Don’t You Just Hate Phonebanking And Isn’t It Just What We Need To Do?

Many of us are skeptical about phone banking for candidates. After all, we hate having our evenings interrupted with marketing calls. How can something so annoying be worth it?

So it is important to understand – phone banking works. And especially right now, when the pandemic makes it impossible for us to go door to door, phone banking is one of the most important get-out-the-vote tools we have.

Personal contact is the most effective way to turn people out for our candidates. Face to face canvassing is considered the gold standard. However recent research suggests that personalized messages coming from a real person who is talking in a conversational manner may be just as effective.

And that’s a good thing, because we can’t go door to door during a pandemic. But we can hold a phone conversation.

 Most of us will be calling people who are already on our side about climate but for whatever reason aren’t regularly voting. Repeated calls can turn people from infrequent to habitual voters. Even in relatively small numbers, getting these voters out can make the difference in swing states and races.

So when you get that eighth voice message and feel discouraged, remember that the ninth call may be answered by a real person, and you will have a chance for a person-to-person conversation that just might persuade that person to vote.

And as lots and lots of us are making those calls and having those conversations, the scale of our phone banking can be the difference we need in November.

Joining the Go Green Vote Blue 350 Bay Area Action phone campaign is one way to make that difference.

 By Judy Pope