How to: Get Votes for Your Project
The voting is getting hot, with U of M and Baylor neck-and-neck for the lead. But there’s still plenty of time for the rest of the schools to catch up before the Sunday midnight deadline.
No matter where in the country you are, you’ve got tons of resources. First off, you’ve got your family and friends, so be sure to send them an email with the link, and let them know how hard you’ve worked.
Second (and perhaps most important), you’ve got the internet. Several schools (including Baylor and U-Mich — hmmm!) have already started Facebook groups to get people energized to vote. Just set up a group or an event, include some info about your project, and invite your entire list of Facebook friends…and ask them to invite their lists, too!
You can do similar things on a personal blog, Twitter or Myspace, and definitely reach out to your campus administrators to see if they can post a link on their website. This is great not only for generating votes, but for building a good relationship with school administrators who might help you out in the future.
You can make announcements in your classes…or if you’re really bold, in your cafeterias. Table in high-traffic areas with a computer, and ask people to vote on the spot. Put up fliers. Put out a press release to your campus and local papers, then follow up with phone calls to stress the urgency (you’ve only got a few days!). Pretty much everything you’ve been doing all year to generate interest in your group will work for getting out the vote, too.
And you’ve probably got tons more resources you haven’t tapped. Consider reaching out to your faith community, high schools in your area, or even your Power 100 friends whose schools didn’t make the Top 10. Think about ONE partner organizations, such as OXFAM and Amnesty International, that might have programs on your campus and be happy to support you.
Online votes will count for 40% of your school’s total score, and we’ll be looking at the percentage you received of the total votes cast. So every vote counts.
Let us know if you have any questions or need a hand. We’re here to help!
-Emily Stivers
TAGS: Top 10, Uncategorized