Phone banking is a way to canvass voters and supporters over the phone. While 21st-century efforts have many more outreach methods than in the past (i.e. text, email, and social media), phone banking remains a staple of various efforts as it allows groups to reach people that don’t have consistent access to email or texting, or don’t have high levels of technological literacy. Additionally, phone banking provides a personal touch and can be a more persuasive outreach tool than more passive methods. It is also more cost and time effective than canvassing door to door. Organizer offers a peer-to-peer phone banking tool with computer or phone dial options.
Phone banking can be anxiety-inducing for some (but not all) volunteers, thus it is important to effectively launch your phone banking efforts by providing opportunities for volunteers to practice the script and get used to the technology before calling real people. It can be helpful to role-play different types of caller sentiment (i.e. enthusiastic, interested but wary, or hostile) as well as to walk through any tough questions that may arise and plan for how they should respond. It is also important to create SMART goals and clear expectations so that volunteers can track their progress.
Key Questions to Guide Phone Banking Strategy
Before you begin your phone banking efforts, use these key questions to guide your process:
- What is the goal for your conversation with community members? Are you asking for their support? Are you looking to gather information? What is the action that you’re asking people to take, and if so, how will you follow up with them?
- Who do we want to reach out to with this campaign? Are they members of a specific community? Where are they located? What attributes available in Organizer can help identify our target audience?
What filters can be applied to build the target audience? If you are a partner, refer to the Identify Your Base article to create a community and how to create a list or segment in Organizer. - What is our capacity for phone banking? How many profiles should be in the target audience?
Consider how many volunteers you have, how many hours they will be working, and the average number of phone balls per hour. - How will you track your progress? How will you know when you have accomplished your goal(s)?Be sure to set a SMART goal for your efforts and continuously monitor your progress to make strategic decisions about your effort.
- How will you analyze the data you collect? When and how often will you pull this data? What decisions will you make based on your findings? What are possible next steps based on various outcomes?Use resources on pulling data for reflection and running a reflection meeting for guidance. Remember that reflection should not only be conducted after an effort has wrapped - you should continuously analyze, reflect, and adjust your tactics throughout the advocacy action plan based on your findings.
Phone Banking Script Writing Advice
Volunteers or staff members will feel more prepared and less anxious if they have a clear script to follow when phone banking and this will make the experience smoother for both phone banker and call recipient. Additionally, putting together a phone bank script that captures relevant information for your organization in a format that is useful and easy to analyze will allow you to gather trends, follow up with interested people, and decide on relevant next steps. View example phone bank scripts.
- Make sure you are talking to the right person.
- Phone numbers aren’t always correct, so making sure that you are speaking to the right person is imperative. Volunteers should mark wrong numbers in Organizer. Organizer integrates with our Atlas by Murmuration dataset, which gathers data from multiple sources to provide you with the most up to date contact information and phone numbers. We also recommend reviewing our Best Practices for Phone Bank Deliverability.
- Introduce yourself and say why you are calling.
- This should include first name and the organization they are calling on behalf of.
- If the person says they are unavailable or busy, offer options for follow-up.
- This could include noting a time and date to call back, inviting them to an in-person event, directing people to your website for more information, or asking if they would like information sent via email or text. If following up via email or text, make sure that the contact information you have is accurate.
- Keep your script simple and brief. Keep sentences short, ask only one question at a time, and get to your point quickly. If conducting a survey via phone, reference Murmuration’s survey guidance.
- Thank them for their time and reiterate any follow-up information or asks that you have.
- Decide whether or not volunteers should leave a voicemail. If you would like them to leave a message, include a brief script that highlights why you are calling and how people can find more information or follow up.
- When setting up your phone bank in Organizer, the call settings will allow for you to leave voicemail instructions for your phone bankers at the top of their call session page. This ensures that phone bankers or volunteers know what to do and are all following the same instructions if they are sent to voicemail during their calling session.
Preparing Callers
Prepare callers with the opportunity to practice the script, prepare for common objections, and practice with the technology before making calls to real people. If you are using Organizer for Phone Banking, you can access a slide deck you can customize.
Handling Common Objections
Train callers on these before every shift. The goal is not to argue. The goal is to listen, acknowledge, and keep the door open for future contact.
"I'm not interested."
Volunteer: I completely understand. I appreciate you picking up. If anything changes, our website is [WEBSITE]. Have a good evening.
"I don't have time right now."
Volunteer: That's no problem. When would be a better time to reach you? I can make a note and someone can call back.
"I don't believe in [ORGANIZATION]."
Volunteer: I hear you. Can I ask what your concerns are? I want to make sure I understand. [Listen, do not argue. Log the objection in the Organizer notes for the organizer to review.]
"Politics are too divisive. I stay out of it."
Volunteer: I respect that. What we're focused on is [LOCAL ISSUE FRAMING]. It's really about [SPECIFIC COMMUNITY IMPACT]. But I hear you, and I won't push.
"How did you get my number?"
Volunteer: We use voter file data that is publicly available. If you'd prefer we not contact you again, just say the word, and we'll remove you from our list. [Log as Do Not Contact in Organizer.]
Phone Bank Setup Checklist
- Build a segment or list with your target audience
- Create a script for your phone banking campaign
- Create your phone banking effort
- Add users to your account to phone bank
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Monitor Phone Bank live results
Resources
View the Organizing and Advocacy Playbook as a PDF
Background Information
Advocacy Action Plan Phase-Learning
Advocacy Action Plan Phase-Planning
Advocacy Action Plan Phase-Implementation
Advocacy Action Plan Phase-Execution
Advocacy Action Plan Phase-Reflection