We tested a new approach to organizing. It worked.
A recap from the Keyboards for Kamala team and a run down of takeaways for future online organizing projects.
We wanted to share a summary of what we created, what we were able to do and some takeaways that we hope can be applied to future projects.
Keyboards for Kamala Project Overview: In just 3 months, the KeyboardsForKamala team developed a comprehensive suite of tools and resources to enable online relational organizing.
Our strategy -- take classic community organizing into online communities – Facebook groups, Subreddits, etc. A tactic contained in that strategy is getting volunteers comfortable spreading lower-effort content in those spaces.
Playbook for Online Organizing
The project started by creating a detailed playbook outlining their strategy. You can read our playbook here. We focused on empowering volunteers to engage their online communities on platforms like Facebook groups and subreddits by sharing carefully curated, low-effort content.
Keyboards for Kamala Apps
Share - Our flagship web app gives people the perfect proven posts to share with friends, family, and followers
Comment - A tool that suggests the most impactful content for volunteers to like and add comments quickly.
Persuade - An AI-powered app to help craft personalized persuasive messages to friends and followers.
Profile Frame - An easy way for supporters to update their online avatars as a virtual “lawn sign. “
Beyond the Playbook & Apps
Trainings and Workshops: The team spun up online sessions to further educate and equip volunteers with "“ocial banking"“tactics.
Daily Newsletter: A curated email provided volunteers with a clear, simple action they could take each day.
We tested a new approach to organizing. It worked.
We theorized a new method of mobilization.
We fleshed out our theory of the case in a lengthy document and then built tools that made certain tactics in that theory easy. We aimed to test this new method and see if it was viable.
That MVP (Minimum Viable Product) worked! People used it, people liked it, and subjectively told us it was valuable.
We built consensus! People from opposed and contrary factions of the democratic party all rallied around us. We think all can find value in our approach: “Find stuff that probably convinces people to vote D, and then get people to share it with their friends.”
Key Insights for Future Organizers: What We Learned Works
We learned a lot, and we want to share this list as a starting point for ways to implement what we have learned in future projects.
Simplicity works – we made it possible for someone to support Democrats in under 60 seconds – because we asked them to do something they already knew how – post!
Importantly – with no signup required. No friction. We did not require someone to attend a training or watch “how-to” videos.
Big data + volunteer power - Using big data insights of “this video or meme does convince well” with volunteer-powered energy combines two great strengths in the movement to good effect.
Give people a simple UX + the option to read more. Having a longer, wordier, document laying out the overall theory of what exactly you're doing works and can have unexpected positive results. We truly educated people, from staff for campaigns and PACs to chairs of local parties. The playbook also validated that we knew what we were doing to key influencers and gatekeepers.
Democrats with Republican friends are incredibly useful and powerful – they are already part of organizations (especially with a rural organizing or “red state” focus). We brought the tool, the organizations brought the people, and that combination allowed us to punch above our weight. You can do this too.
Advertising to partisans is great. There exist Democratic super-fans in non-competitive locations. We theorize that, to date, they've mainly been asked to donate, sign petitions, or do long-distance mobilization (phone banking, postcards, etc). We got a tremendous response when we reached out to them via advertising on email lists.
Don't overlook the little guys. Digital advertising is typically focused on spending on the big social media giants. But we saw high-impact acquisition through non-traditional (some would even say old-school) forms of new-to-list email acquisition, most notably through advertising on listservs with a loyal following.
AI can be used to help write personal persuasive messages that can work in relational organizing.
True online organizing takes time. We're convinced that our larger strategy would work – just like where offline organizing empowers volunteers with a specified “turf”” we envision true digital organizing where a volunteer's “turf”” might be a group chat, a Facebook group, or a Subreddit. This strategy cannot be rolled out only a few months before election day; it requires year-round organizing, eventually building a cadre of volunteers large enough to organize across wide swaths of digital communities and social media spaces.
Keyboards for Kamala Partners
A thank you to our partners who helped to make this project possible.
Contest Every Race
Movement Labs
Forward Blue
The Scroll for Kamala Team
Cooperative Impact Lab
Daily Drumbeat
CrowdWave
Tavern Research
Thank you to our friends and followers for helping to spread the word about Keyboards for Kamala
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Bob Fertik of Democrats.com
Josh Nelson of Civic Shout
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Elana Levin
Ross and Brad of White Dudes for Harris
Margaret of Swing Blue Alliance
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David A of Forward Blue
Adrienne at Red Wine and Blue
Many friends who quietly shared this with their networks and helped in small and large ways