Swing Left Grassroots Leaders Toolkit
Local groups are the heartbeat of Swing Left’s work. As a Swing Left group leader, you’re organizing on the ground to build lasting grassroots power in your community—and win elections together.
We're here to support you! Get in touch anytime by scheduling a one-on-one conversation with your Swing Left staff contact. For questions and time-sensitive support, please email our Grassroots Support Team at host@swingleft.org.
Current priorities
Host a Ground Truth canvass: Post your event on Mobilize. Check out this comprehensive host packet with trainings, templates, materials, and everything you need for a successful Ground Truth canvass in a Swing Left target district. Let your contact know if you need help selecting a location or want to talk through the host process.
Host a 'Listen to Win' empathetic listening training! Post your event on Mobilize and check out this host guide to get started with planning.
Looking to host a different type of event? Scroll down to the "Host and manage events" section below for guidance, or visit swingleft.org/events if you're ready to post.
Grassroots Leaders Calls: Upcoming dates & past recordings
Reminder: Grassroots Leaders Calls are for internal use in your group only, not for press or public release.
Here are the upcoming Grassroots Leaders Calls, which typically take place on the third Thursday of each month from 8-9pm ET / 5-6pm PT. You can register for each of them using this link!
Thu, May 21, 2026, 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Thu, June 18, 2026, 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Thu, July 16, 2026, 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Thu, Aug 20, 2026, 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Thu, Sept 17, 2026, 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Thu, Oct 15, 2026, 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Thu, Nov 19, 2026, 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Thu, Dec 17, 2026, 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Recording and slides from our most recent calls:
April 2026: Call recording and slide presentation | Hear from members of Swing Left's political team for an early preview of our expanded target map and long-term strategy.
March 2026: Call recording and slide presentation | Guest speakers from New Conversation Collaborative present their work on deep canvassing and what's next for Ground Truth.
February 2026: Slide presentation | Hear a preview of Vote Forward's strategy for 2026 and how it can fit in with your roadmap.
January 2026: Call recording and slide presentation | Kick off the midterms year by setting concrete goals and adopting districts for maximum impact!
December 2025: Call recording and slide presentation | Deep dive into the data and AI components of Ground Truth with Swing Left's Head of Tech and AI advisor
November 2025: Call recording and slide presentation | Look back at 2025 and hear Swing Left's roadmap for 2026, including scaling the new Ground Truth program
If you are looking for recordings or slides from a past call or training, please reach out to your Swing Left contact for help.
Onboarding
Congratulations on starting your Swing Left group! We know that for some of you, this is your first time leading a group like this; for others, you might simply be bringing an existing group of grassroots volunteers over to Swing Left. Whatever your specific circumstances are, our staff is here to support you. Schedule a one-on-one meeting if you haven't already, and we’ll walk you through every step of this process!
Register your group on
Swing Left's Group Builder
Manage your group members, send emails, link upcoming events, and more.
Connect with other
group leaders virtually
Talk with our community of 250+ groups across the country.
Prepare for your first
Swing Left organizing event
Bring volunteers together to introduce your group and share Swing Left’s strategy.
Manage and grow your group
Make the most of Swing Left’s digital volunteer management tools
Group Builder Guide | Tips for using Group Builder:
Update your group’s page with current information and fill out each section so that your page is attractive to new members and a valuable resource for existing members.
Use the email functions to welcome new volunteers and communicate with your members. Customize the welcome email on the "Email members" page; when someone new joins your group, reach out directly and start to develop a relationship!
Set up all of your events on Mobilize through your Group Builder page by clicking "Create an event" (or, make sure you’re using your same email address when going through Mobilize). This will help you increase turnout, keep track of volunteers’ attendance and contact information, and measure your impact. If a volunteer signs up for one of your events and they're not already registered with your group, they'll automatically be added!
Recruit volunteers and build your team for the long-term
Check out our Volunteer Recruitment and Escalation Guide for organizing tips on how to grow your group, make hard asks, and empower members to take on leadership roles.
Host a small-group leadership development roundtable to strengthen your group's leadership team or regroup on your strategy and planning.
Host a high-traffic canvass: Head into your community to recruit potential volunteers you wouldn't otherwise meet.
Host a friend bank: Use relational organizing to leverage the relationships your group members already have with family and friends in their network.
We might also be able to provide a list of Swing Left subscribers near you who are not yet members of your group, who you can call or text to invite them to your upcoming events. Follow these instructions to request and use a volunteer recruitment phone bank.
Hosting voter contact events is also a great way to recruit new group members. Check out the section below for details!
Host and manage events
As a group leader, a big part of your role is hosting organizing events and voter contact events at different points in the election cycle. Here are our resources for organizing each kind of event, including a host guide with helpful tips plus the links to post your events on Mobilize. Looking to manage your existing events? Visit your Swing Left Mobilize dashboard to see all of your events in one place.
Host an organizing event
Organize capacity-building events, including trainings, planning meetings, etc.
Host a Ground Truth canvass
Talk to voters year-round to build connections and increase voter turnout.
Host a high-traffic canvass
Talk to voters year-round to build connections and increase voter turnout.
Host a canvass carpool or meet-up
Travel to a target state or district to knock doors with a campaign.
Host a letter-writing party
Travel to a target state or district to knock doors with a campaign.
Host a phone bank
Calling voters is an important way to help get voters to turn out on Election Day.
Host a friend bank
Bring folks together to reach out to their networks and ask them to take action with your group.
Host a fundraiser
Raise money for candidates early, when those dollars have the biggest impact for campaigns.
Mobilize guide: Here are tips on how to set up events on Mobilize. The Swing Left team is here you make your event a success; don’t hesitate to reach out to host@swingleft.org for support!
Note for virtual events: When filling out your new event, if you choose a “virtual” event under Location, please also list a city, state, and zip code (full address not required), because that helps our website continue to show events to volunteers in your area. If you include a full address for an event you've indicated is "virtual," Mobilize will automatically hide your street address and only show the city, state and zip.
Additional event resources:
Print this event sign-in sheet to keep track of your attendees.
We might also be able to provide a list of Swing Left subscribers near you who are not yet members of your group, who you can call or text to invite them to your upcoming events. Follow these instructions to request and use a volunteer recruitment phone bank.
If your event was not posted on Mobilize but you would like to record your impact, follow the instructions in this soft reporting form guide. Events and shifts that you report through this process will be included in the statistics on your Group Builder page
Build your organizing skills
We're here to support you and help you become a more effective grassroots leader. Check out these helpful guides covering basic organizing skills — which can help you recruit more members, build relationships, and grow your group's leadership team.
You can also use these modules to lead trainings for your leadership team and/or group members to build their skills in organizing and talking to voters.
Personal storytelling activity: Customize these sample slides to train your group members on finding their story of self, story of us, and story of now – a great way to combine team-building with voter contact skill training.
Talk to voters, win elections: Customize this agenda and sample slides to train your group members on having effective conversations with voters.
What is GOTV? Use these slides to show volunteers why the final days leading up to the elections are so important.
Volunteer recruitment: Use these slides to train your group members on best practices for recruitment new volunteers to join your group.
Strengthen your leadership team: Consider hosting a leadership developing roundtable to set your new team up for success, or refresh your goals and strategy with your existing team. Take advantage of templates from our contacts at PowerLabs and learn how to create a team charter, set team norms, and improve your team's setup for effectiveness.
College organizing skills trainings
Additional recordings and resources for college students organizing on campus
Recruiting and retaining volunteers:
Building a leadership team:
Effective teams worksheet: Compelling purpose + real team
Preparing for leadership transitions:
Worksheet (make a copy)
Hosting a canvassing event for GOTV:
Watch the recording from The Last Weekend in 2022
If you're looking for trainings on specific tactics, such as phone banking, letter writing, etc, please reference the host guides for those types of events.
Press, social media, design, and photography
As a group leader, you play a big role in telling the story of Swing Left. Here are some resources to help amplify your work:
Here's a presentation on content creation. You can also use this simple rubric to create and select good photo content to use. Finally, here's a content planning checklist to make sure you capture good photo, video, and/or written content from an event.
If you are looking for Swing Left graphics to post on social media or include in your emails, visit this graphics folder which we update monthly with new designs.
If you are contacted by a journalist, please forward that request to press@swingleft.org. Our press team can support you and help connect the journalist to other people they may want to speak with.
Fundraise with your group
Money isn’t everything, but candidates in close races need resource to hire organizers and make sure their message gets out. More than 50 percent of all fundraising goes to races that aren’t competitive—and many political donations are given too late in the cycle for maximum impact.
Raising money (early!) through personal fundraising pages or events for candidates in Swing Left’s target races—who need it most—is critical to winning elections:
Create a personal fundraising webpage – set up a donation page that tracks donations and donors associated with your group.
Fundraising event guide – comprehensive guide with resources for in-person or virtual fundraising events.
Swing Left Values & Community Agreements
Our Community Agreements guide all the work we do as a national organization, in our local groups, and one-on-one with each other as volunteers and activists. Thank you for reviewing these agreements and incorporating them into your work!
Swing Left Community Agreements
Our goal is to create and foster a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment for our volunteers and greater Swing Left community. These guidelines help us hold ourselves and each other accountable to ensure that together, we build the best community that supports our work and our mission.
Organize to elect Democrats. We focus on flipping seats from red to blue and winning Democratic majorities to help bring about progressive change. We organize and fundraise year-round to give eventual Democratic nominees critical support in their general election campaigns.
Focus on inclusivity and respect. We work to show respect and inclusivity in our actions and organizing. Both in-person and online, we use welcoming and inclusive language, model empathy, and empower each other to do our best work. We speak up, hold ourselves accountable, and work to address racism, sexism, homophobia, misogyny, transphobia, ableism, ageism, and all forms of discrimination.
Build a sustainable and strong progressive movement. We work within the progressive movement to create change and fight injustice. We support partners and allied groups whenever possible.
Approach our work with humility. We are all learning, and we follow the lead set by local leaders and communities. We openly accept feedback, and proactively work to unlearn our own biases and assumptions.
Respect each other’s time and resources. As an organization, Swing Left helps volunteers find the most impactful actions to take to help Democrats win the most important elections.
Please report examples of abusive behavior, harassment, or other unacceptable conduct to community@swingleft.org , and a member of our staff will review and respond promptly.
Swing Left staff
As a group leader, your first resource is our Grassroots Support Team at host@swingleft.org. They’re scheduled around the clock to ensure you get prompt responses with whatever you need.
Connect with the Swing Left staff person for your region:
Matt Caffrey (he/him), Senior Organizing Director - mcaffrey@swingleft.org
Lizzie Heyboer (she/her), Deputy Organizing Director (contact for California, Alaska, Hawaii, the Northwest, the Southwest, the Great Plains) - lizzie@swingleft.org
Janna Kaplan (she/her), Deputy Organizing Director (contact for the Midwest) - janna@swingleft.org
Violet Kopp (she/her), Organizing Program Manager (contact for the East Coast and Deep South) - violet@swingleft.org
Mete Egemen (he/him), Organizing Coordinator for NYC - mete@swingleft.org
Jae Masino (she/her), Organizing Coordinator for LA - jae@swingleft.org
Amanda Riddle (she/her), Organizing Coordinator for DC - amanda@swingleft.org
Find your region and schedule a meeting with your contact here
