project summary

The Hometown Project encourages cultural leaders from all walks of life to return to their hometowns to bring attention to local campaigns and issues important to the community. The Hometown Project connects well known individuals to local candidates with a shared vision, and then facilitates engagement with audiences/voters. The overall goal is to garner an expanded audience so that progressive local candidates can connect with a broader, engaged electorate for the 2018 midterm elections and beyond.

hometown ENERGIZERS

Hometown Energizers are notable cultural leaders, artists, actors or athletes who volunteer their time and energy to help bring attention to local campaigns and issues in their hometown with the goal of increasing civic participation in local communities.

The vision is for Energizers to participate in community events or town hall meetings with local candidates in their hometown and promote on social media as the election nears. Other options for Energizers to engage with campaigns in their hometown include a series of posts on social media or endorsement videos. The Hometown Project team will identify local candidates and facilitate engagement opportunities.

HOW CAN YOU PARTICIPATE

In-person Event in your Hometown district- The Energizer opens a community event by expressing connection to the local community and, by being involved creates greater awareness and garners an expanded audience of voters for the local candidate to share their ideas and platform.
Participate in a Press Phone call- Join a press phone call to help bring attention to the important races you wish to support by engaging in local and national media.
Creation of a Video Endorsement- This can be as simple as a recording on a phone or on set. The Hometown Project will deliver a short script for the Energizers to use in promoting a local candidate. The videos would be used by candidates in their campaign.
Creation of an Audio Endorsement- Energizers might wish to create and record an audio endorsement, to be used by the campaign in a robo-call.
Online / Social Media
- Tweets - a series of timed Tweets, Instagram or Facebook posts supporting local action around candidates. The Hometown Project team can draft/write (or the Energizer can write if they prefer).
- Reshares & Tagging- a series of re-sharing Tweets, Instagram or Facebook posts as originally posted by local organizations or candidates.

The online content and promotion might encapsulate the following:

Supporting the candidates position on a particular issue, or publicizing a promotional piece
Encouraging local voters to register to vote
Encouraging local voters to volunteer
Encouraging local voters to vote!

what next?

If you are interested in being an Energizer for The Hometown Project in the crucial upcoming midterm elections, please send the following information to Peter & Erin so that we can begin finding candidates in your Hometown!

Name

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

Hometown State

Hometown Zipcode

High School Attended

Other local community where you feel your presence could benefit local candidates

Yes, I want to help save our republic!

click any that apply.

I would like to travel back to my hometown and participate digitally through online and social media outlets.

I would like to travel to my hometown to volunteer, but do not wish to engage digitally or on social media.

My schedule is too busy this fall to travel but I'd like to participate digitally through online and social media outlets.

I'm not sure what my fall schedule looks like yet, can we check in again in a few months, closer to the fall?

Since we are focused on general elections (as opposed to primaries) the key time for your involvement most likely will be in August, September, October, and/or early November.

Please provide a few windows of time that may work for you to support candidates in person or digitally in your Hometown. This will help us find and align event dates and candidates’ schedules.

faq

What candidates will I be supporting? Local candidates might include candidates running for school boards, city council, mayoralships, and may also include the state level house and senate races in key flippable districts in swing states.

How are the candidates vetted? All of the candidates we match you with will have been fully vetted and endorsed by one of our leading partners, which currently include Planned Parenthood, People for American Way, RunForSomething, and Everytown.

Can I speak with the candidates to decide if I want to support them? - Yes, You will have the opportunity, if you wish, to speak with or video chat with each candidate that interests you, and if you feel there is a shared vision, we will move forward with logistics of your involvement. Based on our recent work, we feel this initial introduction serves as a key establishing point, and allows you to create a sincere rapport with the candidates. It is also extremely inspiring to speak directly with these young, new progressive leaders in your hometown!

What is the time commitment? - The time commitment is up to you. Our role at The Hometown Project is to make it very easy for you to quickly and easily plug into a campaign and unplug and go back to your daily lives with ease. Your commitment can be as simple as a few supportive social media posts endorsing the candidates, or as much as traveling back to your Hometown to host a town hall or canvassing event in your community.

If you have any thoughts or questions, don't hesitate to reach out. This is our first full campaign season so we welcome your input and suggestions!

Peter Salett and Erin Frederick