The new CTO of the DNC has already notched up a big win in Virgina, where the Democrats and aligned “WinVA” poured staff and new distributed field tools into the House of Delegates race, winning net +15 seats (three seats are still too close to call – in the balance are control of the Legislature and deeper influence on the state’s redistricting process).
I’m very pleased that VoterCircle played a role in this victory. Back in 2015, after being laid off by NationBuilder, I joined VoterCircle as an advisor – its growth has been extremely strong, but what’s most promising is VoterCircle’s potential to dramatically reduce the cost of elections. The software works by matching a campaign supporter’s personal network (email, generally, but LinkedIn and phone contacts also work) with eligible voters. At enterprise rates, it costs just $0.10 per contact – much cheaper than mail, and each contact is a confirmed email open. Whenever I prepare campaign plans these days, I lean in on VoterCircle – can we cut the cost of voter contact and then focus volunteer time on doors and phones with voters we cannot reach through a personal network?
Putting a digital touch on field contacts not only gives us a better look at who’s getting our campaign messages and how they are reacting, VoterCircle also learns from the campaigns networks, identifying the most influential voters with a campaign’s target universe. Campaigns can then focus special attention on supporters who can reach more than 10, 50, or more voters with just one email.
I also like to use cell phone and email data appends with VoterCircle to improve the quality matches (you can also use that data in survey-based email campaigns and in texting programs).
The most challenging barrier to adoption of a tool like VoterCircle is user trust – the DNC went a long way there by enlisting well-known surrogates:
With trusted, well-known surrogates, you’ve reduced the barrier to use – if you don’t have a Rosie or a VP candidate, try using the candidate themselves!
