How to Run a Virtual Event

​

Grassroots Democrats HQ

Presenters:

Melissa Grant, President

Tamara Melzer Levenson, Executive Director

The objective of this session is to learn how to convert in-person Grassroots Campaign Work to virtual campaign work while maintaining your volunteers’ sense of community, commitment, and resilience through Election Day.

​

Today’s

Roadmap

1. Going Virtual: Moving From Physical to Online Events
2. Roles and Responsibilities of Virtual Leaders
3. Scheduling
4. Virtual Recruitment
5. Pre-Event Preparation
6. Hosting
7. Follow-up
8. Specifics For: Virtual Phone Bank, Text Bank, and Postcard Events

Going

Virtual

Going Virtual

Creating an virtual environment that is as inviting as a brick-and-mortar location.

​

​

• No more geographic borders!
• People are more accessible than ever
• Invest in a Zoom account (this costs $14.99/mo)
• Zoom Basic (free) calls have a 40 minute time limit

Leaders’

Roles & Responsibilities

Roles & Responsibilities

• Responsibilities
• Cheerleader, teacher, host, and support figure
• Establish standards and goals for your events
• Make it enjoyable for all volunteers
• Choose campaigns and method of voter contact for the greatest impact

Roles & Responsibilities

• 2 Primary Responsibilities:
• Event leader
• Greet event attendees and lead icebreaker
• Provide background about the candidate and reasons for each event
• Train event attendees in necessary skills
• Partner(s)-in-crime (depending on event size):
• Backs up the Leader by answering questions in the chat, posting relevant links, etc.

Scheduling

Scheduling

• In the COVID-19 era, there are no more physical barriers
• People are more reachable and more online than ever before
• Pick a date/time when you can spend 2+ hours
• Mon-Thu evenings or Sat/Sun afternoons are the most effective times to reach voters in phone/text banks
• Set the date at least 2 weeks in advance
• Schedule events in regular intervals

Virtual Recruitment

Virtual Recruitment

• Small events: email a Zoom link and a reminder email the day before and the day of the event

​

• Large events: use a platform like Mobilize America or Action Network
• Include Zoom link in confirmation emails.
• Mobilize America or Action Network preferable to Facebook
• collects contact info from attendees
• automatically sends confirmation and reminder emails

Virtual Recruitment: Relational Organizing

Start with the people you know by using relational organizing!

​

• Tap into your personal network
• Ask your friends to invite 3 friends!
• Exponentially multiplies outreach
• Emails, text, DMs, etc. to close friends and folks you know are passionate and patriotic

Virtual Recruitment: Social Media Media

Facebook

Get Creative!

Instagram

Twitter

Know your options:

• Can employ longer amounts of text
• Use photos!

• Think about your audience and what they use
• Snapchat, Pinterest, etc.

• Primarily photo-based
• Can incorporate short or long amounts of text

• Use shorter amounts of text (under 280 characters)
• Add in photos!

Virtual Recruitment: Email Lists

• Cultivate your volunteer recruitment list by calling and emailing them!
• Keep track of those interested in volunteering
• Send regular, weekly newsletters
• Upcoming volunteer opportunities
• Highlights from the past week
• Get your events on other organizations’ email lists
• Partner with other grassroots groups to build your community
• Remember to add all attendees to your volunteer database

Virtual Recruitment: Phone Banking for Volunteers

• Call volunteers to invite them to join events, fundraiser, training, etc.
• Send a text to those who don’t answer
• People respond to direct, personal conversations much more than emails or indirect contact

​

• Employ a “hard ask” in your calls
• Make your asks specific and targeted
• Rather than “can you come?” say “when can you come?”
• Rather than “is there a time that works for you?” say “does Wednesday work?”

Pre-Event Preparation

Pre-Meeting Preparation: Zoom Setup

• Create a separate Zoom link for each event.
• Defend against “Zoom bombers” and trolls:
• Enable the Waiting Room to pre-screen event participants
• Enable video for hosts & participants
• Ask people to “show their faces” in Zoom room.
• Creates community and deters trolling.
• Select “both” for telephone and computer audio, allowing volunteers to dial in via phone if they have computer issues

Pre-Meeting Preparation: Participant Outreach

• Send confirmation emails and/or texts with relevant information prior to the event:
• Zoom link (and password if applicable)
• Time including time zone
• Instructions for using Zoom
• List of materials needed (postcards/stamps for a postcard bank, a charged phone for a phone bank, etc.)
• Share your contact info so participants can reach out with questions
• Share your excitement!
• Send final confirmation email and text 30-60 mins before the event.

Hosting

Hosting: Starting the Event

• Start the event by greeting and welcoming everyone
• Depending on event’s size, have folks go around and introduce themselves and share a fun fact to cultivate a sense of community
• Show people around the Zoom room
• Don’t assume people know how to use Zoom
• Teach folks how the mute button, chat, video on/off
• Give all the tools folks need to succeed
• Be patient when training newbies
• When folks leave the session, they should have a manual/any other relevant materials to commit to volunteering in the future
• Remember folks come for the cause but stay for the relationships

Hosting: Using Breakout Rooms

• For training purposes secure 2+ meeting leaders to separate event attendees
• Make a Zoom breakout room to train first-time volunteers
• Provide individualized attention when needed
• Keep attendees who feel comfortable with the activity in the main room to move right into the activity after a brief introduction
• When new folks have been trained, they can return to the main room and finish the shift.
• Always end a shift with a CLOSING RECAP allowing people to share their experiences during the shift and to thank them for participating.
• Take photos to share them on social media and attendees

Follow-Up

Follow-Up

• After the event, email all attendees to ask them for feedback and invite them to join future events!
• Email anyone who RSVP’d but didn’t show up and ask them to come to another event
• Take a moment to celebrate your success! 🎉

Phone

Banking in the Virtual World

Phone Banking In The Virtual World

​

• Door-to-door voter engagement used to be the best way to engage a voter
• In the COVID era, phone banking is the NEW virtual canvassing
• Phone banking is just like canvassing, only voter contact is by phone instead of knocking on doors
• Teach volunteers how to “leave audio” so they can remain in the session while phone banking
• Those who choose not to remain, invite them to rejoin the 15 minutes before the phone bank ends
• End every event by sharing experiences to build a sense of community

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Text

Banking In

The Virtual World

Text Banking In The Virtual World

​

• In the COVID era, text banking is even more important
• Be careful to only use in the campaign cycle where most effective
• Upload volunteers to the texting platform BEFORE a session begins.
• Remain on the call with volunteers to answer questions, create community and ensure volunteers properly tag and respond utilizing the software.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Postcarding In

The Virtual World

Postcarding In The Virtual World

​

• Provide instruction prior to event letting volunteers know how to obtain supplies: postcards, scripts and addresses
• Distribute addresses and scripts to those who did not secure their addresses and scripts ahead of time.
• Event leader in this environment should be prepared to act as host, leading conversation or providing themed activities to pass the time, for example playing music while they write postcards.

​

​

​

​

​

​

Remember:

“Volunteers come for the cause and stay for the relationships.”

​

Any questions?

Contact

grassrootsdems.org

Melissa Grant

melissa@grassrootsdems.org

Tamara Melzer Levenson

tamara@grassrootsdems.org

​

​