100UE Fundee Blog: Voting Works
Founder: Hans Goff
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November 18, 2011: Identifying Target Voters — and Target Consumers
November has been a busy month for Voting Works. On November 6, I attended a fundraiser for the Obama for America (OFA) campaign in New York — a champagne brunch celebrating “One Year Out from Election Day 2012″ with actress Kerry Washington, national field director Jeremy Bird and other national campaign officials. Political fundraisers are great for networking and receiving information and updates from campaign staff.
I had the opportunity to speak with several attendees including Washington (that’s the two of us above), who campaigned for President Obama in key battleground states in 2008. During our conversation, I had the opportunity to describe Voting Works and outline my goals for next year. Washington exemplifies the type of person Voting Works would like to work with in conducting surrogate outreach for elected officials and candidates.
Election Day, meanwhile, was earlier this month, and I participated on a coordinated State Senate and assembly campaign in Legislative District 7 in New Jersey (see a shot of the wall at campaign HQ below). I handed out Voting Works T-shirts to campaign volunteers and called registered voters to remind them to vote. Two out of the three candidates I worked with won, and they all ran incredible campaigns.
All the components of 100 Urban Entrepreneurs’ mentoring program have been extremely helpful in developing Voting Works’ business model. I know I’ll continue to speak to my 100UE mentor once the program is completed, as well as the individuals in my peer group. The program continues to be beneficial for me mainly because it forces me to explain my business and articulate and provide the rationale of my actions.
Voting Works’ target customers include:
- Nonprofits
- National and state political party organizations
- State government agencies
- Political campaigns
- Labor unions
All of these organizations are dispersed throughout the country; probably the most cost-effective way to engage them is through social media. I plan to focus a lot of energy on revamping my Web site and actively conversing with my followers on Twitter and Facebook. I’m also working on a short educational YouTube video about voter disenfranchisement that I will distribute in the next few weeks. •
