Voters pick who represents them on Election Day, but it’s what happens between elections that determines how much trust voters have in democracy and whether they’ll show up to participate next time.
Typically, organizations like ours don’t ask people to volunteer until close to an election. That has to change.
Starting in 2027, Vote Forward will be at the frontlines of creating opportunities for volunteers to engage communities and build trust in democracy between elections.
Vote Forward is launching year-round nonpartisan canvassing, aimed at listening to voters and connecting them with their elected representatives.
Through door-to-door and high-traffic (community events) canvassing, volunteers will:
Have open-ended, deep-listening conversations to learn what’s going on in people’s lives.
Connect people to their elected representatives to solve their challenges.
Help new voters register and understand how to participate in our democracy.
Explain to voters how policies and legislation in Washington help or harm them and their families.
Do the sustained, patient work of changing public opinion on key policy issues.
The information and voter insights gathered in these canvasses will be shared with elected representatives to help them stay in touch with their constituents, respond to community concerns, and inform their leadership and communications.
Volunteers will also help people access and maintain public benefits and services, guiding them through enrollment and renewal so they don’t lose support they’re eligible for. In each jurisdiction, we will train volunteers on the eligibility requirements for a specific benefit (such as SNAP or Medicaid) and volunteers will then do proactive outreach to help people enroll in or maintain their benefits.
Finally, Vote Forward volunteers wrote 850,490 letters in 2026. After the evaluations of our 2026 campaigns are complete, we will resume our long-standing letter-writing programs. As always, these campaigns will build on the learnings of previous years so that we are fielding the most effective tactics to encourage electoral participation.
The Pilots That Informed Our Learnings
In Rep. Pat Ryan’s district (NY-18), our volunteers text-banked and tabled at community resource fairs to help people understand what help and support his constituent services office could provide. In just a few months, we referred 38 constituents to his district office for casework (such as assistance with VA loans, Social Security, and other benefits) and connected 130 people with community resources. We learned that people feeling heard is crucial to developing a sense that their government is working for them.
We developed a new Benefits Connection program. In partnership with the New Mexico Health Care Authority, we helped around 300 people identify exemptions to new federal work requirements so they could retain their SNAP benefits. Too often, people only hear from their government after something has gone wrong: a missed deadline, a rejected form, or a notice that benefits are ending. We set out to change that by training volunteers to reach people proactively, bringing what campaigns do best—outreach at scale and real two-way conversations—to help people access the benefits they deserve.
Next year, we look forward to working with volunteers to strengthen the bonds between people and their government and representatives—making people feel heard through deep conversations with volunteers and informing members of Congress of the reality on the ground.
