The How and Why of beve's Get Out The Vote Postcards - How I Got Started

After the whirlwind and steep activism leadership learning curve of being the lead and co-lead of Virginia For Pete (Buttigieg)'s Fifth Congressional District in 2019 and 2020, a friend and lead for a NOVA (Northern Virginia) congressional district tipped me off to a new political engagement trend she'd spotted - postcards! Knowing of my stationery and gift business, she thought Get Out The Vote (GOTV) postcards may be a good fit for beve. I heartily agreed and proceeded to design four postcards and have them printed locally. I also donated 25% of proceeds to Pete Buttigieg's Win The Era PAC of well-qualified down-ballot candidates. The best-seller was surely the mailbox design as we were in the throes of the Covid pandemic and everyone was learning how to campaign in quarantine. While I had leftovers of the other designs at the end of the election, I had sold enough to cover my costs and donation and, as I was helping get out the vote, that was enough for me.

In 2022, I decided to host Get Out The Vote (GOTV) postcard parties during the mid-term election cycle using my leftover 2020 postcards. I scheduled the first postcard party in mid-May and invited a number of friends and acquaintances individually to my home. I had three ladies show up. Not an amazing turnout, but postcards were written and a nice time was had by all. Bonus? My self-conscious invitation to a fellow preschool parent has resulted in a wonderful, close friendship with shared values at the heart of it. Do you know what comes next? Uvalde. And next? The Dobbs Decision.

My late June party had my parking area bursting and me pulling out additional tables - people (women!) were fed up and ready to do something about it.

It was clear that I needed to find a more accessible, public space for us to meet and that was even more evident when the event was shared in our local Democratic group's newsletter. I looked into some suggestions folks had made in June and decided on a park in town that had a large, first-come/first-served shelter (so it was free and not booked up with birthday parties). Even better? It had direct line of sight to the playground and splash pad - perfect to allow parents to join in getting out the vote by writing postcards while their kiddos played. What else was clear after our busy June party was that I needed to prepare better if I wanted these to be as productive and rewarding for attendees as I'd hoped - and less of a headache for me. It was exhilarating to have so many folks attend, but it was also a big learning curve! The full sheet of 25+ addresses were overwhelming to attendees, resulting in less conversation between attendees and people asking to take their lists home to finish. I learned that letting the unfinished postcards leave the party meant I'd end up gently hounding writers to get the finished cards back to me or for them to mail them at their October mail date. Not a great feeling for either of us! Also, with the different campaigns we were writing to, it was tricky letting folks know if their campaign had a provided script or not or any specific information they were supposed to include. Some of the organizations that provide Get Out The Vote Postcards and/or Addresses are:

Postcards for Virginia: www.Postcards4VA.com  •

Vote Forward: https://votefwd.org/ •

Postcards to Swing States: https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards/  • ★

Activate America: https://www.activateamerica.vote/postcards  •

Moms Rising: https://action.momsrising.org/survey/2024_Postcards_May/  • ★ ■

Postcards to Voter: https://postcardstovoters.org/  •

Markers for Democracy: https://markersfordemocracy.org/  • 

More and more campaigns are providing postcards and/or addresses directly. Be sure to check in with your local candidate to see if they have either of these available. Postcard efficacy is highest for local and primary elections where victory margins can be incredibly small.

•           Provides addresses

★         Provides postcards (allow time for receiving them)

■          Provides postage 

As mentioned, I initially reached out to friends and family I thought might be interested in getting involved. My event then began being shared in our local democratic committee newsletter. I began an e-mail list to update interested folks on upcoming events.*Be sure when you send your mass e-mail to the list that you use the BCC function! No one wants their information shared willy-nilly or to receive accidental Reply All responses.* I have posted about upcoming postcard parties on local Facebook pages (ie. _(location)_ Families, _(location)_ Playgroup, _(location)_ Democrats groups).

I also encourage folks to bring a friend with them (and mention that inviting a friend, even if they can't come, is a great way to start a conversation about the importance of our elections and why *they* are getting active). When folks turn up at postcard parties from an outside source, I ask them if they'd like to sign up for my e-mail list to get notices on upcoming events directly (most do sign up). I make sure to provide upcoming dates in advance to give folks time to get them on the calendar and I also send an (mass, postcard list) e-mail the week of an event to help remind them. I recently joined Red, Wine, and Blue's Trouble Nation as an official group, too, to help local folks interested in getting involved find out about us. Given this outreach, my attendee size has continued to grow and I have over 130 folks on my postcard e-mail list currently. We have a great mix of repeat and new attendees, have great conversations about local and national politics, talk about more ways to get involved, and have even had a few candidates stop by over the years!

I've also expanded my postcard selection! I now have six new Get Out The Vote postcard designs, some fun RBG products, a GOTV washi tape and a VOTE washi tape to help adorn message and inspire folks to get active and get voting!

Our Pro-tect Choice card is perfect for postcard campaigns for candidates supporting women's reproductive rights or address lists that focus solely on female voters. Got some crazy Moms for Liberty book banners running for your school board (or want to support other areas who are fighting that battle?)? Our "FREADOM" Bans Off Our Books postcard is a perfect option! You'll note the rainbow colors of the books and letters, as LGBTQ+ books are often those on banned book lists. This is design was spurred on by my local school board's race last year against Justice Scalia's daughter. We won!! And, as luck would have it, I changed my "Get Shit Done" pennant flag design to a more PC "Vote Fight Win" - and, weeks later, Kamala Harris stepped up to be the Democratic Nominee and started saying, "When we fight, we win! When we vote, we win!" How perfect!! I love that this card also includes a myriad of issues near and dear to me, supporting: gun sense legislation, (lgbtq+ and racial) equal rights, the right to choose, sustainability, public education, and more. Writing to a more conservative district? Our heart flag postcards may be the right option for your. I really enjoy the big tent diversity ballot postcard option as well. And a simple reminder to Vote For Our Lives - be it for gun sense legislation, healthcare, Black Lives Matter, and more - is a versatile message to send to potential voters.

There have been low-turnout events, especially in Virginia's off-off year elections, but my mindset of 'Well, if no one turns up, I'll just sit at the park and write postcards for two hours. That's okay!' has been very helpful. Inevitably, those slow-start events turn into nice little (or large!) gatherings with great folks and great conversations :)

Even if you'd like to keep your events private, reaching out to folks about the gathering (and checking in a few days prior - we all have busy lives!) is necessary. Setting up a postcard e-mail list can still be helpful, though having that individual outreach may be more effective for personal gatherings. Don't be afraid to invite folks in and ask them to pitch in by bringing GOTV postcards, stickers, food, or help cover costs, either. Most are happy to help support you and your shared cause.

I hope this information is helpful! See my next blog post for how I organize my postcard parties!

Whether you host an intimate gathering among friends or open your events up to the public, GOTV postcards are a great way to get new folks involved in activism. Check back soon to see my blog post on Why Postcards.