Political Campaign Volunteers - How to Onboard

Now, more than ever, we are supposed to do more with less, but why would you when you can successfully encourage passive supporters to be active ones. To experience greater participation among our supporters we merely have to ask. Surprisingly, it's something many organizations are still failing to do. With the help of technology, we can turn 10 supporters into 100 active supporters. Using Ecanvasser, follow the steps below to multiply your supporters.

Steps to success:

• Do your research to find out who might be potential supporters with the help of technology. You can do this by conducting surveys by going door to door. Canvassing for volunteers is no different to canvassing for votes. Target your voters from previous elections and other people from your voter file.
• Once people are engaging with you at the door, you will be able to identify core supporters. Ask them what level of support they are at for you. You can set up a Custom Field as simple as the one below, simply asking them are they a supporter. You can also take it even further and segment the degree of support. For example if someone is a Stage 1 supporter, they may tell their friends and family about you. A Stage 2 supporter may physically get involved in your campaign such as doing leaflet drops etc. Stage 3 supporters may advocate for you on social media.

• Now create a group from these supporters for outreach. Segment this field by naming "Active Supporters."

• This group sits next to your voter groups but everyone in it can potentially be brought in as a member of your team.
• Reaching out regularly by email and encouraging plenty of face to face meetups will ensure that outreach is ongoing, it also inspires others to get involved.
• Incentivise these people to suggest or recommend other supporters by offering a gift voucher. Also, clarify how the ‘cause’ as a whole can be improved by them bringing, even more, people into the team.
• Collaborate with current supporters to improve public perception & leading to exponential growth. The trick to maintaining steady growth amongst your volunteer base is to never stop asking.