As has been frequently endorsed here on DailyKOS, one excellent way to motivate voters to get to the polls is via Vote Forward.
The impact of these hand-written letters is huge! If you want to see a summary of their effectiveness go here: votefwd.org/...
My personal experience began with the 2020 campaign cycle and I was impressed by both the ease of use and their level of organization. Vote Forward saw 17 million letters get sent in 2020.
The “put in the mail” date for this year’s letters is October 28th, so you still have plenty of time to either pitch in and write some letters, or contribute to help volunteers who need assistance with postage and supplies.
Some tips:
1. Get stamps in bulk quantities at a small discount at Costco (or other stores offering a similar deal). Using Costco adds to your membership reward numbers in addition to the convenience of skipping a separate trip to the post office. (Still no free food samples at the PO).
2. Do a few practice messages to figure out what you want to say. You want a short, simple message that encourages voting and is non-partisan (an aspect I struggle with on some levels, but I suspect the majority of Vote Forward users are people who believe in democracy).
The message I’ve been using this year is:
Voting is what keeps our democracy alive and protects our rights.
Please remember to vote. Thanks!
[and then my looping signature]
3. Find a pen (or pens) that write well in your hands and won’t smudge. I love my fountain pens, but rollerballs worked better.
4. Have enough #10 (the long ones) on hand. A box of 70 is around $2.
5. Have a system. I do all the letters first, then address envelopes and finally bring them all together with a stamp and a lick. This works for me because I’m focused on one task until it’s done, but follow whatever routine works best for you.
6. Time-wise, just as they predict, figure an hour for 20 letters ready to hit the mail. That’s start (downloading from Vote Forward) to finish (ready for the mail).
7. You get to pick the state, unless it’s already fully committed to. I went with Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin.
8. If you’re not sure if this is for you, start with a small batch (5 people) and give it a try.
Vote Forward has excellent how-to instructions, although it’s so well explained that you likely will know what to do immediately. It’s simple to get started and you can go here for more information: votefwd.org/…
They even have a way to print out the letters if you don’t have a working printer.
Vote Forward’s website is easy to navigate, even for the technically phobic. No fees or credit cards requested unless you choose to donate.
It’s critical that you remember that you are obligated to do the letters that you signed up for. Once you pick a group of letters in the state of your choice, they’re yours to do. Nobody else gets them, so don’t bite off more than you can chew.
Personally I find it satisfying seeing the ready-to-go envelopes piling up. Studies show that a hand-written personal message has real impact and I feel (hope) that I’m getting some serious GOTV work done.
End of lecture. I’ve got another twenty letters to write to hit my personal goal of 100 . . . (and probably more).