GOTV: Now includes postcarding!
Dayenu’s Chutzpah campaign is about getting climate voters to the polls for every election. Historically, we’ve focused on phonebanking: calling and speaking to people identified as concerned about climate but who are unlikely to vote. We offer information about when, where, and how to vote, and encourage them to cast their ballots.
On June 1, Dayenu hosted the first-ever Chutzpah event dedicated to postcarding – and it was a resounding success. Participants enjoyed connecting, writing postcards to voters, strategizing, learning, and just being together in person.
The pilot event – co-sponsored by Environmental Voter Project (EVP), Citizens Climate Lobby Brooklyn’s Environmental Justice team, and Repair the World – gathered 10 people at a location in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and generated 300 postcards.
We discussed how important it is to turn out voters in unprecedented numbers, especially in these times when democracy is under attack. Postcarding can play a unique role, and EVP reaches people who care about the climate but are unlikely to vote, many of whom aren’t reached in other get-out-the-vote efforts.
This particular postcarding effort – aimed at New Yorkers ahead of the primary election – is part of an academic study EVP is conducting with Stanford University. They are testing the effectiveness of different messages, as well as the impact of handwriting vs. typed text.
People were excited to participate in getting out the vote as part of this study. They wrote dozens of postcards throughout the evening (some more than 25 altogether); and some folks took more home to write and mail. We are on track to personalize and mail 300 postcards.
We know that contacting voters – by phone or mail – DOES help build a reliable block of climate voters, as EVP’s track record proves; out of the 12.8 million non-voting and seldom-voting environmentalists they have contacted, they have helped convert over 2.2 million of them into “super voters.”
And, as an organizer, I know that this type of in-person gathering is crucial to building connections and community. I’m excited to see the results of the study on the efficacy of different types of postcards; and I’m a hundred percent behind the advent of erasable pens. They work beautifully, and they save countless postcards.
ABBY BRESLER
Abby Bresler is a Brooklyn-based organizer, educator, and writer passionate about building a more just and equitable world for all. Prior to joining the Dayenu team, they were the Manager of Jewish Youth Climate Movement, supporting teens all over the country to mobilize their communities toward climate action. Abby also founded Sunrise Movement’s Dartmouth Hub and the Sunrise Disability & Accessibility National Volunteer Team. She holds a graduate certificate in Jewish Studies and Social Justice from the University of San Francisco and a B.A. in Environmental Studies and English from Dartmouth College.