Telephone Town Halls

Supporters of the Michigan Ballot Initiative, Proposition 3, were spending the bulk of their media budget targeting voters in the Detroit Metro area, but their message was not reaching many voters outside of this region who would benefit from Proposition 3. Using data based on media markets in the Traverse City-Upper Peninsula Region as well as the Flint-Saginaw region, we targeted voters who have historically faced the most difficulty voting and included them in Telephone Town Halls to discuss how Proposition 3 would make it easier for them to vote. Using the targeted data, both Telephone Town Halls were able to reach more than 28,000 Michigan voters outside of Detroit. In 2018, Michigan voters approved Proposition 3 – Promote the Vote – with more than 1.7 million voters casting ballots in favor of the initiative.

From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March through November 2020, UFCW Local 99, based in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, ran 19 Telephone Town Halls to keep members up-to-date on the latest union news regarding COVID-19 protections, hazard pay, and negotiations with employers. Events ranged from as few as 50 union representatives to more than 20,000 members.

Without the ability to meet in-person, the Local 99 turned to the phone as the best means to communicate with members. During uncertain times and representing thousands of essential workers - from grocery store employees to meat packers to waste management workers - it was critical that they keep in touch with their members to keep them fully informed. At the same time, they were undergoing negotiations with many employers, underscoring just how important it was for them to continually make contact with their members.

The union made sure to make their events as inclusive as possible - running events in the morning and in evenings, in English as well as Spanish. In all, 30,865 members participated in these events. These events proved so successful at reaching their members that the union has continued to use them to discuss their negotiations as recently as March 2026.

Twice a year, the Nature Conservancy runs Telephone Town Halls for two reasons: to keep their members engaged in the work they’re doing and spur members to take action. In March 2020, the Nature Conservancy hosted their annual spring event. In order to pique the interest of members, their guest speaker was their interim CEO and former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell.

Knowing the strong pull Sec. Jewell would have on their members, they called out to a large group of nearly 90,000. The event was hugely successful. Over 11,000 participants who stayed on the line for almost twice the normal duration. Another 168 people pressed 0 to ask Sec. Jewell a question, and over a thousand people committed to taking action of some kind to support the work of the organization. The heavy participation gave the organization an easy way to follow up and ask for donations and for people to take specific actions.

Ahead of the March 17th presidential primaries, the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person events, but the Biden for President campaign still needed a way for their candidate to speak to as many voters as possible. The solution: A Telephone Town Hall targeting voters in Florida, Illinois, and Arizona all at once.

The Biden campaign called out to over 190,000 voters all at once: nearly 40,000 of those voters joined the event and 850 people got in line to ask a question. Over the course of an hour, the then Vice President laid out his vision for the Democratic Party and for beating Donald Trump in November, answering 28 questions from the audience. Biden sounded sharp and was prepared to answer any question that came his way. In response, the audience was captivated, staying on the line for more than a minute longer than average.

Most important: Biden won all three primaries en route to the presidential nomination.

PETA calls out to about 80,000 of their most consistent donors about 6-8 times per year to keep them in the fold, and to fundraise. On average, the organization raises between $10,000 and $30,000 during the Telephone Town Hall itself.

PETA is unique. Not every organization can expect to raise that much money throughout the course of a Telephone Town Hall. But their consistent engagement of supporters through this medium helps to make their supporters feel as though they're part of the movement, rather than someone on the outside. This consistency helps to bring supporters back time and time again. The organization utilizes a few speakers - including Ingrid Newkirk, the leader and founder of PETA - but always someone directly involved with investigations that recently wrapped up.

Throughout the event, they make fundraising asks. And it pays off. During a late October 2020 Telephone Town Hall, a time when many Americans were already inundated with campaign donation requests, PETA managed to raise over $26,000 in just one hour.

And PETA goes beyond the event itself. After Telephone Town Hall, PETA follows up with participants who were on the call for five minutes or more and consistently raise more money, often tens of thousands more in the days after an event.

With the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Representative Nancy Pelosi and her team ran a series of Telephone Town Halls to keep her constituents informed of emerging updates on COVID-19 prevention, safety, and spread. Special guests were included for each event, so constituents could hear from and ask questions of the local experts. These included folks from The San Francisco Department of Public Health, California Surgeon General’s office, and San Francisco Labor Council.

To reach as many constituents as possible, we enhanced the entire purchased list with our data matching service. All event dial-outs fell between 130,000-140,000 phone numbers, and they broadcasted the date and start time ahead of the event. The corresponding participant dial-in was also shared with constituents and press for those interested in joining separate from the dial-out. The average time people spent listening to the events was consistently 2-3 times that of the national average, and overall constituent participation was significantly higher than average.

Virginia State Senator Mamie Locke wanted to run a Telephone Town Hall to give her constituents crucial policy updates from the recent legislative session and connect ahead of the 2023 election. If the office were to only call constituents with landlines, they would have missed out on a large swath of voters since the number of people who only have cell phones has risen in recent years to 62% of the population. To help the office reach their mobile-only constituents, we set up a "Mobile Waiting Room" where cell participants received a call from a live operator who connected them to the Telephone Town Hall.

Senator Locke’s office was able to connect with nearly 2,000 constituents live during the event, almost 20% of whom were people who joined from their cell phones. The event was a success, and Senator Locke was able to promote her ongoing efforts to expand affordable housing and defend reproductive freedom. In addition to having direct conversations with several constituents on the air, the office was also able to gauge which policy areas were most pressing to their voters through our live polling feature.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia was all in for Dr. Mark Downey in the tight race for Virginia’s 69th House of Delegates District and needed to mobilize supporters of reproductive rights to boost his campaign.

The program began with a Telephone Town Hall that was attended by more than 20,000 voters, featuring Dr. Downey discussing key reproductive rights issues. During the event, we collected real-time feedback through on-air polling, which informed the campaign’s next phase of outreach.

Using this data, PPVA followed up with a two-question Live Call targeted at persuadable voters. This multi-step approach allowed PPVA to measure public opinion, refine their messaging, and engage voters in a way that felt intentional rather than repetitive. As a result, PPVA successfully reached 6,415 voters on their call list.

In a race that Dr. Downey won by just over 1,200 votes, this data-driven phone program played a key role in securing his victory.