Relational Organizing 101

We have everything you need to become a pro at relational organizing!

• Frequently Asked Questions
• How to Reach Your People
• Tips for Talking About Politics
• Next Steps

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 3 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 3. 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?!

• Organize Your People with Rally

  Rally is a website that makes it easy to check in with your people and make sure they vote.

  Go to Rally

• Map Your Networks

  Use our worksheet to see where the most competitive races we’re watching and figure out who to reach out to!

  Map Your Networks

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. If they live in a battleground state or district, we’ve got talking points here for you to use. 

• 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 be 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. On that note, it doesn’t matter if you talk to your people one-on-one or in a group. You know your people best, and you know what will work!

• 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?

If your people are nervous to talk to their people, or don’t think they know enough about the election to be a good messenger, here are some tips: 

• Have people start with an easy conversation, not a hard one. When people are asked to talk to their friends and family, they typically think of the hardest conversation first. Instead, have them start with the easiest conversation: who is someone they already talk about politics with? Practice makes perfect, and easy conversations are a great place to start that practice.

• Have them post on social media! This is another great starting place. They can post something about politics on social media – their Facebook page, a Facebook group, their Instagram or TikTok, on Reddit or in Discord or in their neighborhood Nextdoor group – and then they can follow up with anyone who likes or comments on the post. This is a good way for folks who are nervous to find people they know who might want to talk about the midterm elections. 

• Reassure them that they don’t need to be an expert to be a good messenger. Most of these conversations won’t even touch on policy. People will care about what their friends care about, simply because they care about their friends. Be open, be honest, and be real. And if they get asked a question they don’t know the answer to, that’s okay—they can say “I’ll look it up and get back to you!” Helping with the research might be part of how to convince someone to support Democrats this year, or convincing them to actually vote.

• Use our talking points! We’ve put together a ton of talking points to help you have these conversations, including why people should vote for the Democratic candidate, why people shouldn’t vote for the Republican candidate, and why the race matters. You can find them here!

Tips for Talking About Politics

What are the stakes of this year’s elections? 

Yes, we might not be able to vote Donald Trump out this year—but the 2026 midterm elections have enormous stakes for our country and our democracy.  

Democrats have a shot at retaking the House of Representatives. Every single House of Representatives seat is up for election this year. That means every single eligible voter this year will be voting for their congressperson. We have to take back the House to be able to place a check on Donald Trump and national Republicans so they stop passing bills like the horrific “Big Beautiful Bill” that drive costs up and threaten our access to affordable health care. 

Democrats also have a shot at retaking the Senate, which will place an even stronger check on Trump and Republicans.  If Democrats take the Senate and the HOuse, we can also block Trump from nominating and confirming roles like cabinet members and judges. That’s so important. 

Winning the Senate will also give Democrats more power not just for the next two years, which is how long a House term is, but for the next six. If we win Senate seats in places like Kansas, Iowa, and Texas, those are blue seats for SIX YEARS—which would help give Democrats a governing majority after 2028.

There are also critical governor’s races that Democrats need to win. These races matter for two reasons. First, we need to protect the people who live in these states from Trump and national Republicans. Governors pass laws in their own states—and after Supreme Court cases like Dobbs, abortion rights are now up to the state. And second, governors will be in charge of administering the 2028 elections. We know how critical it is to keep the 2028 elections fair and to protect the results—which is why it’s especially critical that we elect Democratic governors in states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

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. You can use our Ballot Ready tool here so you know exactly what your ballot will look like on Election Day.

See our talking points for specific candidates running in key races across the country!

How to increase the likelihood that your friend votes

Here are some data-backed ways to increase the likelihood that someone actually votes!

• Get them to vote early or by mail: Voting early or by mail isn’t an option in every state, or for every vote—but data shows that when someone votes early or votes by mail, the chances that they vote increase. You can see if it’s an option for your friends in states here—and if it is, help them make a plan to vote early or by mail! 

• Make a plan with them to vote: Data shows that actually making plans to vote with our friends and family also drastically increases the likelihood that they vote. This means asking your friends and family: When are they going to vote? What day? What time of day? How are they going to get there? What are they going to bring with them? When someone has to think through all of that and make a plan, they’re more likely to actually do it.

Use our relational organizing tool, Rally, to make voter plans for your friends and family!

How to get people excited to vote (who might not otherwise be excited to vote!)

We also might know people who live in places that don’t have exciting top-of-ticket races—but it’s so important that every single eligible voter vote this year, and fill out their full ballot. 

Every single vote will count this year. “Wave elections” happen when everyone votes – even people who live in safe Democratic districts, even people who live in safe Republican districts. That’s how we send a message to our elected officials: we are here, we are paying attention, and we are voting. 

Even if someone we know doesn’t have “battleground” Senate, House, or governor races on their ballots, they will still have important races to vote for – including state legislatures (in a few states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Alaska, where control can be flipped from Republican to Democrat!), city council races, and critical ballot measures. 

Next Steps

You’ve gotten to the end of this guide, which means it’s time 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.

• Organize Your People with Rally

  Our new tool makes it easy to reach out to your networks with a voting plan.

  Go to Rally

• Use our Conversation Guide

  Share good information about the specific candidates running in your state.

  Get Talking Points

• Join Club Relational Meetings

  We meet virtually every Tuesday at 1 and 8PM ET!

  Sign Up