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How mobilized voters take action against homelessness in LA County

Los Angeles County voters passed Measure A, a petition-driven ballot measure, with 57% approval to secure funding for houseless services. Powered by on the ground and digital grassroots organizing strategies, the coalition Our Future LA collected over 400,000 signatures, demonstrating the power of community action in preventing and ending homelessness.

metrics

  • 1
  • Ballot measure
  • 400K
  • Signatures collected
  • 58%
  • Voter approval

Fighting Against the Clock: How Measure A was inspired to combat homelessness

Back in 2017, Measure H was an initiative added in Los Angeles County to include a quarter cent sales tax increase to generate funding for homeless services and short-term housing. It houses and provides services for over 49,000 people throughout the county but Measure H is set to expire in 2027. And if it did, the greater county would be seeing an increase of homelessness up to 28%, more than 50,000 people. 

Inaction was not an option for Our Future LA, a coalition of grassroots advocates including homeless service providers, affordable housing organizations, nonprofits, and labor unions. Their response: To place a measure on the ballot across the county to combat the expiration of Measure H and include the addition of another quarter cent sales tax to help with further homeless prevention and house more community members across the county. They followed up with plans to provide more substance abuse and mental health support across the county. Confident that they could get enough support from voters across their community, they launched a signature-led ballot initiative that would bring Measure A to life. 

Bridging digital and on-the-ground organizing for a county-wide campaign

They knew the demand would be a challenge. They needed to collect 238,000 voter signatures to get their measure put on the 2024 November ballot. Coalition teams needed to be able to mobilize volunteers across diverse communities to advocate for the measure. Marketing and outreach needed to engage and educate as many voters about the measure's importance in a short window of time. Lastly, they needed to balance digital strategies with on-the-ground organizing to make every connection with a voter count. So they got to work. 

The team’s first task was to connect with voters. Move LA, long-time NationBuilder customer and field team with Our Future LA coalition, was determined to mobilize the support of as many voters as they could by April 2024. And they knew that NationBuilder was the software for the job. 

“We’ve been NationBuilder customers for over a decade and it’s something we use pretty much every day. So when I was asked to help on this campaign, one of the first things I said was that we needed NationBuilder for this campaign. It’s crucial to have that level of organization when you’re trying to mobilize that many people.

Marisa Garcia, Activism Director at Move LA

Phase 1: Qualifying for the ballot

The team got started by importing their existing contacts and getting some email outreach up and running. Next up they quickly set up branded, user-friendly event pages to register volunteers for as many signature gathering canvasses as they could in three short months. Using NationBuilder’s tags and filters feature, they were able to categorize voters based on levels of engagement and reason for their connection, giving them the ability to tailor communications and ensure each message resonated with the right audience. 

Automated event text and email reminders ensured volunteers were in the loop and engaged while freeing up the team’s time to focus on expanding the campaign’s reach. With the Zapier’s integration, their team was always connected to their dynamic data, directly imported from Google Sheets and Google Forms to be sent into their NationBuilder dashboard. This meant they could track their endorsements, volunteer commitments, and campaign progress in real time.

From door knocking events to phone banking, the community’s responses exceeded expectations. The team was delighted to send the volunteers a celebratory email when they had turned in over 400,000 signatures that officially qualified them for the November ballot, surpassing the requirement by 68%.

Phase 2: Getting out the vote 

Once Measure A qualified for the ballot, the campaign was focused on bringing voter awareness to what the measure was all about. This looked like expanding their events and volunteer base, doubling down on outreach to keep voters in the loop, educating them on Measure A’s impact, and driving commitment to support it at the polls.

As the campaign scaled, the team grew, bringing in new leaders to get the job done. And this didn’t slow them down. It enabled new leaders to dive into the tools and even optimize efforts with new ways to leverage the software, educate voters, and expand their reach. 

“NationBuilder was so easy to use, I don’t even think I had to train my new team members. It was obvious to them where to go to find what they needed. They enjoyed the ease of use and being able to go in themselves and get the information they wanted.” 

Marisa Garcia, Activism Director at Move LA

After various months of connecting with voters, staff and volunteers learned that the more educated voters were on Measure A, the more support they drew. Leading up to election day, the coalition monitored the support rate being close to 70% of the community members they spoke to. 

A historic victory for the people, by the people.

On election day, Measure A was passed with a 15-point margin of victory, over 57% voter approval. And the most inspiring outcome of this victory was the power within Los Angeles County community members. Measure A was put on the ballot by the people, for the people. This proved a testament to the power of grassroots organizing and the influence of informed, equipped voters. 

With Measure A’s passage, the work has only just begun. The coalition is now focused on defining performance goals and accountability standards, establishing equitable pay for service providers, and engaging the public to shape the measure’s implementation through community oversight. 

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