So you've lost your mind and are running for public office... Congratulations!!! I'm glad that you want to make America a better place. I'm politically active too and I want to make a difference, just like you.
Several years ago I ran for elected office. Recognizing the importance of calling potential voters and reminding them when to vote (and who to vote for!), I wrote this program (FONEBANK). It helped me keep track of who was called and what their response was; it can do the same for you.
You probably have flyers and yard signs, but what about a phone bank. The phone bank is really one of the most important parts of a successful political campaign. All the major parties have sophisticated set ups for running a phone bank; I know because I've worked at them.
Consider the advantages to running a phone bank: get your message out, direct interaction with voters, extremely low cost, creates a "campaign headquarters" atmosphere for your volunteers, and it is actually fun!
Does the task seem daunting? Its not that hard, especially with a little software to help. FONEBANK is a Q-BASIC program that is used to run a phone bank for a small political campaign. Its relatively easy to set up and use, and the price is right too!
The basic phone bank operation has a few steps. Each caller must:
These are the basic steps in FONEBANK. Additionally the program will print mailing labels and call sheets; selected based on the current status of the completed call.
FONEBANK can help you run a more organized (and hopefully more successful) campaign. The rest is up to you, the candidate.
Needless to say you need a list of people to call. This is obtained from a data broker, usually at a cost of about $0.10 to $0.25 per record. This is your big cost, and really not much compared to yard signs. I recommend that you only get records of people likely to vote, such as those who vote in school board or city council elections.
If they voted in any primaries, get this information also. This is valuable information because it indicates party preference. For mail-outs or when calling, you may wish to tailor your message to the voter.
Also, have your list "householded" - that is, one entry per house hold. Don't have multiple records with the same address and phone number - you'll be wasting your money.
The format of the data is important. FONEBANK expects a fixed format record with the following information in these specific columns:
columns description example
--------- --------------------------- ----------------------------------
1 - 40 household name Mark Herkommer
41 - 80 street address 3 Briarcrest Court
81 - 120 city Richardson, TX 75081
121 - 160 precinct 1301
161 - 200 telephone (may be blank) 2144943364
201 - 240 voting history R
241 - 280 DCM control number 27375478
Once you have your data file, you're ready to get started. Load (unzip) all of the files into a local directory on a computer where you or your staff will be calling from.
Next you will need to prepare your message. This is what your staff will read to the voter. There are 5 possible messages contained in the files MESSAGE.0, MESSAGE.1, MESSAGE.2, MESSAGE.3, and MESSAGE.4. Each file should not contain more than 14 lines of text or the screen will scroll. Also, do not exceed 79 characters per line.
MESSAGE.0 is what comes up first when a new number is show - this should be your basic message. 1, 2, 3, and 4 are used for issues that are important to your voters. I used 1, 2, and 3 for issues and 4 for my "candidate profile".
Once you have your phone list and your messages written out, you're ready to meet Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public.
Start FONEBANK by typing in a DOS prompt:
C> fonebank
After the banner page is the Main Menu:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FONEBANK =====================================================================
FONEBANK Main Menu
O open a phone list
D dial numbers from the current phone list
L list names from the current phone list
M make a mailing labels from the current phone list
P set program preferences
S display current phone list statistics
Q Quit FONEBANK program
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Open a phone list by selecting option "O". FONEBANK expects all phone lists to end with a FON extension. A sample data file is included with the program. Type in the file name at the prompt:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FONEBANK ===================================================================== Phone List Files Available in Directory: C:\ELECTION RICHCITY.FON RISD1 .FON RISD2 .FON RISD3 .FON RISD .FON RISD4 .FON FONELIST.FON RISD5 .FON RISD6 .FON 476577792 Bytes free Enter the name of the file to open: fonelist.fon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The phone list is now open and can be dialed from, lists created, and mailing labels printed.
Once the file is open, you will be returned to the Main Menu. Next, select "D" to dial numbers from the current list.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FONEBANK =================================================== open:FONELIST.FON
FONEBANK Main Menu
O open a phone list
D dial numbers from the current phone list
L list names from the current phone list
M make a mailing labels from the current phone list
P set program preferences
S display current phone list statistics
Q Quit FONEBANK program
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may elect to dial new numbers or previously dialed numbers.
If you select "N" for new numbers, you will get this screen. Of course your message will be different from mine:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FONEBANK =================================================== open:FONELIST.FON Calling : (972) 555-1212 Name : Happy Camper Address : 7000 Winterwood City : Dallas, TX 75248 Voting history : Precinct : 1103 Hello, My name is ______________. I'm calling on behalf of Mark Herkommer, Candidate for Ricardson Independent School District Trustee, Place 2. Mark wants to provide greater oversight of our district's expenses especially in the area of technology. He has a Master's Degree in Mathematics from UTD and owns a software company based in west Richardson. Mark has lived in the RISD since 1979 and has three children in RISD schools. He is committed to improving the quality of RISD schools. Mark is a stong advocate for neighborhood schools. He has worked with the District as a Key Communicator since 1994. Early voting started on April 14th at Lake Highlands Junior High and at the RISD administration building. Mark Herkommer would appreciate your support in the election. F=favorable³Y=yard sign³U=unfavorable³M=message only³X=bad number³ S=Skip³Q=Quit³0=Intro³1=Issue#1³2=Issue#2³3=Issue#3³4=Profile³ 10 / 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The caller must actually dial the number on the phone. At this time FONEBANK does not call out for you, although future versions may have this feature added. Once the person answers the message is enthusiastically read.
During the call if the voter asks about any issue, the caller should press 1, 2, 3, or 4 and the special message read. Often the voter will ask for personal information about the candidate - this is where the profile is useful.
After the call, if the response is favorable, the caller should press "F". If the person agreed to a yard sign, press "Y". From time to time you will call a wierdo who is supporting your opponent; in that case press "U" for unfavorable. If you get an answering machine, by all means leave your message, then press "M". Bad numbers should be marked with an "X". Indicate a busy signal using "S" (skipped) so you can come back to it later.
When you are done calling for the day, press "Q" or
Creating Call Lists
It is sometimes useful to print out a list of people called. To create a call
list, select "L" from the Main Menu:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FONEBANK =================================================== open:FONELIST.FON
FONEBANK Main Menu
O open a phone list
D dial numbers from the current phone list
L list names from the current phone list
M make a mailing labels from the current phone list
P set program preferences
S display current phone list statistics
Q Quit FONEBANK program
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enter an output filename and select the record types to print. When the extraction is finished you will be returned to the Main Menu.
You may need call lists in order to give a list to your person delivering yard signs. Also, some people calling for you may not have a computer, so print them out a list and have them enter the codes after they call. You can then go in and update the database.
The format of the list created is:
_F_ (972) 555-1210 Bill 1600 Pen... _Y_ (972) 555-1211 Hillary 1600 Pen... _U_ (972) 555-1212 Al & Tipper 2619 Pen... _M_ (972) 555-1213 Paul 3708 Tow... _F_ (972) 555-1214 Janet 4707 Tow... _F_ (972) 555-1215 George 5706 Hil... _Y_ (972) 555-1216 Cokie 6705 Hun... ___ ______________ Happy 7704 Lea... _Y_ (972) 555-1217 Timely 8703 Rou... ___ (972) 555-1218 Sneezy 8802 Win...
The current status is indicated in the first column.
Mailing labels are another important function of your phone list. After you call people its a good idea to follow up with a mailing. Select "M" from the Main Menu.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FONEBANK =================================================== open:FONELIST.FON
FONEBANK Main Menu
O open a phone list
D dial numbers from the current phone list
L list names from the current phone list
M make a mailing labels from the current phone list
P set program preferences
S display current phone list statistics
Q Quit FONEBANK program
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enter an output filename and select the record types to print. When the extraction is finished you will be returned to the Main Menu.
The mailing labels are printed three up. They are intended to be printed at 6 lines per inch, 30 labels per printed page, on a laser printer. Example output looks like:
Bill Hillary Al & Tipper 1600 Pennsylvania 1600 Pennsylvania 2619 Pennsylvania Dallas, TX 75248 Dallas, TX 75248 Dallas, TX 75248 ...
FONEBANK currently does not have any preferences to set.
You can check the statistics on any open phone list by pressing "S" on the Main Menu:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FONEBANK =================================================== open:FONELIST.FON
FONEBANK Main Menu
O open a phone list
D dial numbers from the current phone list
L list names from the current phone list
M make a mailing labels from the current phone list
P set program preferences
S display current phone list statistics
Q Quit FONEBANK program
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This will bring up a display:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FONEBANK =================================================== open:FONELIST.FON Total number of names in the phone/mail list file: 10 Current list statistics ------------------------------------------ Total calls attempted : 9 Talked with person - favorable : 3 Talked with person - yard sign : 3 Talked with person - unfavorable : 1 Left message only : 1 Disconnected (bad number) : 0 Need to retry later (skipped) : 0 No number in data file : 1 Not tried yet : 1 Press any key to continue... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This program is all I can do to help your compaign. Please leave my copyright notices intact. I worked hard on this program and if there is any credit to be gleaned, I would like to receive at least that much for my trouble. If you like the program, please let me know. If I can improve it somehow, tell me that too.