Checklist for Hosting a Text Bank

Hey there!

I recently found out about an awesome activist group called Movement Labs. They support progressive candidates and local and national activist organizations through peer-to-peer texting; they help with voter registration, invite people to events and protests, recruit people to run for local office, and help motivate people to go the polls.

Peer-to-peer texting is incredibly impactful, easy, and fast—you can message 300 people in just 15 minutes. I’m hosting a virtual texting party where we can get together and volunteer for Resistance Labs by texting together!

Please join me {TIME OF EVENT} on {DATE OF EVENT} at {LOCATION OF EVENT}.

I’m really excited about this opportunity to get involved and hope you can join. I’ll share more information closer to the event with details about what we’ll need!

Best,

{YOUR NAME}

Hey there,

Thanks for RSVPing to the texting party! I’m excited to volunteer together for this important cause.

A few small asks before you arrive:

• Look up Movement Labs. You’re welcome to do the self-guided training before, but we’ll also go over it in person together.
• Sign up for a Spoke account. This is the platform we’ll be using to send texts.

As a reminder, we’ll meet on {DATE OF EVENT} at {TIME OF EVENT} at {LOCATION OF EVENT}.

If you have any questions before, just let me know. Looking forward to seeing you and working together!
Best,

{YOUR NAME}

Hi friends,

Thanks so much for coming out this week to join our texting party with Resistance Labs! You made a great impact texting for {CAMPAIGN NAME}, and I hope that you had fun.

As a quick reminder, some folks may still be replying to texts over the next week so please keep an eye on Spoke to follow up with any new messages.

If you’re interested in continuing to volunteer, please keep it up! You can text whenever you want (like when you’re waiting in line at the grocery store), or do your own texting party.

Also make sure to like the Resistance Labs Facebook page and join the Facebook and Slack communities if you haven’t yet.

Thanks again for joining to help make a difference, and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Best,
{YOUR NAME}

• With any technical issues, ask questions within Slack in the #questions channel or reach out to any staff members or interns who helped you organize the text bank.
• Create an open dialogue about the process so that volunteers feel comfortable asking you questions, whether about the campaign or specific issues like tagging, as they get started.
• Share the Spoke link and campaign instructions for the campaign you’re texting from, but encourage folks to join the Slack and/or Facebook group as well so that they can stay up to date in the future.