Webinar Recap – Center for Campaign Innovation
In an age where traditional voter contact strategies like phone calls, texts, and canvassing are hitting serious roadblocks, the Center for Campaign Innovation is exploring powerful new tactics to break through. In our latest webinar, Executive Director Eric Wilson was joined by guest speaker Will Long, Founder & CEO of Numinar, to unpack the findings from a groundbreaking field test on relational organizing — a method long embraced by the Left, now proving effective for conservative campaigns as well.
What Is Relational Organizing?
Relational organizing modernizes an age-old truth: people trust people they know. Rather than relying solely on campaign-generated outreach, this strategy leverages personal relationships — friends texting friends, family encouraging family — to motivate voters.
What’s new is the tech. Platforms like Numinar and Buzz360 allow volunteers to sync their phone contacts with the voter file, identify target voters, and send personalized messages that are far more likely to be seen — and acted upon — than anonymous campaign messages.
Why It Matters More Than Ever
As Eric Wilson highlighted, the traditional tools of voter contact are becoming less effective:
- Landline usage has dropped from 40% in 2020 to just 26% in 2024.
- Voters increasingly block campaign calls and texts — especially donors, 1 in 3 of whom use spam-blocking apps.
- Canvassing is harder in an age of doorbell cameras and “no solicitation” signs.
Relational organizing circumvents these obstacles by connecting voters through their existing relationships — and the results speak volumes.
Field Test Results: Florida
To evaluate the impact of this tactic among conservative voters, the Center for Campaign Innovation partnered with Numinar to run a field test in Florida targeting low-propensity voters. Volunteers were recruited via text and offered up to $500 to send personal messages to their contacts encouraging them to vote.
What They Found:
- 1,738 messages were sent by 101 volunteers using the Numinar platform.
- Recipients were 8.6 percentage points more likely to vote than those in the control group — a dramatic increase.
- A similar test in Arizona yielded a 7.8% turnout lift, confirming the scalability of this approach.
In political outreach, a 1–2% increase is notable. This was a breakthrough.
Why It Worked
- Trusted messengers: Texts came from personal contacts, not unknown numbers.
- Scalable incentives: Paying volunteers made outreach accessible to a broader audience.
- Efficient targeting: Volunteers only contacted eligible, low-propensity voters matched from their phonebooks.
- New data streams: Campaigns now gain insights into who knows whom, building a powerful “social graph” for future outreach.
What This Means for Campaigns
- This works for conservatives. The test confirmed that voters respond positively to relational outreach, debunking skepticism that the tactic only works for progressive campaigns.
- Incentives matter. Paying volunteers (even modestly) dramatically expanded reach and engagement.
- Scale is possible. With the right tools and support, relational organizing can be rolled out across states and scaled to impact elections.
- It’s a data goldmine. The relational “social graph” created by syncing contacts offers future campaigns insight into how voters are connected — a potential game-changer for grassroots efforts.
Looking Ahead
As Will Long shared, Numinar makes it easy for campaigns to launch relational organizing efforts — whether through volunteers or with paid incentives. The platform handles voter matching, messaging templates, quality assurance, and even gift card payouts, all while protecting personal data.
Visit campaigninnovation.org to read the full report.
Explore numinar.com to book a demo or get started.
“This isn’t just a new tactic — it’s a return to what works, powered by technology.” — Eric Wilson, Executive Director, Center for Campaign Innovation
