Win Votes and Volunteers: Crafting Impactful Meet-and-Greet Events
In most local, state, and congressional campaigns, meet-and-greets, town halls, and other community events are an important component of a successful field operation and directly tie into the success of a campaign’s volunteer program. (If you missed it, don’t forget to read my last blog about volunteer recruitment, engagement, and retention.)
Today, I’ll talk about running a meet-and-greet program that (1) boosts volunteer recruitment and (2) converts new, undecided, or unenthusiastic voters into supporters.
Step 1: Decide if the event you are having is a meet-and-greet, town hall, or a fundraiser. This is important because you want to be clear about the event’s purpose. If your main goal is to raise money, it’s a fundraiser. If you want to primarily educate voters, invite the press, or don’t expect to have one-on-one conversations with voters, it’s a town hall. A meet-and-greet is exactly what the name suggests. It is an intimate, public event, usually hosted locally, where neighbors get together to get to know a candidate for office and ask questions. The word intimate does not mean it needs to be very small, but it does mean that the candidate is accessible for one-on-one conversations with the attendees.
Step 2: Pick the right location. The proximity of the event is usually one of the benefits of attending a meet-and-greet for voters. It is why, depending on the size of the district and race, we recommend campaigns host two to four meet-and-greets per month in different communities across their district. Of course, you want to balance that with expected attendance and ensure the campaign team is not wasting its time.
Step 3: Getting the most out of the meet-and-greet. I always advocate for canvassing for meet-and-greets. If you have the permission of the host or if the event is in a public place like a coffee shop, cut some turf and knock on doors. Voters are oftentimes surprised that a candidate is willing to talk to people one-on-one and will jump at the chance to meet their future representative. Remember, the goal is to earn votes, and you do that by having as many new people in the room as possible. If you are already canvassing, phonebanking, or texting, I encourage inviting all “yes” and “undecided” voters to local meet-and-greets so the candidate can talk to them and hopefully turn them into volunteers and supporters, respectively.
Step 4: Talk about the issues that matter to the voters present. A perk of having several small to medium-sized events across the district is getting to talk about local, targeted issues. Whether your meet-and-greet is in a senior home, co-hosted by an environmental justice organization, or in a coastal precinct, tailor your message and address the issues top-of-mind for the individuals present. Speak with them about the importance of actively engaging in the election, what is at stake if they don’t, and listen to what they have to say about their community. We recommend an initial introduction to be between five to fifteen minutes (depending on everyone’s familiarity with the candidate and the race), with the rest of the event spent answering questions and having one-on-one conversations.
Step 5: Don’t waste the opportunity. You have secured the host, bought snacks and beverages, invited the neighbors, and researched the issues that will have the most impact on the attendees. Don’t let all that effort go to waste by not following up on RSVP’s, forgetting your sign-up sheets and campaign literature, or waiting too long before following up with the attendees about volunteering. This is your chance to activate a community and recruit new volunteers by connecting their “why” with your platform. Always be prepared and follow up on your follow up!
For more on voter engagement and field best practices, schedule a free one-on-one with Evinco today: Book a call now.
Written by Mari Latibashvili at Evinco Strategies.