Campaign Corner: How do we get more people phoning?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: You’ve talked before about how to get more leaflet deliverers and how to doorstep canvass, but what about the telephone? How do I get more people in my branch doing phone canvassing?

1. Fun group sessions: as with most campaigning, some people like going off and being active in their own time but many others prefer the fun and support of working in a group. Organise some fun group phone canvassing sessions, where you get together in a large room with mobile phones, have an initial briefing session, make some calls and then end with some food and drink.
2. Virtual phone banks: for people who prefer to do phoning on their own, such as because they have childcare responsibilities and want to be at home, offer an alternative to the group sessions. Both CONNECT and Ears offer a remote phone canvassing system, where people login to a secure system and get taken through the name, phone number and script for each phone call in turn.
3. Easy surveys: just as with doorstepping, a softer set of questions than simple voting intention often works better for getting new people comfortable with the activity. Mini-phone surveys work really well for this, such as “I’m calling on behalf of your local councillor Kit Agee. As you may know, she does a fortnightly email newsletter with news about Nether Wallop. Would you like to receive future editions?”

Want to know more about local campaigning? Campaigning In Your Community by myself and Shaun Roberts should be right up your street. It’s available for only £4 from ALDC and you can read an extract for free here.

Previous Campaign Corners have included:

• Should you still target during a PR election?
• What to do on the doorstep
• How to make Focus leaflets looks better

You can read them all here.