Dear MoveOn member,
I'm Kate Scully, MoveOn's Mobilizations Director. If this were a normal election year, I would be spending my days coordinating organizers to recruit and train large groups of MoveOn members like you to volunteer in campaign offices and knock on doors to help turn out your communities to vote. But this is nothing like a "normal" election year.
Due to the ongoing threats from the coronavirus pandemic, most traditional strategies for voter turnout—in-person volunteering, door knocking, rallies, and more—are all off the table. But as the righteous protests—and the response from Donald Trump and many Republicans—have shown over the past few weeks, it is more important than ever that we make our voices heard and demand change at the ballot box this November.
Luckily, MoveOn was built for this moment. Even before the pandemic forced most organizations to change their plans, we were already hard at work on an innovative, digital-focused voter turnout campaign that data shows could be five times more effective than traditional strategies! Take a look:
On average, MoveOn's monthly donors chip in about $12 a month. I'll go into the details below, but I need to ask you now. Can you chip in $12 a month to help us get this game-changing program off the ground and keep it running in 10 of the most important swing states to defeat Trump and the GOP in November?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
The strategy is called "Vote Tripling." It relies on research that shows that "social influence"—encouragement and accountability from your family and friends—is the best way to increase voter turnout, particularly among voters aged 30 and under. Studies have found that if you know that your close friends and family are voting and if those people follow up with you about your plans to vote, you are far more likely to actually cast a ballot than if you receive a call from a volunteer or even a knock at the door from a canvasser.1
To tap into this opportunity, we are recruiting hundreds of thousands of MoveOn members in critical swing states to sign vote tripling pledges: commitments to reach out to three friends, help them create plans to vote, and make sure they cast ballots this fall.
Research shows that voter turnout increased by more than 10% in voters under 30 who received this type of social influence.2 To put that in context: That's five times more effective than phone banking and canvassing, which increase turnout by about 2%.3
To make this program a success:
- MoveOn's Analytics Team is creating sophisticated algorithms to identify "high-potential voters"—young voters, voters of color, voters who skipped voting in 2016, and new citizens—to help target our Vote Tripling outreach where it can have the most impact.
- MoveOn's Text Team volunteers are sending millions of individual text messages to encourage MoveOn members to pledge to remind three friends to vote.
- MoveOn's Creative Lab is creating powerful digital ads to help spread the word.
- And our Voter Mobilization Team is hosting virtual rallies to sign up even more voters to take the pledge!
The potential impact from this campaign is enormous. Remember that Trump won Michigan by 10,704 votes and Wisconsin by 22,177 votes, so even a small increase in turnout can make all the difference.4 But in order to have the resources to move forward with our plan, we need your help, Mar, which is why I'm writing you with a personal request:
Can you chip in $12 a month to help power our Vote Tripling program to dramatically increase voter turnout on November 3? We need a consistent flow of resources to keep the program strong from now until Election Day. (The average gift from a MoveOn monthly donor is about $12 a month, but whatever you can afford will go a long way.)
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Make no mistake: This plan TERRIFIES Donald Trump. He even said so earlier this year!
Back in March, as Democrats in Congress pushed to protect access to voting during the pandemic, Trump went on Fox News to rail against increasing turnout, saying, "They had things [in the bill]—levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again."5
Never having a Republican hell-bent on stripping rights away from us, increasing inequality, denying the deep institutional racism that defines our nation, and protecting only the ultra rich ever elected in our country again? Sounds pretty good to me.
Tens of millions of Americans are unemployed due to the pandemic, and I know not everyone can give right now. But if you are able, every dollar can make the difference between winning and losing this November.
On average, MoveOn's monthly donors chip in about $12 a month. Can you chip in $12 a month to help launch and sustain our data-driven, innovative Vote Tripling program from now until Election Day?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Kate
Sources:
1. "Social Influence & Voter Turnout," VoteTripling.org, May 1, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/137380?t=10&akid=266276%2E10220574%2EyO6VR3
2. "Wired to mobilize: The effect of social networking messages on voter turnout," Science Direct, June 2015
https://act.moveon.org/go/137381?t=12&akid=266276%2E10220574%2EyO6VR3
3. Ibid
4. "Donald Trump will be president thanks to 80,000 people in three states," The Washington Post, December 1, 2016
https://act.moveon.org/go/137382?t=14&akid=266276%2E10220574%2EyO6VR3
5. "Trump says more than he should've about voter turnout, GOP losses," MSNBC, March 31, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/137383?t=16&akid=266276%2E10220574%2EyO6VR3
Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON
This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on June 13, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
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