- Start Early (6 to 12 months): An early start enables you to recruit volunteer signature gatherers, train staff and volunteers, identify hot spots for signature gathering, have packet parties, and set up systems.
PRIOR to the signature gathering drive beginning, identify as many volunteers as possible to gather at public locations. Eighty percent of your signatures will come from this type of gathering. - Maximize Volunteer Time: Signature gatherers can collect 20-50 signatures an hour if you follow the Science of Signature Gathering.
- Make Volunteer Packets With:
- A cover letter with signature gathering tips
- 1/2-page flyers
- FAQ—as a handout (to help you move on)
- Four cardboard clipboards: Assemble with petitions so they’re ready for volunteers to use.
- Size: 8.5×11 (works for 8.5×11 and 8.5×17)
- Recycled cardboard
- Purchased precut cardboard
- Rubber bands
- Pens
- Train Volunteers to Keep It Short and Simple (KISS). It’s a numbers game: The shorter your “rap” is, the more success you will have. Long discussions result in fewer signatures. For example, “Sign here to save BART.” Don’t spend more time than 15-30 seconds talking. Carry four clipboards.
- Be Seen: Clear signage helps recruit signers to you.
- Backside of your clipboard
- Poster: 14×22 coated cardstock. __ VOTERS. SIGN HERE FOR …[2-4 words]. In addition to posters, you can also add signage to the backside of the clipboard, make sandwich boards, and
- Wear T-shirts that read, “SIGN HERE FOR …”
- Sandwich boards
- Keep It Short and Simple (KISS). It’s a numbers game: The shorter and simpler your “rap” is, the more success you will have. Long policy discussions result in fewer signatures.
- Transit rap: “Sign here to fund and save BART.”
- Hold poster to be seen.
- Be quick, be prepared, be friendly.
- Hot Spots for Signature Gathering
- Grocery stores: It is legal to collect signatures on public sidewalks. Trader Joe’s and other grocery stores with a public walkway are excellent locations for collecting signatures.
- Farmers markets are another excellent place to gather signatures.
- Events: Get invitations to allies’ events, have them introduce and endorse the initiative, and gather signatures at the event. Bring multiple clipboards to make it quick and easy to sign them up.
- Marches, rallies, etc.: Large public gatherings are a great opportunity to get signatures. Three keys to large events:
- Recruit enough volunteers.
- Spread out among the crowd.
- Announce it from the stage.
- Sign Them Up, Send Them Out:
- Number of shifts: Assuming the low number of 20 signatures per shift, divide the goal by 20 to get the number of volunteer shifts.
- Recruitment: Do in-person 1-1 recruitment and online recruitment, working with unions and other allies to recruit.
- Packets: Have a volunteer party(or parties) to build and distribute the packets. If possible, do this prior to the signature gathering.
- Shifts: Create a schedule with 3-hour shifts (online) at key “hot” locations for volunteers to sign up for.
- Scheduling
- Phone calls
- In-person one-on-one
- Social media—to reinforce, not replace person-to-person
- Follow-up calls to confirm
- Care and Feeding Volunteers: This is the ART of signature gathering. Do your volunteers feel seen and recognized for what they contribute? Do they feel part of a bigger team that is motivated by values and vision? Do they feel the love?
- Train: Just like the rap, keep it short and simple, do it online or in person, and have time to practice. Demonstrate how to hand the clipboard over and quickly get it into their hands. Be upbeat, positive, communicate a can-do attitude, and recognize contributions and efforts, large and small.
- Common responses: “I don’t know, I am a volunteer, what I know is we need better service and that takes funding, so help me out and sign on.”
- Lead Volunteers: These are volunteers with some experience who can coordinate a local team to schedule shifts at a Trader Joe’s or farmers market. This is especially helpful when managing “far-flung sites.” Then you coach and support the lead, and they manage the site.
- Move Coalition Members Into action: Signature gathering is a team sport. Get members of the coalition to agree to collect a number of signatures, and work with them to create a signature gathering plan that engages their members.
- Reward and Recognize: This is an important part of being a supporting volunteer, and it can take many forms.
- A thermometer that tracks the team’s numbers
- Shoutouts: for high numbers, for a first-time effort, for being a lead volunteer and holding down a site, for a coalition partner that is at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of their goals.
- An electronic newsletter weekly (Fridays) that gives an insider viewpoint and includes shoutouts, photos, a list of the 50 top signature gatherers with their numbers, etc.
- Handing out bumper stickers, posters, T-shirts (if you have them)
- Embracing the corny
- If you are onsite, snacks, pizza, water (always welcome)
- Tracking and Verification: Create Efficient Systems
- Process all new volunteers daily: all those in the database, materials sent, etc.
- Weekly Tracking
- Name, phone, email of volunteer (on a spreadsheet) that has petitions (all coming from the main address). This is for follow-up of # of weekly signatures. Signed by the signature gatherer.
- Weekly total of number gathered by signature gatherer. (Check to see if the signature is legible and that Daffy Duck isn’t listed.) If it isn’t done, it goes into a problem box and is sent back to the petition gatherer.
- Top 50 gatherers
- Send out for validation. Spot-check 10-15%.
- Process all completed petitions weekly and store them in a safe place off-site.
- Establish verification systems to ensure the validity rate is on track.
