Precinct

Organization

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Core programs

Registrati
onand reRegister

Persuasio
n likely
Persuade

register
unregistered
supporters

voters open to
your message

Turnout
Motivate
sporadic voting
supporters

Organization Building
Creates the foundation to execute the three core
programs
Source: 2012 Obama Campaign Legacy Report, p. 9

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Registration
Obama campaigns voter
registrationRegistration
effort
State
Florida
Colorado
Nevada

forms collected
by OFA
361,176
156,860
95,973

Obama
margin of
victory
74,309
137,948
67,806

Source: 2012 Obama Campaign Legacy Report, p. 35

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Core programs
New
Registrants /
Lowpropensity

New
Registrants /
Lowpropensity
Highpropensity

Highpropensity

Favorable
Voters

Unknown
and Swing
Voters

Republican Victory
Institute

Unfavorab
le
Voters

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Core programs

Registrati
onand reRegister

Persuasio
n likely
Persuade

register
unregistered
supporters

voters open to
your message

Turnout
Motivate
sporadic voting
supporters

Organization Building
Creates the foundation to execute the three core
programs

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Poor Organization
You can't throw up
some phone banks in
late summer and call
that organizing.
Jeremy Bird
National Field Director, Obama for America
Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

The Lincoln Four Step

Organize the whole state, divide each
county into small districts and appoint
in each a subcommittee, make a
perfect list of voters and ascertain with
certainty for whom they will vote, and
on election day see that every Whig is
brought to the polls.
Abraham Lincoln
Illinois State Register
February 21, 1840
Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Traditional precinct model

Precinct.
Small geographic
district.

Community.
Cluster of adjoining
precincts.

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Traditional precinct model

Duties of precinct captains.

Serve as the partys liaison in the
precinct.
Recruit and train precinct volunteers.
Lead voter canvassing, voter
registration, and GOTV efforts in the
precinct.

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Neighborhood Team
Structure

According to the 2012 Obama Campaign Legacy Report

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Neighborhood team structure

CTM
CTM

ORGANIZ
ER

NTL

CTM

CTM
CTM
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl1CjHMMGVA

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Neighborhood team structure

Core Team Members (CTM).

1. Phonebank Captain.
2. Canvass Captain.
3. Data Captain.

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Neighborhood team structure

At least one other turf-specific

CTM.
Voter Registration Captain.
Digital Captain.
Coalition-specific Captain.

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Neighborhood team structure

Neighborhood Team Leaders

(NTL).
Manage and train other team
members.
Lead voter contact efforts in the
neighborhood.
Run a staging location during voting
period.
Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Neighborhood team structure

Field Organizers.
Organize and support neighborhood
teams.
Manage multiple neighborhood team
leaders.
Know the exact number of votes they
need.

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

The snowflake model

Source: 2012 Obama Campaign Legacy Report, p. 23

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Identification

How to identify NTL and CTM.

Votes in every election.
Member of a single-issue group.
Contributor to sympathetic
candidates.
Wants to make phone calls and
knock doors.

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Team development

Finding and confirming leaders.

Identify through house meetings,
referrals, office walk-ins, online leads, etc.
Once identified, the organizer has one-onone meetings with potential volunteers.
Team leaders earn roles by demonstrating
they are up to the rigors and
responsibilities.
Source: 2012 Obama Campaign Legacy Report, p. 26

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

2012 Obama campaign

How did volunteers first get involved?
23%
18%

9%
11%

14%

Contacted the
campaign
Donated to the
campaign
Responded to an
email

Source: 2012 Obama Campaign Legacy Report, p. 27

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

2012 Obama campaign

2.2M Volunteers Scheduled

30K Core Team Members

10K Neighborhood Team
Leaders
2K+ Field Organizers
Source: 2012 Obama Campaign Legacy Report, p. 20

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

2012 Obama campaign

Source: 2012 Obama Campaign Legacy Report, p. 22

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Precinct Organization
Our focus is on having a
very decentralized,
organized operation as
close to the precinct level
as possible.
Jeremy Bird
National Field Director, Obama for America
Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

2012 Obama campaign

Offices in Targeted States
631

282

Obama

Romney

Source: 2012 Obama Campaign Legacy Report, p. 21

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

2012 Obama campaign

Campaign Field Offices
Obama

131

Romney

106

40

Ohio

47

61
30

Florida

Virginia

Source: Molly Ball. Obamas Edge: The ground game that could put him over the top. The Atlantic.
October 24, 2012.

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Question
What are the advantages
of the neighborhood
team structure in
comparison to the
traditional precinct
model?
Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Grassroots organizing

Why does this matter?

Person-to-person contact is the most
effective method for mobilizing and
persuading voters.
The neighborhood organizing
structure is the most efficient ways
to maximize person-to-person
contact.
Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Managing field data

Voter Relationship
Management.
NationBuilder.
i360.
Voter Gravity.

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Managing field data

Website
Social graph
Digital advertising

Republican Victory
Institute

Volunteer management
Map-based walk lists
Mobile canvassing app
Integrated phone
banking
Email fundraising
Online donations
Offline donations

Voter file
Interest group lists
Survey research
Consumer purchasing
data

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Managing field data

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Managing field data

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Managing field data

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Grassroots organizing

Final Thoughts.
Grassroots campaigns cost money.
Data collected from your one-to-one
contacts allow a campaign to target
more effectively.

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization

Questions

Republican Victory
Institute

Grassroots Precinct
Organization