Phone-banks

You can reach more voters faster by phone-banking than any other method. And unlike door-knocking, there's no chance of weather waylaying progress. But talking to someone on the phone is virtually never as effective as in person.

Phone-banks are critical in precincts that can’t be effectively walked (if, for example, they have too many apartment buildings). The captains of these precincts should be experienced phone-bankers who are prepared to run many regular phone-banks.

Phone-banks are a very good way to use volunteers who can make only an occasional commitment, perhaps one evening a week or every two weeks. (People who can make a more regular commitment to the campaign should be recruited to become precinct captains or phone-bank coordinators.)

Phone-bank Coordinators

Phone-bank coordinator is an invaluable role that dedicated volunteers can play in an integrated voter engagement project.

• Phone-bank coordinators commit to run volunteer phone-banks at least once a week until the election.
• They need to learn how to train phone-bankers – which includes some issue education as well as instruction on how to read the voter list and record calls on tally sheets.
• At the end of every phone-bank they ’ll debrief volunteers, collect materials, gather the names of voter who requested lawn signs or agreed to volunteer, and ask volunteers to address envelopes to voters who requested more information.
• Finally, their communication with organizers must be prompt, frequent and cooperative.

The Mechanics of Phone-banks

You don’t need large numbers of people to start a phone-bank. What you do need is:

• Donated phones: This is where your allies with offices really come in handy!
• Regularity: Volunteers are more likely to show up for more than one volunteer slot if the phone-bank is held in a consistent location at a consistent time.

Finding phones: Many institutions that your community group has relationships with (or could have relationships with) can and will donate space for phoning if asked. A phone-banking space should have at least six lines (lines, not telephones), and preferably more. The perfect setup is a place that lets your campaign use their lines four or five nights a week and Sunday afternoons until the election. Failing perfection, it’s sometimes possible to get Tuesdays in one place and Thursdays in another, etc. To make it easier on volunteers and precinct captains, try for as much regularity as possible.

Good sources of phone lines include:

• Law, real estate or other professional offices
• Unions

When you’re on the hunt for phones, remember that you will want to use every cluster of five phones lines you can find over the final, get-out-the-vote weekend, Monday and Election Day. If an office turns you down for immediate use, ask if the lines will be available at crunch time.

When to phone-bank: At all times, the majority of calls will not be answered, will reach answering machines, or will be wrong numbers, but you’ll reach the most people at these hours:

• Monday through Thursday, 5:30 to 9 pm
• Sunday, 4 to 8 pm

Forms, FAQ’s and Tally Sheets

• The forms you’ll use to record voter ID calls will depend partially upon the lists you’re using. Organizers should work with their lead organizer and other organizers who have similar lists to ensure that reporting usefully records voter IDs.
• Have every volunteer fill out a tally sheet at the end of session. You’ll want to ask them which precinct they were working in, how many calls they attempted, how many of those ended up getting through to the right person, what their responses were and what kind of follow-up is needed. Leave a space for comments. Download this PDF for an example that’s based on a tally sheet created for an initiative campaign in California.
• A one-page cheat-sheet streamlines the training process and gets volunteers on the phones faster. Check out our page on the “Frequently Asked Questions” and “Dos and Don’ts” for an example of what to include, or download a PDF version of the cheat-sheet.

And once you've got them on the line...

In addition to voter ID work, phone-bank volunteers should ask voters if they’d like:

• a house sign
• more information
• to volunteer!

Campaign organizers should provide phone-bank coordinators with a supply of signs (and remit envelopes) already in envelopes, as well as basic informational leaflets and envelopes that can be sent to those who are interested. At the end of the scheduled phone-bank time, phone-bank coordinators should have volunteers address the appropriate envelopes.

Resources

Download an example of a phone-bank tally sheeet. (PDF – 25 KB)

Download a sample phone-bank training “cheat sheet.” (PDF – 35 KB)