Vote BannerThe 2014 elections may seem far away, but now is the time to start planning. In most states, the voter registration deadlines are early in the fall semester, so you should lay the groundwork this spring. By doing so, you can hit the ground running when classes start and organize the biggest possible voter registration and get-out-the-vote drive on your campus. The first big step in planning for election season is to build a campus-wide coalition. Having a broad Student Vote coalition lets you run the biggest possible voter registration drive by bringing together groups with a range of resources. Some of the resources that coalition partners bring to the table include:
  • Volunteers – Service organizations, the Greek system, and political organizations can often mobilize a ton of volunteers to help register students to vote.
  • Members – Groups with a big membership base can contribute a lot just by helping register their own members.
  • Access to students – Faculty members and Resident Advisors can be very helpful by giving you direct access to students in classes and in the dorms.
  • Access to websites and email lists – While the most effective voter outreach happens face-to-face, online publicity should be an important part of your plan.
How to Build a Student Vote Coalition: 1) Make a list. The first step is to make a list of everyone you want to ask to join your coalition. Here are some places to start:
  • The biggest organizations on campus
  • The groups that organize the biggest events
  • The freshman orientation committee
  • The residence hall system
  • Greek organizations
  • Political organizations
  • Community service organizations
  • Faculty who teach the big intro classes
  • The Faculty Union or Faculty Senate
  • The Athletics department
  • The dean or chancellor in charge of student affairs
  • The college or university President
2) Do the outreach. Contact everyone on your list and ask them to join the coalition:
  • Email everyone on your list with a request for their support, along with some background information on the Student Vote coalition and what you hope to accomplish this fall. Many groups won’t sign up right away, but this email will get the ball rolling and make it easier when you contact them later.
  • Follow up with either a phone call or an in-person visit to each group to make a personal pitch for them to join the coalition. Also take this opportunity to share your vision for the Student Vote campaign and to get their ideas for how to make it even better.
  • If a group is on the fence or you have trouble contacting them, keep following up periodically until you make contact and get an answer.
3) Gather the coalition. Once you’ve built your list of coalition partners, you should organize your first Coalition Meeting. This first meeting should have a couple important goals:
  • You should build everyone’s investment in the Student Vote campaign. A good place to start is by working together to set a goal for how many students the coalition will help register to vote. Brainstorming ideas together for the campaign is also a good way to build investment, since it gives everyone a chance to contribute to the plan.
  • You should agree on how the coalition will operate. You should decide how the coalition will communicate, who will coordinate the coalition, how often you will meet, and what to call yourselves.
4) Start making plans. Now that your coalition is up and running, you need to put it to work:
  • Each group or person in the coalition should decide what energy and resources they will bring to the campaign.
  • You should agree on a collective plan for the coalition, including setting goals and deadlines, and then have coalition members commit to taking responsibility for different tasks.
  • Participants should report in to the rest of the coalition periodically on their progress, either through meetings or email updates.
Once you finish these steps, you’ve laid the foundation for a successful 2014 Student Vote campaign!