Press Releases
Grassroots Enterprise launches
“PhoneTheVote” Virtual Phone Bank;
Activists can now “mobile-ize” the vote with iPhones, Treos, Blackberries, Skype, etc.
Contact:Bill McIntyre, 202-741-3719
Bill.McIntyre@grassroots.com
(WASHINGTON, D.C., November 8, 2007) - Grassroots Enterprise (GRE), a high-tech communications firm specializing in building grassroots support for causes, products and companies, today announced the launch of “Grassroots Multiplier® PhoneTheVote,” a technology offering that enables organizations to empower trusted supporters to call and lobby voters from their mobile phones or laptops.
(For more information, see www.Grassroots.com/PhoneTheVote/)
"With Grassroots Multiplier PhoneTheVote, we are taking the traditional phone bank into the web 2.0 generation,” said Bill McIntyre, Executive Vice President with the firm and the former chief national spokesman for the NRA. "Why have a few dozen volunteers crowded into a dingy office when you can have a few thousand making calls from the comfort of their own homes, on their own time and with their own dimes? And why not let them use their mobile phones to call voters from bus stops, train stops, or any other down time? With Grassroots Multiplier® PhoneTheVote, we’re turning idle time into activism time.”
The product represents the next generation of the firm’s earlier ground-breaking offering, TeleFriend, which won the coveted “Gold Pollie” award for both “best use of website for volunteer/field organization” and “best live outbound phone calls for issue advocacy 527 group.” It builds on other virtual phone banks by adding in robust capabilities for “mobile-izing” the vote using mobile phones.
“If your organization has trusted volunteers who should help get-out-the-vote this election season then you’d really have to be a mouth-breather to ignore this system,” said John Hlinko, President and CEO of Grassroots Enterprise and one of MoveOn.org’s early leaders. “Surely, you’re not a mouth-breather… right?”
The firm will offer multiple versions of the program, with the standard service available for as little as $8,500, and launchable within days -- significantly less time and expense than the typical “build it yourself” approach.
How It Works
The Grassroots Multiplier® PhoneTheVote program creates an online phone bank that enables clients to identify targeted volunteers or members, and empower them to make calls to targets to “get out the vote” or mobilize them in some other capacity. It puts the following capabilities in their hands to drive authentic, grassroots telephone outreach from the comfort of their own home or by using their mobile phones (ex: iPhones, Blackberries, Treos, other mobile devices with Internet access):
- Access customized scripts and call sheets of targeted voters
- Choose targets on the basis of gender, language, location or all sorts of profile information
- Customize scripts accordingly, based on those choices
- Make outreach calls
- Enter feedback, information and responses
All this information is updated in real time, via the use of the Grassroots Multiplier® backend system.
The Grassroots Multiplier® PhoneTheVote program includes robust options for standard and custom fields that enable their volunteers to provide feedback from calls, communicate with other volunteers via a blog-based community, and process fulfillment requests and donations.
For example, voter call lists and scripts can be customized for each volunteer segment and can be read from the computer screen. Volunteers can enter feedback on completed calls and report on requests for more information, absentee ballot requests, or additional activities. The system enables volunteer coordinators to organize "phone-bank parties" where groups of people could gather at a house or coffee shop to make voter education calls. All feedback submitted from volunteers is compiled into a central database.
(For more information, see www.Grassroots.com/PhoneTheVote/)
About Grassroots Enterprise
Grassroots Enterprise is a leading communications firm that specializes in merging cutting-edge online technology with high-impact communications strategies to help build grassroots support for causes, products, and companies. The firm’s programs help clients recruit potential customers and stakeholders, engage them and mobilize them on our clients’ behalf.
Our clients include a diverse mix of Fortune 1000 corporations, trade associations and non-profit and political organizations. Working closely with their executive leadership and senior communications personnel, we implement groundbreaking programs that deliver substantial results with a tangible, measurable return on investment.
Our team includes Senior Advisor Reid Hoffman, Founder and Chairman of LinkedIn, Senior Advisor Mike McCurry, former White House press secretary, as well as Senior Advisor Randy Tate, former Congressman and Executive Director of the Christian Coalition. Other members include senior professionals who have helped lead some of the most successful grassroots efforts in American history, ranging from MoveOn.org to the National Rifle Association.
Grassroots Enterprise, Inc. has offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Toronto.
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In 2004, a GRE campaign to pressure the Canadian federal government to fairly share revenue from off-shore oil drilling with the province of Newfoundland and Labrador resulted in a landmark agreement and became the most effective online movement in Canadian history.
