getting started
START PLANNING YOUR NONPARTISAN VOTER & CANDIDATE ENGAGEMENT CAMPAIGN
Resources to Plan Your Campaign
Our Homes, Our Votes Engagement Plan
This template includes fillable checklists and tips for your organization to plan a comprehensive, nonpartisan voter and candidate engagement campaign.
Celebrating the Civic Holidays
Civic Holidays are nonpartisan days of mobilization leading up to Election Day. This resource provides an overview of the four Civic Holidays--National Voter Registration Day, National Voter Education Week, Vote Early Day, and Election Hero Day--and ways you can creatively celebrate these holidays to encourage voter participation in your communities.
Creating Your Workplan: Just the Basics
This worksheet is intended to provide initial guidance for brainstorming your nonpartisan election workplan. More detailed guidance can be found in the Our Homes, Our Votes Engagement Plan.
Voter Registration
What is our capacity to directly reach potential voters? Will our staff/volunteers register voters?
Which of our members/coalition partners are trusted messengers that can effectively register low-income renters and people experiencing homelessness? How can we strengthen their capacity to do so?
What activities will we organize directly? Which will we encourage our members/partners to pursue?
Sharing resources about voter registration on email lists and social media. _______________
Adding voter registration to day-to-day in-person interactions (client intake, move-in, etc.) ________
Hosting designated voter registration events. __________________
Providing voter registration at existing events (community gatherings, resource fairs, etc.) ________
Organizing a door-to-door voter registration campaign. __________________
Organizing a phonebanking/textbanking campaign. __________________
Other:
Voter Education
What information will we communicate to our network?
Voter ID requirements and other voting rules
Locations and hours of polling places, including early voting and vote-by-mail options
Know your rights and voter protection resources
What to expect on the ballot
Candidate positions on housing and homelessness issues
How to become poll workers
Other:
Through what channels will we share this information? Some options include: print or online voter guides, presentations at events, emails and social media, canvassing, and phonebanking/textbanking.
How will we encourage our members/partners to share with their own networks?
Voter Mobilization (Get Out the Vote!)
How will we keep track of new registrations and follow up with newly registered voters?
Which of these activities will we pursue? Which will we encourage our members/partners to pursue?
Distributing voter pledge cards _______________
Providing information about early voting and vote-by-mail __________________
Phonebanking/textbanking with reminders to vote __________________
Door-to-door canvassing __________________
Hosting a ballot drop box onsite __________________
Hosting a polling place onsite __________________
Organizing transportation or community walks to the polls __________________
Hosting a nonpartisan post-election celebration of voting __________________
Other:
Will we engage with candidates at the local, state, and/or federal levels?
Which of the following candidate engagement opportunities will we pursue?
Creating, sending out, and publishing the results of candidate questionnaires
Hosting candidate forums, town halls, or debates
Inviting candidates to site visits
Partnering with other organizations to co-host forums or debates
Preparing renters to ask questions at candidate events
Other:
Do we expect ballot measures relating to housing and homelessness in our state/municipalities?
Will we take a leadership role in these campaigns, or join as coalition supporters?
Will we educate our constituency about ballot measures and their impact?
Next Steps
How do our goals/aspirations align with our current capacity?
What can we do to build out our capacity?
What additional information/resources do we need to develop our plans?
