This OTYCD piece originally appeared in April 2018.

 

Help Tony the Democrat grow the Postcards to Voters army by prepping and carrying ready-kits in your briefcase, backpack, or purse, and being ready to walk someone through how to join.

 

As we ready this blog post in mid-April 2018, Tony the Democrat is trying to grow the ranks of the Postcards to Voters army past 17,000 volunteers.

 

You matter, and you, yes you, are an effective advocate. One of the best ways to convince someone to become an activist is to personally ask them to join you.

 

If you fall into conversation with someone about Postcards to Voters and they seem interested in doing it too, don’t let them get away! You can close the deal, so to speak, by having a ready-kit of starter supplies with you that you can give to the prospective postcard-writer.

 

Here’s how to prep your ready-kit:

 

First, buy a pile of postcards from Collective Vision. They were designed for use by the Postcards to Voters army and they make your life easier by having the postcardstovoters.org site printed on the front, below the Be A Voter! roundel.

 

Collective Vision offers the cards at several different price points. The higher prices help underwrite production costs and costs associated with Postcards to Voters campaigns. If you prefer to hand-write ‘www.postcardstovoters.org’ on other postcards, you can of course do that instead.

https://www.collectivevision.us/get-postcards

 

 

Also buy:

Postcard stamps (as of January 2021, they cost 36 cents each)

Pens (best to buy new ones, to be sure they’ll work)

Plastic sandwich bags

And some blank paper on which you will write or print ” https://postcardstovoters.org “

 

Put a pen, five blank postcards, and a string of five postcard stamps in a plastic bag to create each kit. Prep as many kits as you feel you might need.

 

Carry at least one ready-kit on your person, and maybe consider packing more if you’re attending a protest, a march, or an event where you think you might meet folks who would enjoy writing GOTV postcards for Democratic and progressive candidates.

 

If you get to talking about Postcards to Voters and your new friend shows interest, you can offer them your ready-kit on the spot. Point out the URL on the slip of paper you included, and recommend they go to the Volunteer page on the website and fill out the sign-up form. Once they’re approved to write postcards, they can get to work using the gear you gave them.

 

Voila! You have helped recruit a new member of the Postcards to Voters army!