NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — When DoSomething.org, the largest organization exclusively for young people and social change, launched its non-partisan 2020 voter registration campaign in January, entitled “Our 2020 Vision,” it was with the goal of registering 250,000 young people to vote by the November 3 election. That goal was exceeded, with the organization announcing they registered 255,991 voters ahead of the election this year, and additional registrations continuing post-election.
“Our organization and our members have done a truly incredible job overcoming COVID-19 challenges and not just meeting, but exceeding, our youth voter registration goal. And we did it weeks ahead of schedule,” says Carrie Bloxson, Chief Marketing Officer of DoSomething.org. “Young voters were anticipated to have a massive impact on this historic election, even during a global pandemic. Young people won’t be stopped, and neither will we. DoSomething is proud to be activating this generation to unleash their power at the polls.”
As part of its pivot strategy during COVID-19, DoSomething relied solely on an online strategy to achieve their goal, ramping up its voter registration efforts beyond SMS, email, and online advertising, to include new initiatives to make registering to vote easier for young people to engage in virtually, such an absentee ballot request tool powered by BallotReady, and an Online Voter Registration Drive (OVRD) tool, a unique tool developed by DoSomething and powered by Rock the Vote. DoSomething then forged partnerships with organizations like the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Rhode Island Department of Education, which promoted these tools to their own communities to help register students to vote at scale.
Multiple touchpoints were also added throughout the DoSomething.org website and user experience to ensure young people had ample opportunities to register to vote and/or check their registration status throughout the year, including a voter registration button that was added to the organization’s popular voting quiz, other voting-related initiatives and content, and the organization’s “Disrupt Racism” campaign page. Additional touch points included homepage pop-up notifications and banner reminders at the top of other webpages. Cumulatively, these on-site and user experience efforts accounted for just over 41% of DoSomething’s total voter registrations.
The organization was also successful in reaching new Gen Z audiences for voter registration with the help of marketing partners like Marie Claire, and celebrities and influencers like actress Madison Pettis and actor Luke Mullen. Through custom branded online voter registration pages and SMS keywords supplied by DoSomething, each partner and influencer was able to encourage their fans, followers, and audiences to register to vote with personal, authentic messages.
“We are so proud of our partnership with DoSomething and what we accomplished together,” said Sally Holmes, Editor-in-Chief of Marie Claire. “Marie Claire is all about empowering the next generation of leaders, and what better way to do that than to arm them with the power to choose their elected officials and vote on the policies that will shape all of our futures.”
As election day neared, DoSomething’s voter registration efforts pivoted to Get Out the Vote (GOTV) initiatives aiming to increase youth-voter turnout. In 2018, for the midterm elections, DoSomething’s youth voter turnout at the polls was nearly 1.5x higher than the national average for youth voters of the general population.
DoSomething was able to achieve its 2020 voter registration goal and GOTV efforts thanks to the financial support of Craig Newmark Philanthropies, which ensured that all young people, regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, income, location, or political affiliation, had the opportunity to make their voices heard by participating in the political process.
About DoSomething.org
DoSomething.org is the largest organization exclusively for young people and social change. We’re activating millions of young people to do good in every US area code and in 131 countries. Using our digital platform, members join DoSomething’s volunteer and civic action campaigns to make offline impact at scale. Our members have clothed half of America’s homeless youth. They’ve cleaned up 3.7 million cigarette butts. They’ve run the world’s largest youth-led sports equipment drive. And more! Young people have the power and the passion to transform their communities — we help them get it done. Let’s Do This!
About Craig Newmark Philanthropies
Craig Newmark Philanthropies was created by craigslist founder Craig Newmark to support and connect people and drive broad civic engagement. It works to advance grassroots organizations that are getting stuff done in areas that include trustworthy journalism & the information ecosystem, voter protection, gender diversity in technology, and veterans & military families. For more information, please visit: CraigNewmarkPhilanthropies.org.
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