Phonebank with UUJO – UU Justice Ohio

UUs in Ohio and UU Justice Ohio (UUJO—our state action network) have been partnering with the Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC) https://www.ohorganizing.org/ – a coalition of front line community organizations working for justice and electoral justice here in our communities.

Now we are coming down the homestretch, and asking for UUs from around the country to join us on Thursday, September 17th at 4 pm EST  (that’s 3 pm Central Time for Minnesota/Dakotas) as we call voters across the state leading up to the November election. We will be reaching out to people who get targeted for voter suppression — helping them get what they need to check their registration, register online if needed, and answering questions about voting by mail and early voting.

We will be using ThruTalk to make our calls and will provide training at the phonebank. We recommend that you preview the platform on a YouTube video HERE. And we will be connecting folk to our online voter registration page at OHVOTES.ORG as we talk with them (When possible – See the button marked “Registration with Help.”) 

Once you register for the phonebank, we will send an email with our script and other details you might need.

Phonebanks are an effective way to reach voters–much more so than postcards and letters. The way we do the phonebanks is faithful, fulfilling, and fun. For two hours we gather in as a community on Zoom, we get trained on ThruTalk–the platform for making the calls, we review the script, we hang out on Zoom while we make the calls–where we can share what we’re hearing, ask questions, and get technical support. We gather back in before we end to hear how the calls went for people, we get our results, and close out together.  We use an auto dialer through our computers which only puts us through to people who answer their phones and our own phone numbers aren’t involved. People we call see only a number for Ohio Organizing Collaborative as we are just using our phones for audio. 

Once you have a group of people trained from your congregation at our national phone bank you can all make calls together anytime (just not before 9 am or after 9 pm ET). You’ll want to have at least six people or the dialer will go too slowly between calls–the more people you can gather the quicker it goes and the more people you will reach.

Our front line partners have been dealing with the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on the health and economic conditions for people of color. The Ohio Organizing Collaborative has been working for COVID relief, a halt to evictions, release of prisoners, an end to police violence and more. We UUs can help fill a critical need in electoral organizing in Ohio and help makeour partners by making some calls!

Please join us and invite others from your congregation, your networks, and your family and friends. Sign up HERE. Let’s #VoteLove and #DefeatHate in 2020!

In solidarity,

Rev. Joan VanBecelaere

Executive Director, UU Justice Ohio
Ohio Votes – ohvotes.org