Sending Invites
Whether coming together online or meeting safely in-person—in our living rooms and at voter contact events—coming together builds the connections that fuel this movement.
Recruitment is simple: It starts with just inviting a few friends and then asking them to invite a few more. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can fill an event.
Here are a few tips on how you can get started:
- Write a list of friends, family, neighbors and colleagues.
Don’t limit your list to people who you think are involved in politics. This is a great opportunity to invite new people into activism, and lots of people are getting involved right now for the first time. **Pro tip:** About half of the people who say ‘yes’ will actually show up, so invite a few more people than you think you want to participate.
- Use multiple channels to recruit.
Don’t rely on one method of communication. Send emails and text messages, post on Facebook and Twitter, and pick up the phone. Think of other creative ways to get the word out about your event. The more outreach the better!
Mobilize has a number of useful recruitment features built into it that will help your template your emails and social posts. To check them out, log into your Mobilize dashboard, and select the event you want to review.
- Email: You can cast a wide net to invite people to your event by sending an email to everyone you know who may be interested in attending. Using email tools like Mailchimp or Yet Another Mail Merge can help you send mass, personalized emails.
- Social Media: After you create your event on Mobilize, you'll be emailed the public link for your event. Posting your event on Facebook and Twitter is a great way to get the word out. *Pro tip: *When you share on Facebook, you can “tag” the friends you want to invite by typing @ and then their name into the message. Check out this video on tagging tips.
- Pick up the phone: The most effective way to recruit is by sending an email and then following up with a quick phone call. Again, the more methods you use, the better.
- Connect with local Swing Left-aligned groups in your area to promote your event to their members and collaborate on future events. You can find groups near you at Find a Group.
Communicating with RSVPs
Recruitment does not stop at the initial invitation. You’ll need to follow up at least once with everyone who RSVPs to confirm their participation. Both emailing and calling all of your attendees a day or two ahead to confirm will significantly increase the likelihood that they actually show up on the day of your event.
Reminder calls are also a great opportunity to clarify the logistics and ask your attendees to take on some additional responsibility. Asking your attendees to own a task is another great way to solidify their commitment to come, since knowing they have a specific role to play will lead to them feeling ownership over the success of the event itself.
There are a few different methods by which you can communicate with your guests before the event:
- Email attendees through Mobilize. Hosts can send emails to attendees directly through Mobilize. To email your attendees through Mobilize’s built-in tool, visit the event review page and click the blue “EMAIL ATTENDEES” box. A pop-up will appear that allows you to filter who receives the email and send a custom note.
- Download RSVPs off Mobilize and send a personal email. You can also download a list of your sign-ups to contact them. Visit the event review page, scroll to the bottom, and click the blue “EXPORT SIGNUPS” box. A link will be sent to your email that will allow you to download a CSV file of RSVPs that you can open in a spreadsheet like Excel or Google Sheets.
Promoting on Social Media
Don’t forget to use social media to share updates during and after your events! Promoting your events will help you recruit for future activities and will inspire new people to get involved in our fight to take back all the houses.
Share a group picture, video, or story on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook (or all three!) and make sure to tag @swingleft and include the hashtags #SwingLeft and your district if applicable (e.g. #NJ07 – leave out any punctuation from hashtags) so that Swing Left can retweet/repost.
Remember to stay positive on social media. There’s enough bad stuff in the news—this is an opportunity to inspire people to get involved by showing them how much fun you are having.
