Texting

The 2018 midterms were the first big chance for Democrats to push back against the Trump Administration. In Georgia, Democrats had landed a dream congressional candidate, Lucy McBath: an outspoken Black woman whose son was killed by a white man who objected to loud music he was playing with friends in a car. BlackPAC wanted to dramatically increase enthusiasm and turnout from Black voters in her district.

We put together a program with four rounds of texts to all Black voters in the district. These texts ranged from encouragement to affect change to info on how to find a polling location. These were sent during the early voting period and the lead up to the general election.

For the first time since the 1970s, a Democrat won the district, and did so by a mere 3,000 votes. Proving that every vote, and every text, matters.

With George Gascón’s announcement to run for Los Angeles District Attorney, Stones’ Phones developed a targeted text and auto-call program to get him through the 2019 primary.

We started the outreach ahead of the primary by using our versatile text capabilities to message Democrats and likely supporters local event invitations, links to a persuasive video profile piece, and notifications on local community leaders’ endorsements. With each text message sent, we were able to track RSVPs, link clicks, as well as those with positive responses throughout the process.

We partnered with Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights (OURR) to send a series of SMS texts to 2 million voters in Ohio, urging them to vote Yes on Issue 1 to protect abortion access. We sent two texts to absentee voters, followed by three GOTV texts, with the final text going out on Election Day to get voters to the polls. We kept the text, including disclaimers, under 160 characters to reach as many voters as possible within OURR’s budget.

Over 2 million Ohioans voted in favor of Issue 1. Issues like reproductive freedom continue to be popular with voters; these large-scale outreach efforts provide crucial information and persuasion to drive the turnout necessary to win.

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom ran a moving TV ad featuring Erika, a mother who faced cruel, medically unnecessary barriers during a pregnancy with a fatal fetal anomaly. As fewer voters tune into live TV, Stones’ Phones helped Erika’s voice cut through the noise and reach voters directly where they were: on their phones.

We delivered the ad via text message to nearly 850,000 voters, urging them to support Amendment 3. The response was overwhelming. Thousands of replies poured in from concerned Missourians. And when the ballots were counted, Amendment 3 passed by nearly 100,000 votes.