Have you ever tried to wing a 1:1 meeting? You probably pulled it off; but when it was over you knew you could have done better. Unfortunately, you don’t get a second chance to make that first impression. (I know, such a cliché! But still true.)

One-to-one (1:1) meetings with volunteers (or funders, or potential allies, or...) can sometimes feel like blind dates. You don't know the person you're meeting. You're nervous. You want to make a good impression. You want to like them. For an organizer, these 1:1s can also be very time consuming. And time is the one resource you can't get more of, right? Here are some of my best practices for getting the most out of your time spent in 1:1s:

All field organizers and volunteers spend time at rallies, events, and outside supermarkets signing people up for things. Regardless of your goal (collecting signatures to get your candidate or issue on the ballot, building a petition, registering voters...), there's a simple step to ensure that you're able to efficiently collect as many signatures as possible:

Have you just been hired as an organizer on a campaign? Not totally sure where to start? One-to-one meetings are an essential element to relationship building. Once you build a relationship with folks on the ground and in your communities, you can begin to make the big asks. You can give your one-to-ones an extra boost with what I like to call the domino effect, a technique that will keep you reaching your goals. Here's my strategy:

Retaining and developing your volunteers is a critical part of winning campaigns. I’ve volunteered with organizations that made me part of the family, and others where I left my shift early and never came back.

Two weeks ago, 49 committed progressives left New Media BootCamp with the skills to become leaders in engagement organizing. This Sunday, we'll launch Advanced Data Training. And over the coming months, we'll train hundreds more at Issue Campaign BootCamps, Advanced Data, and Field Leadership trainings. Here at NOI, we know there's a great need to train a new generation of organizers. Right now, in New Media and Data especially, there are more jobs than qualified candidates. That’s why I'm

If you’re like most campaign folks I know, you started in field. If you land in a different department and a new assignment freaks you out a little, relax: the fundamentals are the same. Build a list, then work it. Planning a small-dollar fundraiser? Make a list of folks who gave to other campaigns, then start calling. Same for a press or political event: make a list of reporters or leaders, respectively, and get on the phone!

I’ve spent the majority of my career as an organizer working to elect progressives to office and build stronger, effective, and efficient local community organizations – which means I’ve spent my career taking orders and working toward big picture, large scale, nearly impossible goals set by field directors, campaign managers, candidates, and executive directors.As an organizer, I quickly learned to turn these nearly impossible goals into manageable goals with immediate outcomes.

When holding any event, from a phone bank to a community service event or a house party, I always make it a priority to confirm attendees three times. The first two are always over the phone, but I've found an email confirmation can make a big difference. I send it the day before an event, and here's what I include:

Ok, maybe not a user's guide exactly. But this month in the New Campus, we're featuring classes that can help you navigate the waters of GOTV and avoid the hidden reefs and mines that cost valuable time and money. This six part series highlights important aspects of GOTV work, including managing volunteers, controlling Early Vote data, integrating your online efforts, and more. We'll host recordings of every session right here, so that you can view them any time. Session I: Organizer's