Let’s ‘Do Something’! Campaign at First Parish in Concord

The 2024 election was the most important election we have had in our lifetimes. In spite of our best efforts that exceeded our goals, our democracy is teetering on the brink. The goals that we achieved will help us grow even stronger as we face this challenge of saving our democracy together with millions of others.

Overall Campaign Goals

Do our part to support and build a multi-racial democracy
Get out as many people to vote as we can, particularly in swing states
Become a 2024 Good Trouble Congregation
Build community
Build relationships with our partners
Spread hope and joy

Our Good Trouble Congregation Goals and Results

We are very pleased to announce that we achieved the goals needed to be a Good Trouble Congregation!

The UUA has a program that encourages congregations to set aggressive goals to help get out the vote. First Parish in Concord has set the following goals and achieved the following results for this campaign.

Based on our membership (556), our Organizing goals and results are (meet 2):

Turn out 28 members at a partner public action / witness (5%)

– well over 30 members attended Concord Indivisible actions

Turn out 56 members at a UUTV political education event (10%)

– approximately 100 members attended the Democracy Festival in June

Reclaim Our Democracy table at 3+ public events

– we had tables at three different public events

2+ people are poll workers or poll monitors

– 14 of our members volunteered to be poll workers

112 members volunteer in First Parish Let’s ‘Do Something’! campaign (20% volunteer engagement)

– 131 members and friends participated in our campaign

Based on our membership (556), our Voter Contact goals and results are (meet 2): [results as of 11/06/2024]

Send 11,120 postcards or letters (20 / member)

– we sent more than 9000 postcards and letters

Send 111,200 text messages (200 / member)

– we sent more than 148,000 text messages

Make 11,120 phone calls (20 / member)

– we made over 20,000 calls

Connect with 11,120 friends, relatives or family members and encourage them to vote (20 / member)

– we connected with more than 1400 friends, relatives and others

Activities and Events

Here is a link to the final First Parish Upcoming Activities List.

We ask that you do one final report of any unreported postcards sent, texts sent, calls made, and so forth using our reporting form: https://forms.gle/EgG1J2oV3bQSZLhD6. Postcards, texts and calls you have already made this year, or were done with other organizations, all count in our totals. Be sure to add them on the reporting form if you haven’t already.

The campaign has utilized resources from the Reclaim Our Democracy team, the UU the Vote program, the UUSJ Democracy Action Team, Concord Indivisible, and many other national pro-democracy groups.

Useful Resources

We kicked off our First Parish Let’s ‘Do Something’! campaign on Wednesday, September 4th, 2024, with a gathering in the Parish Hall hosted by the Reclaim Our Democracy team, and led by our Lead Minister Rev. Jennifer Johnson, accompanied by Director of Music Ministry Beth Norton, Leader of the Reclaim Our Democracy team Fred Van Deusen, and Minister of Religious Education Amy Freedman. Videos of the event are included in the Resources section below.

You are encouraged to watch Rev. Jennifer’s 5 minute talk to introduce the event. She brings our hope and our faith into connection with our politics. “Our faith tradition was born out of the same liberating vision that gave rise to American democracy.” “We give shape to our desired world through our politics.” In Senator Rev. Rafael Warnock’s words, “A vote is kind of prayer for the world we desire.” We can make hope real in our world!

Kickoff Event Video of Rev. Jennifer Johnson’s Presentation

Kickoff Event Video of Fred Van Deusen’s Presentation

Campaign Kickoff Event Presentation Slides

Tips for Talking With Voters from the National Voter Registration Day organization

Voter Registration Sheets Created by First Parish RE: