GOTV Weekend Party Toolkit

This is how we’re going to win at the ballot boxes on November 6 .

On Nov. 6, millions of people will head to the polls. In many states, people are already voting. And you know what that means: it’s time to get to work!

Birth control. Abortion. Health care. Our rights. It's all at stake this election. We need to make sure our people are ready and able to cast their ballots for leaders who will protect all four.

That’s where GOTV comes in. GOTV means “Get Out The Vote,” and this weekend is the final push to make sure everyone in our communities casts their ballots. So this weekend, grab some friends — your phone and a computer — and get ready to reach out to everyone you know!

Use the guide below to get your people together to win on November 6. The stakes are too high to sit this one out — so let’s get to work.

Get Out the Vote

Become a GOTV Volunteer
Become a GOTV Volunteer Team Leader
Frequently Asked Questions About Relational Voter Turnout
GOTV Weekend Party Toolkit

Step 1: Recruit!

Pick a date and time for your action party. We suggest Saturday, Nov. 3, Sunday, Nov. 4, or the evening of Monday, Nov. 5. But any day the week before the election could work.
Think about where you’ll host: your house? A community center? The local park? A cafe? Try to choose a place accessible by public transit that doesn’t require a purchase to be there.
Make a list of 20 people you think might come to your event. Maybe that’s your existing activist group, or maybe it’s a combination of friends, family, coworkers, people from your house of worship, or a club. You name it!
We recommend inviting at least 20 people, because only some of those will say yes. And only some of those who commit might not make it. . If you want a bigger action party, invite more people!
Reach out to them personally and ask them to come! We recommend a phone call to invite them — then, a follow-up text if they don’t respond. . You can use this time to tell them why this election matters to you personally. In addition, create a Facebook event!
Make sure you get a hard “yes” from people if at all possible, and thank them for committing. to come. Remember: a “maybe” is almost always a “no”!
Before the event, register for our training webinar.

Step 2: Plan your GOTV party agenda

On Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, Planned Parenthood Votes will be running regular video trainings every two hours starting at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT on Saturday and Sunday. Plan to start your event before the training is scheduled to begin so that your guests all arrive beforehand.

Here is a sample agenda that you could use:

1:30 p.m.: Guests Arrive / Take Attendance
1:45 p.m.: Talk about your connection to Planned Parenthood organizations
2:00 p.m.: Join the Planned Parenthood Votes video training
2:30 p.m.: Start contacting voters
4 p.m.: Wrap up voter contact & Debrief

Step 3: Take attendance at your event

Have guests text "GOTV" to 22422 so we can track how many our action parties’ turnout.

Let attendees know they’ll receive texts from Planned Parenthood Votes, but can reply STOP at anytime if they don't want to be on the list.

Step 4: Get connected to one another

Start with a 5-minute warm up or icebreaker. These are important, because they help people feel more connected to the group and start conversations. . That's what you want.

A few ideas:

Have everyone say why Planned Parenthood matters to them personally.
Ask each person to say who or what they're fighting for, or what brought them here today. You might be surprised at the variety and depth of people’s answers.

Step 5: Join the video training

Make sure you have a computer set up so you can join the Planned Parenthood Votes training.

We’ll walk you through using the voter contact tool and answer any questions you might have!

If you miss the training when it runs live, you can also watch the recording here.

Step 6: Debrief and say, “thanks!”

Ask if anyone has any remaining questions from the training.
You’re all ready to start contacting voters!

Once you finish the training, you’ll then enter your list of contacts into a tool called MyRVP.

Have each person create a list of at least 20 people that may not have voted yet. Enter these folks into MyRVP to help track your conversations. MyRVP will help us match your list of contacts to the voter file so you understand your outreach priorities. This also makes it easy for you to share your progress with us, so we can brag about all your great work.

To help you brainstorm people to contact, print out the GOTV Bingo Card game to encourage some good brainstorming of who to contact.

If someone does not have a computer or smartphone, print out the Contact List Brainstorm Sheet for them to use.

GOTV BINGO — How It Works:

On your Bingo Card are different descriptions of people you can add to your get out the vote list and responses you may get when talking to voters. Each time you successfully contact a person who matches one of these descriptions, you can mark them off on your card. The first person to get 5 in a row or diagonal wins!

SUPPORT:

Planned Parenthood Votes has a team of expert organizers ready to walk you through the MyRVP tool, troubleshoot issues you run into, or just chat about how things are going. Email us at [email protected] or sign up for our office hours here.

BONUS:

As a special thank you for tracking your conversations in MyRVP, Planned Parenthood Votes will send you some free “March.Vote.Win” swag (while supplies last)!