2 of 17

Organizing Department Pillars

Set volunteers up for success
Volunteer time is precious -- we protect it
There are no shortcuts

3 of 17

How We Work with Volunteer Leaders

1 : 1 Meetings
Monthly Volunteer Leader Calls
Case Studies

Volunteer-written descriptions & how-to’s of successful events (fundraising, town hall, voter contact, etc. . .) to catalyze creative thinking and share best practices

4 of 17

Candidate Support Levels 2020

Raised 2x as much for candidates this year vs this time last year; nearly 3x at this point compared to 2018
Six-fold increase in recurring phonebanks
Doubled dial total vs last year at this point in the cycle

5 of 17

Our Best Practices Surrounding

Volunteer Recruitment
Virtual Fundraising Events
Recurring Phonebanks

6 of 17

Pick Up The Phone for Volunteer Recruitment

7 of 17

Sister District Action Network Study:

“Call (or text) Your Girlfriend”

SDAN ran a recruitment/confirmation study in 2019 measuring personal connection vs email
Recruitment by phone/text vs email

Increased RSVPs by 168%
Increased Attendance by 177%

Reminding RSVPs by phone/text vs email

Increased Attendance by 51%

8 of 17

Organizing Fellow Phone Recruitment Outcomes during COVID-19

Spring Term (February - May)

Contact rate = 28% (nearly 50% increase from 2019)
Volunteers saying YES to at least one ask = 54%

Summer Term (May - present)

Contact rate = 24%
Volunteers saying YES to at least one ask = 42%

9 of 17

Sharing Phone Recruitment Stories

Sister District Portland = 10 fundraiser registrants grew to 74 after recruitment calls
Sister District Sonoma County East created phone outreach committee; increased fundraising, phonebank attendance along with 25% increase in general meeting attendance
Sister District Minnesota & Fellows called for candidate fundraiser, found vol to lead phone recruitment program

10 of 17

Standardized Spreadsheets

11 of 17

Virtual Fundraising Events

Made Easy -- and Fun!

12 of 17

Setting Teams up for Fundraising Success

Greenlight & support creative ideas
Disseminating what works

Step-by-step guides, blog posts, case studies

Standardized planning, prep & execution

Shareable working docs
45 min agendas / limit guest appearances to 15mins
Pre-event prep call & run of show

Coach on solid, concise financial asks

13 of 17

Virtual Fundraising Programming

Candidate & Special Guest Appearances

Candidate Town Hall / Meet & Greet
Sister District Co-Founder Events

Creative Events

Silent Auctions
Food & Drink Events
Pilates, yoga, zoomba & dance!

Friendraisers

Small Family / Friend Get-Togethers

14 of 17

Stand up your

Phonebanks

15 of 17

Setting Teams up for Phonebank Success

Case Studies, Volunteer Leader Calls, 1:1 train the trainers
Asking new phonebank leaders to join great phonebanks
Standardized debrief/success/recruitment systems
Phone call recruitment - - with persuasion!!
Dial Efficiency is big for motivation and retention
Greenlighting creative ideas:

Phonebank Battles
Phonebank pledges

16 of 17

Takeaways

Volunteer recruitment by phone
Disseminating what works
Greenlight your volunteer creativity

17 of 17

Taylor Hogeland

taylor@sisterdistrict.com