Intro
Gila Dems have licensed a Texting program, ThruText, for use as an additional method of communicating with voters across the county. These days, many people don’t answer their phones if they don't recognize the caller’s number, making them unreachable via a Phone Bank.
ThruText allows us to pull lists of specific subsets of voters from our voter database, and send them targeted text messages, defined in Scripts that we develop in-house. We also have Scripted replies to send them, based on how they reply. It’s super easy and quick. The product is web-based, meaning that you can use it from your web browser on your computer, tablet, or phone. You won’t be sharing your phone number with the voters you text.
How Will Gila Democrats Utilize Text Banking?
We are planning to begin weekly Text Banking events on Thursday, May 26. We are offering 3 2-hour shifts per day. Texting may be done in the office, with other texters, or elsewhere, on your own schedule.
Initially, we are texting Precinct Committee people and our volunteers, and asking them to join our Texting Team. The next step is to engage our new Texting Team to reach out to Democrats across Gila County. We’ll be asking them if they received their new Voter ID card in the mail, if they have a voting plan (vote early, by mail, or on election day), and if they plan to vote for Democrats. We will also recruit volunteers, with a goal of having volunteers in every Precinct, communicating with the Democrats in their own Precinct.
As the election cycle progresses, we will provide voters with Candidate information, we’ll remind them to mail their ballot, and/or we’ll tell them where their polling place is.
Our best tool for getting out the vote is our Volunteers, whether they are meeting with local voters, Texting, Phone Banking, or helping with mass postcard mailings.
What’s Next?
Volunteer for Text Banking! We have a training session scheduled for Friday, May 20, noon, at the Gila County Dems’ Office, located at 110 E Bonita St, Payson. RSVP here: https://www.mobilize.us/gilacountydems/event/459171/
Text Banking not your thing? If you prefer to talk to people, perhaps you’d like to sign up for Phone Banking. We are scheduling weekly Phone Banks beginning Tuesday, May 24. Stay tuned.