacks on democracy
Use your “hard ask” skills: Make sure you’re being confident and direct when you ask someone to get involved. Check out the 'hard ask' guide for more information.

Cultivation: Get to know your volunteers

Once you’ve got your new volunteer in the door, taking immediate steps to keep them engaged is critical.

Try to always have an upcoming event or action planned. It’s much easier to get a volunteer to show up to the next event if it’s already on the books. If there’s not an event coming up, think about what consistent call to action you can request, whether it’s talking to their own networks about Swing Left, writing letters at home, etc. You can also always find Swing Left’s suggestions for current priorities at the top of the Leaders Toolkit.
Pay attention to what motivates a volunteer to do this work. What are some of their interests and strengths? What are their goals? Use that to tailor your communication with them.
Create a system for organizing your notes on volunteers so you don’t forget who loves to canvass, who said you could use their office for events, who needs accessibility accommodations, etc.
Consider creating a formal or informal ‘checklist’ of all the actions you’ll take when a new person joins your group – such as having a one-on-one and adding them to your email list – so you (or a designated Volunteer Recruitment Lead!) can easily reference the steps.
Facilitate relationship building among new and experienced volunteers. You could do this formally by pairing an experienced volunteer with a new volunteer to keep in touch after they meet at an event, or informally by building social elements into your voter contact events.
Make space for reflection. Whether you hold a group debrief after an event, or call volunteers individually to follow up, don’t skip out on building intentional time for volunteers to talk about their experience. In a study on how relationships improve mobilization, researcher Hahrie Han found that the process of reflection — reflecting back on an action with an individual to help that individual develop a larger sense of meaning around that act — has a powerful effect on the likelihood that the individual will participate in a follow-up action.

Escalation: Train volunteers to become leaders

What does “volunteer escalation” mean?

As an organizer, one of your goals is to train volunteers and build their organizing skills. As you do so, you should gradually give them more responsibility and build them into a leader on your team.

Give positive feedback: If you’re hoping to escalate a volunteer to a leadership position, they’re probably doing a great job! Make sure you express how much you appreciate their work and talk about why their specific, unique contributions have been meaningful. Thanking volunteers is incredibly important – make sure they feel appreciated.
Consider their strengths: Think about what this volunteer has done particularly well. Are they awesome at talking to people online? Do they know exactly how to recruit other volunteers? Do you trust them to lead a virtual event? Identify what leadership role you’d like to ask them to take before approaching them.
Make the ask: Explain what you’re looking for in this leadership role and ask them if they would be interested in taking it. Make sure to incorporate the positive feedback in your ask! Tell them why you think they’re right for the role and how helpful it will be for your team.
Ask for a commitment: Be clear about what this role will entail. How much time per week would they spend volunteering? What will you depend on them to do?
Train them up: Providing training, tools, and clear goals is an important part of supporting new leadership. Make sure you have a plan to make your new leadership as successful as possible. Check out training resources for group leaders in the Leaders Toolkit.

Building a team

Why is having a team important?

More fun: Doing work with other people who care about this work always feels good
More committed: It’s easier to get people to commit when others are doing the same
More effective: Organizing is hard work! A big, strong team will get more done
Shared responsibility: Working to accomplish shared goals helps with accountability and prevents burnout

Example team roles

For a grassroots organizing group, titles like “president” and “vice president” could be less helpful than roles that correspond to specific responsibilities. Think about what the “jobs to be done” are for your group, and use that to create a list of roles you’d want to fill over time.

A great team might have three leaders, or 10, depending on their size and the types of activities they engage in. Depending on your group’s structure and focus, some example roles might be:

Voter contact tactics leads (e.g. phone bank lead, letter writing lead, etc): Works with Swing Left and the campaigns to host voter contact events, and supports volunteers with these tactics.
Volunteer recruitment lead: While recruitment is a shared responsibility, the lead might be responsible for recruitment events and following up with new volunteers to increase retention.
Communications lead: Sends emails and newsletters to your group, and keeps email lists up to date.
Digital organizing lead: Responsible for your group’s online presence, including social media accounts and/or your website and Group Builder page.
Training lead: Help group members build the skills they need to feel confident in taking action (with the support of Swing Left’s materials!).
Partnerships lead: Seeks out and manages relationships with other groups and organizations.

Want to go a step further? Host a group leadership development roundtable to strengthen your group’s leadership team. Whether you’re a new group just starting out, an experienced group looking to refresh your goals, or a group that’s navigating leadership transitions, this roundtable guide can help you plan an effective team meeting.