Case Studies featuring Civitech projects

Below are short explanations of three Civitech case studies. To read more details about the studies below or to view more case studies, visit the Civitech website.

Rust Belt Rising Increases Registered Democratic Voters in Swing States (more info)

In 2020, Civitech and Rust Belt Rising worked together to identify nearly 185,000 unregistered voters in Wisconsin and Michigan, states critical to winning the presidency that also had candidates up and down the ballot. Our efforts resulted in 50,000 voter registrations and roughly 30,000 votes in 2020. In places like Wisconsin — where Joe Biden won the state by about 20,000 votes — adding these new voters to the process was invaluable.

The Results

The combination of efforts led to amazing results. Nearly 50,000 voters registered, and roughly 30,000 voted in 2020. In places like Wisconsin — where Joe Biden won the state by about 20,000 votes — adding these new voters to the process was invaluable. Potential voters within Civitech’s unregistered data are younger and more likely to be women and people of color than the general population. They represent the new American Majority and the people who will be voters for decades.

This program was essential in battleground states where margins were tight and progressive candidates and causes needed help to spur voters into action.

Ohio Reproductive Justice Group Registers Voters for Abortion Ballot Initiative (more info)

The Ohio Women’s Alliance Action Fund shows up for their communities to protect abortion rights and reproductive freedom for all Ohioans. Following two major developments in the abortion rights battle, the organization reached out to Ohio residents using a multi-channel voter registration program. The organization used data, mail, and texting to identify, engage, and register new voters ahead of important elections, as well as educate existing voters on updated voter I.D. laws and updating registrations to expand the Ohio electorate. 

Results

Overall, the programs to register pro-choice voters in Ohio were successful. Ohio's Reproductive Freedom Amendment passed overwhelmingly by 56.6% of voters in November 2023. The work the Ohio Women’s Alliance Action Fund did to register voters helped enshrine protections for a range of reproductive care, including abortion access, in the state constitution. 

The program registered 3,323 people in total, which is an 11.56% registration rate on average, a more efficient process than traditional in-person voter registration. The registration rate was impressive for a non-presidential election year and showed voters' enthusiasm for reproductive rights. 

The overall process was also less resource-intensive for the organization as Civitech handled the design, mailing, follow-up, and analysis for the organization, as well as the text follow-up.

The voter registration program helped emphasize lessons and best practices for voter registration: 

• The more channels we contact potential voters with, the better the results. The combination of mail and text chase helped increase the registration rate for the program
• Registering voters by focusing on a specific, motivating issue (such as abortion rights) helped boost enthusiasm and participation in election years when turnout can trend lower

With a conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court and a split U.S. Congress, state-level abortion protections are a crucial defense against attacks on reproductive rights. 

By the Numbers

Overall

• 28,753 pieces of mail delivered 
• 3,323 people registered (11.56% registration rate)
• 1,303 of those who registered also voted the same year they registered (39.21% average voter turnout across the two years)

Indivisible reaches inactive donors and engages volunteers with TextOut (more info)

Indivisible Action was looking for a tool to communicate with its members easily and mobilize them into action. The group also wanted a convenient way to meet their external and internal goals by reaching activists, donors, and volunteers. Indivisible ran several programs with TextOut by Civitech, and we’ve focused this success story on meeting organizational goals. Indivisible has sent more than 36 million texts using TextOut since 2019, which includes 392 individual programs.

By the Numbers

• For a recent fundraising campaign, Indivisible sent more than 16,000 texts to their audience of 10,000 people and raised $4,000
• Indivisible has engaged 2,800 regular volunteers on texting programs
• Indivisible has sent more than 36 million texts using TextOut since 2019, which includes 392 individual programs

"There's really no other texting platform besides TextOut that would enable us to do the kind of texting we want to do, with dynamic scripts, experimental texting approaches, and volunteer moderation and local group texting that is truly peer-to-peer. TextOut helped us to navigate the many changes of 10DLC registration and is always improving the platform even more with features like power sending. All of it to have rich conversations with voters and our own members that aren't possible any other way! TextOut was essential to moving our voter contact program entirely digital during COVID and helped us win a 2021 Reed Award for Best No-Contact Field Program."

~ Jesse Bacon, Senior Digital Organizing Manager, Indivisible

For more information about other Civitech strategies or tools that may be available in your district, please reach out to sales@civitech.io