Introduction

It’s up to us to use every bit of energy and enthusiasm that we have to help Barack Obama get elected and change the course of our nation. There’s no later, and no tomorrow. Our moment is now.

This guide has been created to help grassroots supporters like you all across the country structure your activities.

Get Involved with your Local Field Office

The very first thing you should do is contact your local field office. The campaign has opened dozens of offices in states across the country. Check out this national map to find the office closest to you.

Your local field office will ask you to help in their efforts on the ground.

Get Organized Locally

In some cases, there may not be a local field office nearby, or you may be excited to get started organizing in your own town.

In order to help you in that process, we’ve created a step-by-step guide with all the resources and advice that you may need in that process.

Step 1: Organizational Meeting

Before you have an organizational meeting, contact your local field office to let them know that you’re planning on having a community organizational meeting. Find your local office’s contact information.

Schedule your organizational meeting as soon as possible. There’s no time to spare. You have to get moving as quickly as possible.

The best times to schedule organizational meetings are weekday evenings and weekends. Choose a location that is easily accessible and a comfortable environment to everyone in your community. Popular venues are local coffee shops, diners, and community centers. If you think your gathering may be large, you should contact the venue ahead of time to let them know that you will be coming with a group.

One of the keys to a successful meeting is promoting the event properly. Here are a few things you can do to get the word out effectively:

Promote on My.BarackObama. Create an event on My.barackobama.com and post it to your local My.BarackObama group. Send out an email to the listservs of the groups you belong to on My.BarackObama. Write a blog post and post it to the group profile, announcing the details of your event. Message your friends on My.BarackObama to let them know that the event is coming up.

Promote in your community. Send invitations to the event to your personal email lists, neighborhood groups, community group lists, etc. Make a list of important friends, neighbors, or colleagues that you really want there and call to remind them of the event before it happens. Try posting BarackObama.com and selecting your state.

Logistics

When the day of your event approaches, make sure you remind attendees that the event is coming up. Know how many people you’ll be expecting and let your venue know if you think it may disrupt their normal business. Get to your event 15 minutes or half an hour before it’s supposed to begin to set up before everyone arrives.

There are several things you’ll want to make sure you bring:

• • Name tags to help attendees remember one another’s name and feel comfortable introducing themselves.
• • Sign-in sheets so that you can keep your attendees informed of your group’s actions in the coming weeks.
• • Issue flyers for anyone who is curious to know more about Barack’s position on any particular topic.

Agenda

It’s smart to begin your meeting five or ten minutes after the planned start time in order to give enough time for latecomers to get in. This also gives folks a few minutes to mingle and get acquainted. Once you have a critical mass, introduce yourself. Talk briefly about who you are and be sure to emphasize your personal reasons for supporting Barack Obama. Ask the other attendees to go around and introduce themselves as well.

Once everyone is familiar with everyone else, it’s time to get organized. Discuss with the group how to complete Step 2 on the following tab.

Step 2: Building Your List of Supporters

Before you begin any of the activities below, contact your local field office to let them know that you’re planning on getting active in your community. You can find your local office’s contact information by going to barackobama.com and clicking on your state.

This campaign is grounded in the idea that real change does not come from the top down. Truly remarkable change has only occurred in our history when individuals have stood up, reached out to others in their communities, and made it happen.

The most important thing that you can do on behalf of this campaign is bring in new supporters. It’s these people that you reach out to who will come out on Election Day and cast their vote to change America.

Your top priority in the coming weeks will be to engage voters, talk to them about what this campaign is about, and encourage them to commit to voting for Barack Obama.

Here are two of the most popular ways to reach out to potential voters:

Canvassing

Think of a canvass as a neighborhood walk. Canvasses happen when a group of people get together and go door-to-door to homes and apartments in a selected neighborhood to spread the message about Barack Obama.

The first thing you’ll need to do is choose a neighborhood to canvass. Find the neighborhoods that have the most Democratic voters, because in the primary season, those are the neighborhoods where your message needs to be heard the most. (If you’d prefer to canvass your own neighborhood instead, that’s okay too.)

All volunteer canvassers should have a map of the “turf,” or part of the neighborhood, they will be walking that day. The goal should be to have every person knock on 50 doors. Be sure to print out or photocopy enough maps for everyone to have one and delegate out an appropriate amount of streets for each person. You can get maps of local neighborhoods online. Google Maps is an especially detailed, free resource. You can also get maps from your local Democratic party. They should have maps of neighborhoods organized by precinct.

The best days to canvass are Saturdays and Sundays. More people tend to be home on these days. Please make sure not to knock on any doors before 9:30 a.m. or after dark.

You’ll need a few materials to coordinate your canvass:

Script. This is a basic guide of what’s important for volunteers to say at the door.
Literature. You’re going to want to have some literature that your volunteers can distribute as they canvass. The campaign has prepared a library of flyers with lots of policy details. Use them to get your volunteers educated before heading out.
Supporter sign-ups. This is the most important form you can provide. All volunteers going door-to-door should be equipped with a sign-up sheet. The goal of each conversation should be to bring one more supporter into the campaign. Once a person says they are likely to vote for Barack Obama in their primary, they should fill out basic information about themselves.

Once your canvass is over, there is nothing more important than reporting your results back to the campaign. It is absolutely essential that the campaign receive all of the information on new supporters. Someone from the canvassing group should be charged with entering all of this information on our site for new supporters.

Tabling and flyering

Obama ’08 signs. If you don’t have any of these, you can purchase them in bulk at the Obama Store.
Flyers. Whether you’re tabling or flyering, you’ll need to have some object to hand out to people that they can take with them.
Supporter sign-ups. The ultimate goal of any tabling or flyering event should be to collect information about supporters so that the campaign can stay in touch with them in the days leading up to your state’s primary election. Print out several sheets and encourage supporters to fill in as much information as possible.

Just like for any neighborhood canvass that you may do, there’s nothing more important than reporting your supporter information back to the campaign. Someone from your group should be charged with entering all of this information on our site for new supporters.

Step 3: Phonebank

There’s no doubt that the most important thing you can do is bring new people into the campaign. As outlined in the previous tabs, canvassing and tabling are the best ways to do that. But not every day is made for canvassing, and particularly in the colder months, it can be difficult to find easy places to flyer.

But that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing else to do. One of the most important things you can do to help Barack get elected is pick up the phone and call potential supporters from your own home.

The campaign has built an online phone banking tool that makes it extremely easy for you to call. When you are ready to begin, visit My.BarackObama.com/call to find the current calling campaigns.

You can impact the election from anywhere in the country, all you need is an internet connection, phone, and the desire to make a difference. We'll provide you with a script and list of names to call. Listen in to a calling tutorial or visit the Frequently Asked Questions page for tips and more information on how to get started.

If members of your group have laptops and cell phones and someone has a wireless network set up in their home, then you can also have a phone banking party. Follow the outlines on the next tab for the fundraising house party, but instead of making a financial request, ask people to pick up their phones and call on behalf of the campaign.

Step 4: Fundraise

Before hosting a fundraising house party, contact your local field office to let them know that you’re planning on hosting one. Find your local office’s contact information.

This election is unique. In order to compete nationwide, we are building a campaign infrastructure that is larger than any that has come before. Hundreds of offices have already opened in dozens of states all across the country, and more are opening every week.

A great way to raise money for the campaign while sharing more information about Barack Obama is to hold a house party in your home. It’s never easy to ask others for money, but you’ll be much more comfortable doing so if the people you are asking understand the roots of your passion for the campaign and the unique possibility that Barack Obama offers to change create the change we need in Washington.

Most likely, some members of your group will want to have their own separate house parties. Each member can host their own, or if you’d prefer, your group can host a party together.

Register Your Event and Invite Family, Friends, and Neighbors

Take a moment to register your event online. Registering your event online means you’ll get your own page for your event, be able to send an invite to your friends, track who is planning on attending, and send details and reminders to your attendees. Note that if you set it up as a fundraising event, you can ask for people to fulfill their pledges online. (Offline fulfillment will not appear in your event's online total.)

Invite people you know. Think about family, friends, colleagues and neighbors who would be willing to hear more about Barack Obama. Aim to invite at least 15 people, knowing that at least half probably will not be able to attend. Encourage each person to bring a guest who may want to know more about Barack Obama's position on important issues facing our nation.

Encourage all of your attendees to RSVP for your event so you know how many people to expect. Send an email to all of your attendees using the Email Attendees link on the Manage Your Events page a week before the event and then again the day before to remind everyone of the event’s details.

Get Your Materials in Order

There are several materials you’ll want to be prepared with before your house party.

• Sign-in Sheets. This is the form that you will want to have all your attendees use to sign in.
• Supporter Cards. These cards will be signed by those people at your event who make a firm commitment to vote for Barack Obama on November 4th.
• Contribution Forms. Every guest who makes a donation and does not do so online must fill out this form.

Other materials you may want to have on hand:

• Issue Flyers. Think about printing out flyers detailing Barack’s positions on important issues.
• Videos. You may want to download or show some of the campaign’s video content to show your guests. You can even create your own DVD using our instruction. You can also purchase a DVD from the Obama Store.
• Obama Merchandise. If you’d like to provide your guests with buttons or show your pride with an Obama t-shirt, you can find these items and others in the Obama Store.
• Camera. Don't forget to take pictures and share them with us after the event.

During Your Event

Welcome your guests and introduce them to others at your house party. Make sure every attendee signs in on your sign-in sheet.

Introduce yourself and share with the group why you decided to host this event and why you support Barack Obama. Why did you get involved with the campaign? Everyone has a unique story about how they got engaged, and your guests want to hear it directly from you. Your openness will help set the tone for the rest of the event. Encourage your guests to share their own reasons for supporting Barack Obama.

You’ll also want to answer the question, Why is Barack Obama’s candidacy important? Why does he need to win now? For information on how Barack answers these questions, go to BarackObama.com.

Many people who host house parties like to show a campaign video or DVD. You can have your guests gather around your computer to watch BarackTV, or you can download a video and make your own.

Supporter Cards and Contribution Forms

Before your group breaks up, pass around the supporter cards and contribution forms. It’s important for the campaign to know more about our supporters, including their backgrounds and willingness to volunteer.

The best way for your party attendees to give is to donate online. Some people will want to contribute with cash or a check. For those that do, just make sure they fill out a contribution form with their donation.

Thanks

Thank your guests for coming and make sure to gather the sign-in sheets, supporter cards, contribution forms and donations before your guests leave. You can mail them to:

Obama for America Attn: New Media Action Center 233 N. Michigan Ave, Suite 1100 Chicago, IL 60601

You can also enter sign-in data and supporter card data online.

Step 5: Voter Registration

Investigate Local Resources

Prior to creating your game plan, learn your state’s legal guidelines for registering eligible voters.

Determine Event Plan

Create a vision for your event and determine what you need to succeed.

Recruit Volunteers

This is a great opportunity to get more people involved in Senator Obama's grassroots movement--we encourage you to invite your friends and family--and utilize various online resources to reach out to even more supporters.