Voters today are no longer paying attention to political ads on TV; they're listening to the voices of real people. But with more than eighty percent of American's living in large metropolitan areas, constant mobility and inaccessible real estate - think secure high-rise apartments - disrupt traditional modes of voter-to-voter contact. Methods of "static" voter contact, relying on door-to-door canvass and paper literature, is no longer as effective. Instead, attention is shifting towards multiplying field organizing efforts online by targeting inaccessible areas across Facebook, Twitter, and email list-building through an engaging website and database.
Among youth voters especially, who are often more transient and mobile, Facebook sharing has been a monstrous success. According to The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE for short), 46 million people beween the ages 18-29 years old are eligible to vote. The Obama campaign allocated an abundance of resources by hiring seasoned startup engineers and building out the sophisticated Obama Dashboard, with hopes of capturing the attention of youth by targeting Facebook likes and direct tweets.
Thankfully, an Obama-sized war chest isn't required for this kind of organizing.
NationBuilder gives you the ability to digitize your field efforts. Through the use of petitions, social media integration, and signup pages, digital field campaigns have racked up citywide wins in DC and Los Angeles, and campaigns in NYC, Boston, and Minneapolis are adopting the strategy.
Here's a brief look at how campaigns in larger cities are using NationBuilder to maximize voter turnout:
On April 21st, Eric Garcetti won Los Angeles' mayoral race with 54 percent of the vote. Josh Gee, digital director of the Garcetti campaign, organized voters on an array of different social media platforms. During the election, Josh sat down with campaign volunteers and encouraged them to broadcast calls to action on Facebook, with a link Garecetti's website and a pledge to vote for him. "They were skeptical at first," said Josh. But quickly, volunteers saw results as the pledge doubled in signatures in just one day. Digital campaigning produced real results, moving passive likers up the ladder of engagement for the campaign. "NationBuilder is the only tool that allows you to sync voter files with social action," said Josh.
In DC's recent special election for City Council, Councilwoman Anita Bonds came out on top in a highly contested field. An active voice in DC progressive politics, Bonds integrated her blog, endorsements, and email updates on NationBuilder to harness support from new voters and inform long-time supporters about the campaign.
And in New York City, City Council speaker Christine Quinn, a front-running candidate to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is ramping up her campaign. Coming from a background as a housing organizer, Quinn understands the importance of organizing from the voice and movements of everyday folks. The campaign conducts a majority of their constituent outreach on social media, funneling new Facebook clicks and new Twitter followers into real support with NationBuilder's Match feature. On Twitter, the Quinn campaign supplements two other official accounts with the @CQRapidResponse, which frequently reposts tweets from other prominent New Yorkers supporting her positions and rallying support for petition signatures.
Early mayoral candidates in Boston's prelimnary elections, scheduled for September 24th, are aggressively utilizing sign-up pages and petition tools to rally early support. Since declaring his bid for mayor in late-April, candidate John Barros has used NationBuilder's strong SEO pull to draw traffic to his petition page. Since launching his website just last month, Barros has collected over 600 online petition signatures. Will Dorcena, another preliminary candidate in Boston, and Cam Winton, mayoral candidate in Minneapolis, use NationBuilder to increase one-on-one engagement through Twitter, events, and email list building.
Syncing online outreach with traditional field efforts is crucial, and no longer limited to campaigns with custom-built dashboards and high budgets. NationBuilder allows you to have dynamic voter contact. In city after city, urban candidates are making digital field count with NationBuilder.