2010 Ben Quayle Congressional Campaign – Integrated Technologies
Product: Data Connect, Volunteer Connect, Walk Books, Tele Town Hall and Phone Calls
There are a lot of moving pieces to campaigns. Some of these traditional components include phones, direct mail, fundraising, door-to-door canvassing, polling and advertising. There are not just a lot of different outreach tools and tactics; there are also a lot of vendors who offer them.
Working with multiple products and platforms, with multiple vendors, can quickly become overwhelming as numerous reports pile up with no integrated way to compile the overall results or voter information. Different members of campaign teams are looking at singular pieces of the puzzle without having a true grasp of the “big picture.” It can become a stumbling block that ultimately unravels efforts for even the most seasoned campaign veterans.
What We Did: FLS Connect teamed up with Ben Quayle’s congressional campaign in Arizona to interrelate some important voter outreach tools in order to create a smooth, integrated structure. The campaign unified their voter outreach efforts and results from the very start, to make sure they were making decisions based on facts and not hunches.
How We Did It: FLS Connect worked with the Quayle for Congress campaign to offer voter outreach products that were accessible for volunteers, and efficient in the reporting process for campaign management.
- The Quayle campaign began their efforts by using the FLS data and contact management software Data Connect. Data Connect is a grassroots platform that allowed the campaign to truly ‘’own’’ their political data so they could pull counts and lists, update records or generate reports internally; instead of making vendor requests for each one. The detailed data management plan allowed them to seamlessly update contact records from voter outreach efforts, so they could stay organized and target voters more quickly and effectively.
- Volunteers also used Volunteer Connect to contact fellow Arizona voters. The convenience of Volunteer Connect allowed more supporters to participate whether it was from their home or one of the campaign’s phone banks. Volunteer Connect allowed supporters to make calls 55% more efficiently than in a traditional call center, through the click of a mouse and with the ability to leave a pre-recorded answering machine message from Ben Quayle, while moving on to the next record. Campaign administrators even had the ability to edit Volunteer Connect call scripts without interrupting calls, and view real time results online.
- Campaign canvassers utilized FLS Connect’s Walk Books which maps out door-to-door directions, lists voter information and records results. Walk Books provided door-to-door directions for each target and included closed loop routing. This routing service allowed canvass volunteers to meet in one place and be routed throughout the surrounding area, with the end point mapping them back to the beginning. After volunteers finished walking routes, they would drop off the PDF walk sheets and the campaign would scan them to read the reports.
These efforts were complemented with another FLS Connect product, Tele Town Hall, so voters could ask questions and stay updated on Quayle’s campaign efforts through one phone call. In addition, live and automated calls were deployed to ID voters, conduct surveys, improve event turnout and aid GOTV programs. All of these efforts were then tracked in the campaign’s Data Connect system.
The strengthened database also made traditional methods like phone calls and direct mail more cost-effective. Through polling and survey calls, the campaign was able to obtain ID information for over 25,000 voters. The campaign’s ground work of ID and targeting had paid off again by allowing their resources to focus efforts on voters that supported the campaign, but who had not yet submitted their ballot.
In Arizona, voters were able to request absentee ballots beginning in August. This allowed the campaign to start their GOTV efforts early by inviting voters to request an absentee ballot, identifying those requests and continuing to follow up with those voters who had not yet turned in their ballot. In Quayle’s district, it is estimated that over 90,000 people voted early in-person, or by mail.
Results: While Quayle was engaged in a tight primary, one of the things they were able to do was identify their opposition’s supporters, and those who were strongly supportive of that candidate and those who were soft supporters. Steve Moak was a competitive, primary opponent of Ben Quayle. Through volunteer ID calls on Volunteer Connect, the campaign identified 1,668 households that were leaning towards Moak.
The process of logging ID information from each project and using those findings to better target voters in future projects was a winning combination for the Quayle for Congress campaign. The targeted strategy to make each project more direct and successful, victoriously led the campaign through a 10-way primary and the general election.
More than 136,000 phone calls were made by approximately 150 supporters using Volunteer Connect, while more than 18,000 miles were covered by supporters using Walk Books.
The campaign’s early investment in a reliable data management tool, along with voter outreach ID programs whose detailed reporting could be integrated into the data hub, led them in producing a successful GOTV effort by focusing resources where they were needed most.
Using the Tele Town Hall platform also allowed now-Congressman Quayle to connect with more than 50,000 voters in Arizona’s 3rd District in an affordable manner.
On Election Day, the campaign connected with nearly 7,500 supporters through live calls and reminded them to vote. Those contacted had been previously identified as supporters who had not yet voted or turned in their absentee ballots. In addition, Quayle sent an automated call that reached more than 50,000 voters asking for their support while Senator John McCain lent his support through an automated call that connected with over 25,000 Independent voters.
Bottom Line(s): The Quayle for Congress campaign is a good example of how campaigns are successful when they reach out through multiple outlets, and keep their reports and results organized in order to make their next contact more targeted and effective.
