Relational Organizing 101
We have everything you need to become a pro at relational organizing!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is relational organizing?
Relational organizing is just the simple, proven concept that people talking to their own friends and family is much more effective than strangers talking to strangers.
You know your friends and family best, and they already trust you. You—literally you!—are the best person to reach them and convince them to vote this year (and to vote for Democrats!).
How effective is relational organizing?
Relational organizing is the highest impact thing you can do between now and November 3rd to help Democrats win.
A conversation between people who know each other is nearly three times more impactful than a conversation between strangers. That’s huge! Relational outreach—you talking to your own friends and family—is also much more efficient than strangers knocking on doors and making phone calls. If you were to call 100 strangers right now, 2 or 3 of them might answer the phone. But if you call your 5 closest friends, they’ll probably all pick up.
That’s why we’re asking you to talk to the people in your life. You might be the only person that actually reaches them before Election Day and convinces them to vote, and vote for Democrats.
How to Reach Your People
Step 1: Map your network
We’re asking every single person to talk to 50 friends and family between now and November 3rd. If you can only reach 30, that’s fine – and if you can go much higher (100? 200?) that’s great!
Not sure where to start? Here are some prompts to help you think through who you know:
- Who are your friends? Who are your family members?
- Who are the last 20 people you’ve texted or called?
- Who are your coworkers that you consider friends?
- Who do you typically talk about politics with now, if anyone?
- Do you know anyone who has moved recently and may need to update their voter registration?
- Are you a part of any in-person groups, like church groups, sports teams or clubs, or a PTA?
- What online groups are you a part of, like a college alumni network, Facebook groups, Nextdoor communities, Discord channels? Who do you talk to there?
- For students, what groups (even housing communities), clubs, or teams are you a part of on campus?
- If you post or share about politics online, is there anyone who often likes and comments on your posts?
It’s not enough to just post on social media, but it can be a good place to start organizing. Anyone who likes and comments on your posts is a great person to add to your network and reach out to.
We want every eligible voter to cast their ballot this year, which is why it’s so important for you to talk to EVERYONE you know, regardless of where you live. But to help Democrats take back Congress, we especially want you to think about who you know in battleground states and congressional districts. For instance, do you know someone who lives in Michigan, Maine, or western Montana?!
Step 2: Plan Your Asks
Once you’ve mapped your network, think about what you should ask each person in your life to do. You’re officially responsible for getting all these people to vote and to vote for Democrats!
Here’s a guide on talking to the different people in your life:
- For your friends and family who are definitely voting for Democrats, you should ask them to vote early in-person, if they’re able to. Voting early in-person drastically increases the likelihood that someone votes—and it also helps campaigns and organizations focus their resources in the final days trying to reach non-reliable voters. Once your friends and family have voted, you can train them how to talk to their friends and family!
- For your friends who might not vote in every election, you should make sure they’re registered to vote, and make sure they vote in this election—again, ideally early or by mail, where available. You should also make a plan with them for how they’re going to vote: when are they going? What time of day? Who are they bringing with them? Data shows that increases the likelihood that someone votes.
- For your friends who might not always support Democrats, talk to them about the stakes of the elections this year. If it’s helpful, don’t just broadly talk about the Democratic Party or the Republican Party – instead, talk specifically about the candidates that are on their ballots.
- For people who aren’t registered to vote (like maybe they recently moved!), they should be asked to register to vote, and then asked to vote (early or by mail where available) and vote for Democrats.
And don’t by shy—you can ask people to do more than one thing! You might ask your best friend to vote early with you and then train her how to talk to her friends and family about the elections this year. Or go knock doors together for your local House candidate, donate to a campaign, etc.!
Talking to your friends and family about politics might seem scary. Here are some best practices for you:
- Be personal. Your friends and family will care about the things you care about, because they care about you. Talk about the stakes of the election from a personal perspective. People can’t argue with how you feel!
- Talk to them like you normally do. You don’t have to sound like a campaign ad (and it’s often more effective if you don’t sound like a campaign ad!). You can also talk to them whatever way you want, and whatever way is normal for your relationship: texting, calling, FaceTiming, grabbing dinner, going on a walk, talking to them at school pick-up, whatever you want.
- If it helps, approach them like you’re a resource. To open the conversation, maybe say something like “I’ve been doing a ton of research about these elections, and I’m happy to talk to you about your ballot. I’m here if you have any questions!”
- We know these are your real relationships. If you really don’t want to talk to someone you know, we get it. You should also know that you might get let down by your people. It’s hard when our friends and family don’t vote, or if they vote for Republicans. But these conversations are still worth having!
Step 3: Train your friends and family to be relational organizers
You should also make sure your friends and family are talking to their friends and family and making sure they vote this year. You can do this any way you—in-person, over the phone, anywhere, any way.
Here are some best practices:
- Explain to them why you’re asking them to talk to their friends and family. Tell them how effective relational organizing is and that they’re the best person to talk to their friends and family.
- Coach them through mapping their networks. Sit with them as they write down who they know, and talk to them about what ask each person might get.
- Talk to them about important battleground races and who they might know who live in those places. Go state by state: do you know anyone in Alaska? They have three really important races this year. What about Arizona, which has a critical governor’s race? Do your people live in Scottsdale, or Tucson, in critical House districts?
- Give them the same best practices to reach out to their friends and family that you use! Talk to them about being personal and about offering to be a resource to help people fill out their ballots or vote early.
You should specifically think about who in your network might know people who live in battleground states. Who grew up in Georgia and might still have family there? Who went to school in Michigan and might still have college friends they can talk to?
Tips for Talking About Politics
How to Talk About Trump and Republicans
Trump and Republicans are deeply unpopular right now, even among many of the people who voted for him in 2024. We’re all paying more for groceries and gas thanks to his tariffs and war in Iran. Meanwhile, he’s using the presidency to get rich: Donald Trump is $3 billion richer since taking office again.
Many Republicans know that being associated with Trump right now won’t help them, especially with disaffected voters. It’s our job to make sure our friends and family know that the Republicans on the ballot this year won’t stand up to Trump, and will keep him unchecked, making our lives worse.
Here are some tips for how to have conversations with your Republican friends and family:
- Talk about specific candidates. If you have conservatives in your life who are unhappy with Republicans, but they can’t bring themselves to vote Democratic, try talking about specific candidates. Instead of trying to get people to fully cross over party and vote generically “Democrat,” see if they’re open to just considering voting for the non-Republican candidate— especially in states where Independents are on the ballot (like Dan Osborn, running for Senate in Nebraska) or states where the Democratic candidates have rejected party labels or are somewhat moderate (like Rob Sand, running for governor in Iowa).
- Highlight Republican endorsements. You can also point to conservative groups or Republicans who have endorsed Democratic candidates this year: for instance, Adam Hamilton, a Democrat running for Senate in Kansas, was endorsed by former Republican Governor of Kansas Bill Graves!
- Give them options. You can also talk to your conservative and Republican friends about not voting for every office. If they really can’t bring themselves to vote for James Talarico, but also don’t want to vote for Ken Paxton, one option is to leave that part of their ballot blank.
How to talk about Democrats (and Independents)
Some of our friends and family members might be Democrats who are disillusioned with the Democratic Party. Here are tips for how to talk to those folks, and some things to consider:
- Talk about specific candidates. Just as with Republicans, talking about specific Democrats who are on the ballot this year might help with disillusioned friends and family. It’s probably easier to get excited this year about Jon Ossoff, or Josh Turek, or James Talarico than it is to get excited about the Democratic Party.
- Talk about how important it is to place a check on Trump and Republicans. Right now, Republicans control Congress, the White House, and (essentially) the Supreme Court. That means Trump can do almost anything he wants, with very little accountability: he can pass legislation, he can appoint people to his cabinet and to the courts, and he can take executive action that no one can stop. That’s why we need to elect Democrats to Congress to stop his agenda.
- One note here: Democrats won’t be able to fix everything if we control Congress; we’ll just be able to stop Trump from doing anything he wants. As you’re having conversations with your friends and family, it might be helpful to note that, just so that expectations aren’t too high about what Democrats will be able to do. Trump will still be president—we’ll just be able to vote against what he’s doing.
- If there are Independents on your ballot (as there will be in Alaska and Nebraska, as well as other states like Montana, Idaho, and South Dakota), you can talk to your friends and family about why that party choice might help make it easier for that candidate to win. Most Independents have still pledged to caucus with Democrats in Congress, which makes them extremely important. (After all, Bernie Sanders is an Independent.)
- You can also talk about ballot issues, or down ballot candidates. If there are ballot measures on your ballot, or candidates running for local office that you’re excited about, that might also help people get more excited about voting.
See our talking points for specific candidates running in key races across the country!
Next Steps
You’ve gotten to the end of this guide, which means you’re ready to organize your people! You can use these additional resources to help you along the way or sign up for our Club Relational meetings on Tuesdays.
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Relational Worksheet
See which states have important races and map your networks there.
Map My Networks -
2026 Midterms Talking Points
Help share good information about candidates running in your state.
Get Talking Points -
Join Club Relational Meetings
We meet virtually every Tuesday at 1 and 8PM ET!
Sign Up