Feedback and Bug Reports
Training Calendar
Automated Calls Request
Automated Calls Request
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filed under:
Data Request
| What |
|
|---|---|
| When |
Jan 01, 2010 from 12:00 am to 11:55 pm |
| Where | Online |
| Contact Name | Erica Toler |
| Contact Phone | 202-454-4590 |
| Add event to calendar |
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All requests MUST be submitted 5 days prior to potential start date, and are subject to LCV or LCVEF approval and scheduling.
Once your program has been approved, lists and scripts must be sent in at least 72 hours prior to the start of the program.
Please read through to bottom of page, and click link to submit request.
The League of Conservation Voters and the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund have invested in an internal automated calling system that allows us to dial tens of thousands of numbers per day. With this system, we are able to do a variety of types of calling programs at an extremely low cost.
LCV and LCVEF have tested certain programs, and are please to offer some usage of the dialer to the state LCV's and state LCV Education Funds, respectively ("state leagues"), at a reduced cost.
Four types of programs can be done using automated calls. Each program has certain guidelines, and a corresponding script format to go with each type of call:
1.) Patch-through call:
- This program is ideal when you want to connect voters directly with their elected officials, such as swamping your governor's office with calls to prevent veto override, or connecting people with the speaker of your state house to push for a vote to get to the floor.
- Patch-through programs generally run during the daytime, for between 1 and 5 consecutive days, and requires a list of between 3,000 and 200,000, depending on the importance and breadth of the issue.
- One patch-program program can patch through to ONE phone number; this means that to patch through to multiple legislators, you need to direct people to an operator of select one or two legislators to focus on.
- Patch-through rates on these calls typically range between 1% and 7%.
2.) "Press 1 for more info" calls
- This program is ideal for crowd-building for an event or for building a potential volunteer base.
- In these calls, your script makes an "ask" of people (such as to volunteer or attend an event). The respondents, if interested press 1; the return results of people who press one are returned to the state league for follow-up.
- Response rates on these calls typically range between 0.8% and 2.0%.
- Note that, while many people may press 1, we cannot validate who in that household actually answered the phone. For your follow-up calls, you should expect about a 40% accuracy rate in contacting people who are truly interested in your program.
3.) Message delivery calls:
- This program is ideal for leaving a message and spreading the word about your state league or of an important political event, such as announcing an endorsement.
- In these calls, no data is collected from the call recipient. Your recorded message is played to whoever picks up the phone, or left on an answering machine.
- When planning these calls, note that on an average call, answering machine pickups make up between 30% and 50% of the total dials; voice connects (meaning an actual person answers the phone) range between 30% and 45%. So, an estimated 60% or higher rate of your list will receive your message.
4.) Candidate Head-Head poll (non-c3 only)
- This program is ideal for state leagues who may want to endorse or campaign for a certain candidate, but don't know where that candidate stands in the polls.
- Polling done with automated calls, also known as Interactive Voice Response (IVR) polling, is an industry-proven, standard method for polling. Polling is best for head-to-head evaluation of candidates. IVR polls on messaging are NOT proven effective.
- Polling calls generally run on 3 consecutive evenings. Demand on the calling system is higher in the evenings, so flexibility on dates for these programs is important.
- Polling requires a call list of at least 30,000; therefore, statewide calls are best for this program. Polling in small state house districts is not always possible due to limited voters with phone numbers.
- Scripts must follow the prescribed 5-question format outlined by LCV. (See sample script for more details).
- For these types of calls, LCV will pull the poll sample and analyze the responses for your program. The return time on the poll results is one week from completion of calls.
- Full completion rates on the calls typically range between 1% and 5%.
- At the end of the poll, age and gender information is collected, and that data is matched back to the voter file for analysis.
- With your return data, you will receive the toplines of the poll results, including crosstabs analyzing the results in a reader-friendly format.
Basic Facts:
- All requests MUST be submitted 5 days prior to potential start date.
- LCV and LCVEF are NOT responsible for legal approval of script and compliance with state-specific automated calls regulations. State leagues are strongly encouraged to seek legal guidance through Lichtman, Trister, & Ross, whose legal fess are covered by the State Capacity Building department, or through other outside counsel. Please plan a minimum of 48 hours for your lawyers to review your program and script.
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In addition to the various state laws that may apply, all robocalls must comply with two federal (FCC) requirements. First, the caller must, at the beginning of the call, identify the entity initiating the call. This may accomplished by starting the script with something like, “Hi, this is _____ from [Name of state LCV], calling to say ….” Second, during or after the message, the message must state the telephone number of the call’s sponsor. These requirements would apply to a message left on an answering machine as well as calls that are answered by live human beings.
- There must be minimum call list of 3,000 numbers for each program. When planning your list length, consider the response rates for the type of call.
- Someone from your state league will be responsible for recording the audio for the call. LCV or LCVEF provides a call-in number to record your script, and will splice and upload the recording to the system.
- Data will be returned to you within 48 hours of program completion for patch-through and "Press 1 for more info" calls, and within one week for polling analysis.
- For all calls, your state league will provide a designated phone number to use for the caller ID, and for any return calls from the program. Be prepared to field any return calls throughout the duration of your call program.
- Your data will be uploaded and stored into Catalist for future reference.
Fees :
- Your state league will be billed a $200 set-up fee, plus long-distance charges, at a rate of $104.15/25,000 phone numbers dialed ($0.004166 per dial). This is a fraction of the cost of using a vendor.
- Your state league will be charged an additional $200 set-up fee for any charges made to the list or script after the program has started.
