PHONE BANKING FAQ

Simply put, yes. Volunteer phone banking — when real people like you talk to real voters across the state — is very powerful. In fact, just like door-to-door canvassing, phone banking is one of the most effective ways to influence voters and increase turnout. These conversations net around 1 VOTE per 36 conversations! So keep dialing - eventually you will talk to someone and that conversation may urge them to get to the polls!

In addition to those valuable conversations, phone banking helps campaigns with their data management and helps them decide where to focus their outreach efforts. Phone banking helps campaigns:

• identify strong supporters that may become volunteers

• learn about the issues that are most important to their constituents

• clean up their data! Who has moved? Which phone numbers are disconnected? Every issue you identifies save the campaign time and money

• and more! C2C callers have identified voters who need rides to the polls, voters who have questions for the candidate, voters who did not know their polling locations had changed, and more.

C2C is debuting a new model for Voter Contact in 2024 - our Spotlight Model. From January to March, we’ll put a “spotlight” on one (or two) of our featured NC House or Senate candidates. After March, our Spotlight may rotate every two weeks. During that Spotlight period, you’ll be able to phone bank, canvass (where possible), and write postcards for that candidate.

• Phone Banking: We’ll kick off our phone banks as we always do, with a Zoom Kickoff Session featuring the candidate. We hope you can join us for kickoff and make calls that night, but…

• If You Can’t Make the Kickoff?: That’s okay – you can still participate! Phone bank ANY TIME! We’ll leave the phone bank open all month so you can make calls on YOUR schedule that month (9 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST most days). Do this on your own or with friends any time!

• Canvassing: Meet the candidate in person and then talk to voters in their district. Canvassing is the most effective thing you can do to turn out Democratic votes. So grab a friend and join us!

• Postcards: Watch our Call to Action emails for details. Aren’t on our list? Sign up here.

We’ll set a target goal of cumulative voter contacts (calls made and doors knocked) per month and track them on our website. Help us talk to as many voters as possible and watch the C2C tracker climb. You’ll see incentives and prizes along the way, too!

Register by going to C2C’s event listings on Mobilize, the website we use for registrations. You can find the link here. Click on the phone bank you’d like to register for, enter the information needed, and click “Attend”!

Mobilize (the website we use for registrations) will send you a confirmation email once you have registered. This happens right away.

A day or two before the phone bank, you will receive an email from C2C (phonebanks@countytocountync.org) that will contain important information, such as the link to the Zoom Kickoff meeting and the link to the virtual phone bank (more on what this is below). If you haven’t received an email from phonebanks@countytocountync.org by 2pm on the day of the phone bank kickoff, please email Judith Tsin at judith@countytocountync.org.

C2C uses software from NGPVAN called Virtual Phone Bank (VPB for short) for all of our phone banks. This software houses the names of the voters you will be calling and demographic information about them. It is also where you will see the script for your calls, along with questions you will be asking the voter. You will use the VPB to record the answers the voter gives you during your conversation. If you ever phone banked with a paper list of voters and call sheets, VPB is the “virtual,” electronic version of those old call logs.

But with the VPB software, C2C and campaigns are able to target lists of voters and automatically funnel them into a particular phone bank. Even better, the data (answers to the questions you ask voters) gets instantly matched up with the voter’s information and sent to the campaign automatically via VPB - saving hundreds of hours of data entry work and cutting out the inevitable human errors that occurred with that human data-transfer process.

Once you’ve used VPB once or twice, we promise it is just as easy as using a paper sheet!

C2C offers a Zoom Kickoff meeting at the start of every phone bank we “Spotlight.” The Zoom is separate from the Virtual Phone Bank. The Zoom is an online meeting that allows all of our volunteers the chance to meet the candidate(s) for whom they are phone banking and ask any questions they may have for the candidate. Additionally, our experienced Phone Bank Captains are on this Zoom and are willing to answer any questions or offer training to anyone who is new to or is having difficulty phone banking.

The Virtual Phone Bank is the computer software that allows you to make calls to voters — it is the phone bank itself. It is called a Virtual Phone Bank because it is used on your individual computer and can be done in the comfort of your own home. You’ll use your own phone to make calls to the voters listed in the VPB. The Zoom and the Virtual Phone Bank (vpb) are not connected in any way; they are two separate things that help create the best phone bank experience possible. Find more information below on both the Zoom and the VPB.

You’ll need two pieces of equipment to phone bank with C2C.

1. your own phone (cell phone or land line)

2. A computer: desktop, tablet, or laptop

You’ll use your phone to make calls to voters. You’ll dial every number by hand and when you have a conversation with a voter, it is no different from talking with a friend.

You’ll use your computer (or tablet or laptop) to see who to call, their number and information, and the phone bank script. You’ll also record any responses the voter gives you on your computer in their record. This method of phone banking is called a Virtual Phone Bank (or vpb, for short), since you are entering all your answers via computer.

Using a Virtual Phone Bank is essential for campaigns - the data you collect goes straight into the campaign’s database and the results of your calls are instantly available for the candidate and their staff to use so that they can best implement their campaign strategy.

Good News! County-to-County offers support and training for phone banking at every step!

We have a volunteer on our Kickoff Zoom call that will train new callers after the candidate speaks. We offer a Zoom phone bank training every month. And we have a Phone Bank Training Video on our website that you can refer to any time. Still need more help? Email Judith Tsin at judith@countytocountync.org and we’ll get you the help you need!

Every time we rotate our Spotlight phone bank, we offer a Zoom Kickoff meeting. At this Zoom, you are invited to meet the candidate(s) for whom you are calling and to ask our Phone Bank Captains any questions about how to phone bank. Then, you’ll start phone banking, using your own phone and a tablet, laptop, or desktop computer. You’ll call voters, talk with them using the script provided, and document their answers on your computer.

Use this slide presentation to see exactly how its done. And please let us know if we can help you - that’s what we’re here for!

Yes - you can make calls on C2C’s “Spotlight” phone bank any time. Register for the phone bank, checking the next available Monday time slot from the list. Every Monday, C2C will send out an email with instructions and the phone bank link to new registrants. You can make calls at your convenience until the phone bank ends (any time 9am - 8pm M-S; 1pm - 8pm Sun.) The email you receive will have instructions, and you can always find the support you need on this webpage or by emailing Judith Tsin at judith@countytocountync.org.

Because we use Virtual Phone Bank software for phone banking, you’ll need a username and password to get into the system — just like you do for your Amazon account or your email. For some reason, NGPVAN (who runs the Virtual Phone Bank software) calls this username and password your “Action ID.”

If you are new to phone banking, you will need to set up your Action ID so that you can get into the VBP. You’ll be prompted to do this when you click on the VPB link C2C sends you via email. Or you can go to https://myaccount.ngpvan.com/CreateAccount and set one up. Remember to keep this Action ID and password in a safe place - you’ll need it every time you phone bank.

If you already have an Action ID and you’ve forgotten your password, just click the “Forgot Password” button and go from there. Still having trouble? Watch this video on how to create and reset your password.

Lots of phone bankers prefer to write down the results of a call with a voter as they talk with them and then enter the information into the database after they finish the call. As long as you capture the information that the Virtual Phone Bank is asking for, and as long as the information gets entered into the caller’s record, you don’t have to do it at the same time you’re talking with the voter — you can do it as soon as you hang up, instead.

You must enter the information into the Virtual Phone Bank BEFORE you call a different voter - you can’t make all of your calls and then enter your data all at once. But as long as you are having a quality conversation with the voter and recording their information, feel free to adapt to your comfort level.

The phone bank software (Virtual Phone Bank or VPB) will offer you multiple options for recording your interactions with voters. It will also offer you multiple options for when you DON’T connect with a voter - for instance, did you leave a message? Was the voter not home? Was the number disconnected?

Some of these options are self-explanatory, but some need more context. For instance, there is an option to indicate that a voter REFUSED your call. But this is very different to a campaign than someone who hung up on your or was not home. When someone is marked “Refused,” the campaign is not allowed to contact them again. So “Refused” should only be used when someone explicitly asks to be taken off the list.

Here is a full list of “CODES” - how you should mark your interactions with voters. This sheet also tells you what information is handy for you to put in the notes field and what it is not necessary to record.

Absolutely yes. C2C-supported candidates understand how important these conversations with voters are for their campaigns and for their service to their constituents. And they promise to C2C, to you, and to their voters to always follow up when it is needed. Conversations with voters are “gold” to a candidate and their campaign - and they won’t let that opportunity pass!

C2C is in touch on a regular basis with every candidate we support, and we always ask if they have followed up on any notes you make or questions from a voter you record on a phone bank. Rest assured that if you tell a voter they will get a call back, they will.

Starting in 2023, NC Law requires voters to have a photo ID to vote. Most voters already have an ID that will work: a Driver’s License, Passport, or military ID, for example. Those who need a FREE ID to vote can get one at their county Board of Elections Office. The Division of Motor Vehicles also offers free IDs. Find out more information on this handout.