Nonprofit 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 partner organization 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 ballot with a public celebration! Set up an event outside an in-person early voting location or at a ballot drop box so people can have fun with their friends and neighbors as they cast their ballots early. Encourage attendees to take selfies with their “I voted” stickers at the event and tag #VoteEarlyDay to amplify your celebration to a national audience.

Examples:

Host a party at the polls: [Tier 3 – Regional Impact] Invite your community to vote early by throwing them a party! Recruit performers, set up games, and pump music outside your community’s location for voting early or ballot drop box. Lead the crowd in cheers as people come out of the polls with their “I voted” stickers to make voting the focus of the fun! In the past, organizations have put on concerts, hosted picnics and potlucks, and even organized carnival-style festivals outside their locations for voting early. Halloween is right around the corner, so consider celebrating in costume and hosting some early trick-or-treating. The sky’s the limit – be creative with your celebration to bring new voices in to cast a ballot!
Create a public art display: [Tier 3 – Regional Impact]
Draw attention to your early voting options through art! Create a mural, sidewalk art, or sculpture to attract and direct people to your community’s ballot drop box or early voting location. Make your masterpiece a community effort by inviting the public to participate in its creation or hosting a public unveiling of the finished product.
Lead a march/parade to the polls: [Tier 2 – Community Impact]
Decorate signs and lead early voters on a parade to your local early voting location. Bring a portable speaker or invite a high school marching band to join in the fun. Engage with the people watching the parade—pass out plan-to-vote cards and Vote Early Day stickers and invite them to cast a ballot!
Offer rides to the polls: [Tier 2 – Community Impact]
Help bring voters to the polls! Organize a fleet of volunteer cars (or, if you’re feeling fancy, rent a party bus or limo) and ride in style. Plan where to meet and advertise your service to the community. Decorate your cars, assemble some playlists (we recommend the Vote Early Day Spotify playlist!), and go together in a parade or caravan.
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 an early voting location, and as voters leave, ask them to text three friends with a reminder to vote early. To make it easy, encourage the voter to text over 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 a big event hosted by a trusted community partner, people have a fun reason to come out to vote on Vote Early Day. Instead of being just an item somewhere on their to-do list, voting becomes the highlight of their day! A community celebration is also a low barrier to entry into the civic space for people intimidated by politics.

Celebrate by Educating Voters

Overview:

Help people both understand their options for voting early and take an active step 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 1 – Neighborhood 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. Be strategic with your location – busy street corners, train stations, and public parks are often great options, and you can also ask to set up at a concert, athletic event, or festival. Decorate the display with stickers and posters and pump some music 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 2 – Community Impact] Put together an informational event about why it is so essential for people to make their voices heard this fall and help your community understand how, when, and where they can vote early. Be creative in recruiting participants! Invite staff from a local election office, campus professors, and community leaders to be panelists and facilitate a conversation with the audience about why this election matters. 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.
Election-themed community event: [Tier 3 – Regional Impact] Community events can be a fun and accessible way for the public to learn more about upcoming 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 planned to vote using the Vote Early Day online voter tool or our print-at-home cards.
Door knocking: [Tier 3 – Regional Impact] One of the most effective ways to encourage people to vote early is to knock on their door and ask them directly. Get a list of registered voters from your local election office and head out in small groups to knock on doors in your community. You can find our sample door-knocking script here.
Phone/text banking: [Tier 2 – Community Impact] Contact 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’ll cast their ballot. As a trusted part of the community, your organization can play a pivotal role in tackling disinformation and sharing the information voters need to make their plan to vote. Empower your friends and neighbors with the knowledge they need to feel prepared to cast their ballot!

Celebrate by Sharing the Tools to Vote Early

Overview:

Use your platform to help ensure that voters have the resources they need to cast their ballot early and help make voting early the norm for your community.

Examples:

Launch a #VoteEarlyDay social media campaign: [Tier 1 – Neighborhood Impact] Give your community the tools to vote early by sharing information on how to vote early on social media. 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 most significant effect.
Encourage your audience to share their Early Voting story: [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 and talk about their experience voting early. Reshare their posts to amplify their message! Tell your audience about the special Vote Early Day Snapchat filters, Instagram stickers, and story templates for inspiration. Ensure they tag #VoteEarlyDay in all posts to participate in the nationwide celebration!
Write letters to the editor about voting early: [Tier 2 – Community Impact] Spread the word about voting early through local media! In a letter to the editor, you can share your voting story, what this election means to you, and what people’s options are for voting early. Include a link to the online voter tool on the Vote Early Day website to make it easy for readers to make a plan to vote. Give your local paper a few weeks’ notice and see if you can coordinate with them to have the letter published on Vote Early Day. Find more LTE tips here.
Integrate Vote Early Day resources into your online platform: [Tier 2 – Community Impact]
Give the public the opportunity to learn more about voting early while visiting your website. Integrate the Vote Early Day online voter tool into your website or other platform and make it easy for your members to get all the information they need to cast their ballot early.
Send out an email blast about voting early: [Tier 2 – Community Impact]
Ensure your audience knows about their options for voting early by sending out an email blast. Direct them to the Vote Early Day voter tool to find their location for voting 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.