Creating a 2004 School Plan – A Manual

Be Creative in Collecting Voting Pledges

The Leadership Team should go to its state page on the web site and download both the Take Ten Form and the Introductory Card – and then have them copied at school or get a local business to donate printing enough copies for everyone in school.

Every time a voter pledges to vote, his/her name is filled out on the Take Ten form together with either an email address or phone number for an Election Eve reminder. Once the form is filled out the student gives a copy to the Pledge Counter (but holds on to the original so that the Election Eve reminders can go out). The sooner you start the more pledges your school can collect and report.

There is only one unbreakable rule in asking for a voter pledge: As part of Freedom’s Answer, no student should ever ask anyone to vote for a specific party or candidate. You might ask the adults to vote to honor those who lost their life on 9/11 – or to honor servicemen and women overseas today serving our country – or to honor all who have ever risked their lives for our country’s freedom. Or those too young to vote might simply ask those who can to vote for them.

There are lots of different ways to collect ten or more voting pledges on the forms:

• Take Ten at Home: Ask your parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, favorite aunts and uncles and your neighbors, right and left.
  
• Adopt a Block: In communities where you have both your parents andprincipal’s permission, you might go door-to-door, introduce yourself and the program (use the Intro card) and ask for pledges on the Take Ten form.
  
• Friday Night Football: Use your home games to collect pledges from all adults in attendance. You might even challenge your rival to do the same – and make a contest out of it. In fact, why not challenge every school in your athletic league to a competition to see who can collect the most pledges?
  
• Go where the crowds are: In teams of two or more, and only with the advance knowledge and approval of the managers of the event, show up with forms at community functions, rallies, baseball games, athletic events. At supermarkets and malls, be sure to offer to hold their packages as they sign.
  
• Visit Senior Citizen Centers and Veterans’ Homes: They will be excited to see you and proud of what you are doing. And they will sign up immediately.
  
• Adopt a business: Ask a local business with an office or plant if you can visit at a set time on a set date to collect voting pledges from employees.
  
• E-mail: Download the Freedom’s Answer email postcard (coming soon!) and send it to everyone you know and ask them to “Pass-It-On” to everyone they know.
  
• Word of Mouth: Tell everyone you know that all they have to do to pledge to vote is go to www.FreedomsAnswer.net and click on Pledge-to-Vote.

For every effort (except with your own family) fill out the Introductory Card and hand it out so those you ask to pledge know what Freedom’s Answer is.

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