State and municipal campaigns that used NationBuilder last month recruited more than half of their volunteers and donors from the internet, data from hundreds of U.S. elections shows.
On average, NationBuilder campaigns in the study recruited 38 volunteers, 21 of them from web signups.
"We probably could have got 50 volunteers on our own with a significant amount of effort," said Matt Leow, who worked with Stand for Montanans on a measure directing the state’s congressional delegation to introduce a constitutional amendment ending corporate personhood. "Instead we got 450. We wouldn't have had anywhere near as many volunteers without NationBuilder."
Web volunteer recruitment was also highly effective on smaller races. Chad Magill won his race for Corpus Christi City Council by 740 votes after recruiting 92 volunteers with NationBuilder.
Consultant John Kelley said the Magill campaign empowered its volunteers to help grow their nation and most of those who signed up contributed directly to the campaign. "We probably doubled the number of volunteers who signed up if we'd done it by hand."
November data also showed that non-federal campaigns recruited an average of 117 people from Facebook and 442 from Twitter.
Campaigns that raised money through NationBuilder recruited an average of 97 individuals donors, 49 of whom came through online donation pages.
Kelley said Magill's council campaign raised $12,690 through NationBuilder and used their site to close commitments quickly. "We got 15 to 20 percent more donations with NationBuilder because people can make their donation easily and immediately."
Learn more about accepting donations and recruiting volunteers with NationBuilder.
