Host guide
How to host a phone bank
Phone banking can help increase Democratic voter turnout – which is essential for Democratic victories. And phone banking into critical races can be done from anywhere. All volunteers need is a laptop (or tablet), internet access, and a phone.
How does phone banking work?
Swing Left will connect you with our partners – campaigns, state Democratic parties, etc. – to call voters. The objective of phone banks can vary from get-out-the-vote mobilization to organizing and list cleaning (and all of the above!) Examples include: calling voters ahead of an election to make sure they cast their ballot, calling voters to encourage them to request vote-by-mail ballots, and calling through a list to recruit volunteers. The tools we use and the goals of the calls will be dependent on where we’re at in the electoral calendar, volunteers’ locations, and more.
Get started
- Choose a phone bank campaign to call for. Review Swing Left's target races and determine which campaign you want to make calls for. Not all campaigns will have phone banking available year-round, so please contact our team at [email protected] for help making a selection and getting connected to the campaign. Already have a phone banking link from a local candidate or party you’re working with? Skip this step!
- Choose if you’ll host a “flexible” or “fixed” phone bank. Both are great options—we encourage hosts to decide which works best for them.
- Host a “flexible” phone bank. You’ll plan a phone bank orientation meeting (or several meetings) to train volunteers on the goals of the phone bank, the script, and the software. Volunteers make calls on their own time over a weekend/week. You might offer tech support “office hours” at various points over that timeframe. Volunteers and hosts meet back together at a later date to debrief how the calls went and provide feedback.
- Host a “fixed” phone bank. You’ll set a specific time for all your volunteers to make calls. You’ll kick-off the session with orientation and training and launch volunteers to make calls immediately. You can stay on your video conference to offer script and tech support if volunteers need to join for one-on-one help. You ask volunteers to come back at a specified time “X” hours later to debrief the calls.
- Consider putting a team together! Hosting a phone bank can have a lot of moving parts. Working with a small team makes it easier to split up the tasks and manage the event–before, during, and after.
Promote your event
How to prepare
- Check out a recording of our Phone Bank host training. If you need more guidance, contact your Swing Left organizer.
- Obtain the phone bank link and training materials from your contact at the campaign/organization.
- The campaign or organization will provide a phone bank link for you and your volunteers to access the voter list you’ll be calling.
- They should also provide instructions for the calling tool, as well as a comprehensive FAQ guide you can give your volunteers. If the campaign does not provide this, contact your Swing Left organizer.
- Test the technology.
- Zoom: Test the audio and screen-sharing capabilities of your video conferencing tool in advance. Enlist another volunteer to help you test it out!
- Phone banking tool (OpenVPB, ThruTalk, Hubdialer, etc): Train yourself and try out the calling tool in advance, if possible. If you’re going to be training and supporting volunteers on how to make calls, be sure you’re familiar with the tool yourself!
- Let volunteers know how to prepare to participate in your phone bank. For most calling tools, volunteers can create a log-in ID in advance—have them do this beforehand if possible to save you time on the day of. And, if your phone bank software requires volunteers to call from their own phone number, some volunteers may prefer to set up a Google Voice number to use instead, which they can also do in advance.
- Remind volunteers what to bring:
- Phone
- Laptop, desktop, or tablet with internet access
- Scratch paper for notes
- A quiet space for calling
- Headphones (helpful for calling, but not required)
Lead your event
Here’s an overview of what you'll cover at your phone banking event. This detailed sample agenda template along with these sample slides will walk you through launching your video call, welcoming phone bankers, training phone bankers on your phone bank, supporting phone bankers while they make calls, and wrapping up so that attendees keep coming back for more! Make a copy of the templates to customize them for your event.
Agenda at a glance:
- [Optional] Pre-phone bank tech support (~15 minutes before the phone bank)
- Introductions (~10 minutes)
- [Optional] Swing Left strategy overview (~5 minutes)
- Train on phone banking, online call tool, and script (~15 minutes)
- Make phone calls (time varies)
- Debrief and closing (~10 minutes)
After your event
- Update who attended and who didn’t in Mobilize. Check out the Mobilize guide to learn how to manage your attendees. This process helps us track how many people came to events across the country and will allow you to follow up after the event.
- Send a thank you and follow-up email to all attendees after the event. Let your volunteers know:
- You’re interested in their feedback! They’ll receive a follow-up survey from Swing Left via Mobilize.
- They should sign up for the next event(s): {provide a link to that event!}
- Ask volunteers to host their own phone bank!
Hosting tips
- Be prepared for a lot of questions. Phone banking is a skill volunteers need to learn, including learning how to use a new technology (the call tool), understanding the call script, and also having a conversation with a voter all at once. Be patient, and be prepared to answer questions you may have already addressed elsewhere—it can be a lot!
- Try to avoid making calls yourself. If you’re on the phone, it’s harder for you to provide support to the volunteers who may have questions for you. Stay on the Zoom link for the duration of your event, so that volunteers can come back in and ask questions as they arise.
- Always be mindful of timing! If you’re on the opposite side of the country from the people you’re calling, be sure you’re scheduling your event and calls at the time that makes most sense in the place you’re calling. Many phone bank tools are turned off at a certain time each day—often after 8:30pm local time until the following morning.
- Delegate tasks to other people Give people roles so that you’re not the only one doing all the talking. If you have veteran phone bank leaders at your party, they can help you present the agenda portion of the event.
- Show everyone what Swing Left's movement looks like! Share a group photo, video, or anecdote from your event on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook (or all three!). Tag @SwingLeft and use the hashtag #SwingLeft to help us retweet/repost! Important note: since you are calling private citizens and using proprietary scripts, please make sure to obscure or cover names, emails, phone numbers, and scripts in your photos.
