Campus Activation Ideas

The goal of every Vote Early Day celebration is to help as many voters as possible take measurable steps toward casting their ballot in a fun and engaging atmosphere. We encourage each of our campus partners to design a celebration that best fits the needs of voters in their community. This guide will help provide some inspiration and suggestions for activation ideas, but how you celebrate is up to you!

Goals:

For Vote Early Day celebrations, partners should measure their success nationwide by the number of voters who take one (or more) of the following actions:

Casting a Ballot: How many people drop off their mail ballot or cast a vote in person as part of your Vote Early Day celebration
Making a Plan to Vote: How many people create a concrete plan for when and where they will cast their ballot
Looking Up Voter Information: How many people use the Vote Early Day voter tool or find information from a local election office.

As you begin to plan out your activation, you can use this worksheet to determine an achievable goal for your organization.

Celebrate by Casting Ballots as a Community

Overview:

Help voters in your community cast their ballots with a big public celebration! If you have a location for voting early or a ballot drop box on campus, set up an event outside so people can have fun with their friends and neighbors as they cast their ballots early. Make this a campus-wide effort by partnering with student groups, athletics, and Greek life. If you don’t have a location for voting early on campus, check to see if there’s one within walking distance. Otherwise, work with your local election official to bring one to campus before voting starts, if possible.

Examples:

Host a party at the polls: [Tier 3 – Regional Impact]
Invite your campus community to vote early by throwing a party! Recruit performers, set up games, and play music outside your campus’s early voting location or ballot drop box. Partner with different organizations across campus to draw in as many students as possible. Make casting a ballot the focus – lead the crowd in cheers as people come out of the polls with their “I voted” stickers! You can help students who aren’t registered to vote on campus locate their home polling place or request to vote by mail by using the Vote Early Day online voter tool. In the past, campus groups have performed concerts, hosted picnics and potlucks, and brought in inflatable games. Halloween is right around the corner, so consider having the celebration in costume!
Cast ballots as a residence hall: [Tier 1 – Neighborhood Impact]
Residence halls are always looking for new events, and Vote Early Day makes for the perfect dorm celebration! Gather residents together and go as a group to cast ballots at a polling location or a ballot drop box. Have students take selfies with their “I voted” stickers, hang the photos on the floor bulletin board, and post them on social media. Don’t forget to use #VoteEarlyDay!
Organize rides to the polls: [Tier 2 – Community Impact]
If your campus doesn’t have an on-campus early voting location, coordinate rides to get students to the closest place where they can vote early. Explore campus transportation options and rideshare services, or organize a fleet of volunteer cars and ride in style. Plan where to meet and advertise your service to the campus community. Decorate your vehicles, assemble some playlists (we recommend the Vote Early Day Spotify playlist!), and go together in a parade or caravan.
Make a public art display: [Tier 2 – Community Impact]
Draw attention to local options to vote early through art! Partner with your art department and arts groups on campus, or simply use chalk to attract and direct people to your community’s ballot drop box or location to vote early. Make your masterpiece a campus-wide effort by inviting students to participate or by hosting a public unveiling of the finished product.
Participate in “Polling Place Vote Tripling”: [Tier 2 – Community Impact]
The best people to convince someone to vote are usually their friends and family, and your organization can help scale up those conversations with a technique called “vote tripling.” On Vote Early Day, station a few volunteers outside your campus’s location for voting early, and as voters leave, ask them to text three friends with a reminder to vote early. To make it easy, encourage voters to visit the Vote Early Day online voter tool. You can find out more about vote-tripling tips and best practices here.

Why this celebration works:

With an event, students have a fun reason to come out to vote on Vote Early Day. Instead of being an item somewhere on their to-do list, voting becomes the highlight of their day! A community celebration provides a low barrier to entry into the voting process for people who are sometimes intimidated by politics.

Celebrate by Educating Voters

Overview:

Help students understand their early voting options and take active steps toward casting their ballot on Vote Early Day! Make voting early more accessible through a fun and educational event or direct voter outreach.

Examples:

Tabling: [Tier 2 – Community Impact] Set up a table in a high-traffic area and help people learn about their options to vote early and make a plan to cast their ballot on Vote Early Day. Encourage them to use the Vote Early Day online voter tool or fill out a card with their plan to vote, and make sure they know about their options to vote early. Be strategic with your location – dining halls, the student center, and the quad are often great options. Decorate the display and choose an uplifting playlist to get in the holiday spirit. Don’t wait for people to come to you – actively engage with everyone who comes by!
Interactive discussion or webinar: [Tier 3 – Regional Impact] Put together an informational event about why people need to make their voices heard this fall. Help students understand how, when, and where they can vote early. Invite staff from a local election office, professors, and campus or community leaders to be panelists and facilitate a conversation with the audience about why this year’s elections matter. By the end of the event, ensure all attendees have made a plan using our online voter tool or by filling out a postcard for how they will cast their ballot early.
Pitch during class about voting early: [Tier 1 – Neighborhood Impact] Ask if you can give a brief pitch about voting early at the beginning of class or a club meeting. Share why voting is important to you and discuss what’s at stake in elections in your state or local community. Using the Vote Early Day online voter tool or our print-at-home cards, ensure everyone leaves class with a plan for casting their ballot early. You can find a sample script here.
Promotion at an athletic event: [Tier 2 – Community Impact] If an athletic team is having a game on or around Vote Early Day, use the opportunity to promote early voting! Set up a table outside the stadium to help attendees make a plan to vote, and see if you can get a shoutout during halftime that advertises campus options for voting early.
Election-related campus events: [Tier 2 – Community Impact] Campus events can be a fun and accessible way for students to learn more about elections and the issues that affect our daily lives. In past years, groups have hosted movie screenings, open mics, and trivia nights that feature topics related to elections or civic engagement. By the end of the event, ensure all attendees have made a plan to vote using the Vote Early Day online voter tool or our print-at-home cards.
Door knocking: [Tier 2 – Community Impact] One of the most effective ways to encourage people to vote early is to knock on their doors and ask them directly. Get contact information for registered voters from your local election office, and head out in small groups to knock on doors in dorms or neighborhoods off campus. You can find our sample door-knocking script here.
Phone/text banking: [Tier 1 – Neighborhood Impact] Reach out to voters directly through phone calls and text messages. Get contact information for registered voters from your local election office, get together with friends (don’t forget the snacks!), and start connecting with voters about their options to vote early. Make sure each voter you contact knows how, when, and where they can cast their ballot early.

Why this celebration works:

Studies show that people are much more likely to vote if they make a concrete plan for how they will cast their ballot. Many students are first-time voters who may need to learn about their options for voting early, so we must help them out! Vote Early Day celebrations are the perfect opportunity to help voters think through their early voting options and decide what works best for them.

Celebrate by Sharing the Tools to Vote Early

Overview:

Use your organization’s platform to help ensure voters have the resources they need to cast their ballots early and help make early voting the norm for your campus community.

Examples:

Launch a #VoteEarlyDay social media campaign: [Tier 1 – Neighborhood Impact] Share resources on social media to give your campus the tools it needs to vote early. Direct your audience to the Vote Early Day online voter tool, where they can find their location to vote early and make a plan to vote. Post across all your social media platforms using our sample social media posts and graphics for the biggest effect!
Encourage your audience to post their “I Voted” selfies: [Tier 1 – Neighborhood Impact]
After they vote early, encourage the people who follow you on social media to post selfies with their “I voted” stickers. Reshare their posts to amplify their message! Tell your audience about the special Vote Early Day Instagram stickers, Snapchat lens, and sample social media story templates for inspiration. Make sure they tag #VoteEarlyDay in all posts!
Write an article in your campus paper about voting early: [Tier 1 – Neighborhood Impact] Spread the word about voting early through your campus paper! You can share your voting story, what this election means to you, and people’s options for voting early. Include a link to the Vote Early Day online voter tool to make it easy for readers to make a plan to vote. Give your campus editors a few weeks’ notice and see if you can coordinate with them to have the letter published on Vote Early Day. Find more tips and templates for letters to the editor here.
Integrate Vote Early Day resources into your online platform: [Tier 2 – Community Impact]
Give students the opportunity to learn more about voting early on your campus’s digital platforms. Integrate the Vote Early Day online voter tool into your website, student service portal, or Canvas/Blackboard pages to make it easy for students to access all the resources they need to cast their ballot early.
Send out an email blast about voting early: [Tier 1 – Neighborhood Impact]
Ask if your president, dean, or other campus leader can email the student body to let them know when, where, and how they can cast their ballot ahead of Election Day. In the email, direct students to the Vote Early Day online voter tool to find the nearest location to vote early in person or with a ballot drop box.

Why this celebration works:

Studies show that people are much more likely to vote if they make a concrete plan for how they will cast their ballot. When you share Vote Early Day’s online voter tool, you make it easy for voters to make this plan. People are also more inclined to vote if they see that their friends and family are doing so. By encouraging the people who follow you on social media to share their voting experience online, you help create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) for anyone who hasn’t joined the fun.