Now that the 2022 election cycle has wrapped up, we wanted to take some time to crunch the numbers from the last two years on Mobilize. Here are four key Mobilize trends to help you understand more of the numbers behind our platform – and take advantage of the trends as you plan your organizing program for the year ahead.

#1 Built-in automations continue to provide up to a 40% lift in Mobilize event RSVPs.

Nearly 40% of signups were attributed to built-in Mobilize features this cycle. Put simply, if you create an event on Mobilize, your organization can receive more than a third more RSVPs thanks to our features – without staff or volunteers needing to do any additional work.

So where do those extra 40% of signups come from? Based on our 2022 cycle data, organizations promoting other organization’s events drove 15% of signups, social sharing prompts, meaning people inviting friends to events, drove 10% of signups, and nearly 20% of signups came from automated event suggestions (for example: the list of additional events you see after you RSVP).  

And the best part? It takes less than five minutes to enable the features to help boost your signups!

In addition to an up to 40% lift in signups, organizations who use Mobilize can also plug into Mobilize’s massive volunteer network of over 5.5 million people. And by enabling the features listed in our blog here, you can begin recruiting new volunteers and raising money right away! By plugging in new volunteers early, Mobilize’s built-in automations help remind them of upcoming events and shifts they signed up for, increasing your signups and decreasing your flake rate. Through our built-in automations and active volunteer network, Mobilize helps you build and maximize your volunteer capacity with new and existing volunteers. Some of these features are simple, but they can lead to a significant impact. Take our bring-a-friend prompt for example.

Over 140,000 volunteers tapped into their own networks this cycle which led to more than 640,000 additional shift signups across the country. By asking supporters to bring their friends, Mobilize increases your chance of building your supporter base, who will then receive reminders to continue volunteering with your organization. As we continue to see our network grow year over year, we expect to see Mobilize’s built-in automations continue to drive a significant share of volunteer growth.

#2 Virtual events continue to play an important role in organizing.

Another interesting trend is that we’re continuing to see virtual events drive a majority of signups on the Mobilize platform. Due to the pandemic,  over 90% of our signups during the 2020 cycle were for virtual events, yet we saw 67% of signups continue to be for virtual events this cycle. In September of this year, we saw in-person events start to drive the majority of signups on the platform, a trend that continued through Election Day.  

We think there are several reasons for the continued prominence of virtual events. Volunteers have varying comfort levels with attending in-person events for a variety of reasons, virtual events often offer more flexibility and timeslots, and others may not have local opportunities to help with or they may want to specifically target efforts in different regions because of a cause that’s important to them.

Regardless, Mobilize can help you build virtual events that allow people to take action from anywhere. And as we continue to navigate what the volunteering landscape looks like, developing events with virtual actions will open new opportunities to connect with local and out-of-state volunteers to make an even greater impact.  

#3 We’re seeing record numbers of first-time volunteers continue to join the Mobilize platform

At the close of the 2020 cycle, we were thrilled to have reached 4 million unique volunteers using the Mobilize platform. Knowing that we were heading into a midterm rather than a presidential cycle, we expected moderate volunteer growth on the platform. We were blown away, however, to see 1.5 million new volunteers join Mobilize during the 2022 election cycle – bringing our total volunteer base to 5.5 million.  

These first-time volunteers tended to join the platform around big moments – specifically, the leaked announcement and official announcement of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade in May and June 2022.  

What this tells us is that key issues will continue to galvanize new volunteers: perhaps people who have volunteered before but never with a political organization, or are brand-new to giving their time overall.  

#4 We helped power nearly every winning Democratic campaign for Governor and Senate.

Last but certainly not least: Mobilize was the volunteer platform of choice for Democratic victories across the country in 2022. We’re proud to share that Mobilize powered 100% of winning Democratic gubernatorial campaigns this cycle. We also powered 86% of winning Democratic Senate campaigns, and tons of other campaigns and ballot initiatives up and down the ballot.  

We powered nearly 7 million signups from 2 million volunteers across 125,000 events nationwide during the 2022 cycle. We also saw over 19 million people visit Mobilize.Us -- an incredible indicator of how volunteerism on Mobilize continues to grow. It’s clear that individuals are looking to take action, and we’re proud to serve as the platform that empowers campaigns and organizations to convert interest into action.

Build your volunteer capacity with Mobilize.

Thousands of campaigns and organizations use Mobilize as their event management and volunteer recruitment platform. From the Biden campaign to the National Education Association, Mobilize powers organizing everywhere. To help build your volunteer capacity, join Mobilize to plug into our network of 5.5 million volunteers and experience up to a 40% boost in signups to power your organization.

Get started with a free starter account on Mobilize today.

Additional Resources

Want to learn more about how Mobilize can help your campaign or organization? Here are a few additional resources to help:  

How to build your volunteer capacity with Mobilize. Learn about different types of volunteers and how Mobilize can help you build your volunteer capacity to save time and money.

Four Mobilize features you need to activate before GOTV. Discover four Mobilize features that you can turn on at any time that can help you gain additional signups and raise money.

Distributed Organizing Guide from NGP VAN and Mobilize. Download our guide to find out more about distributed organizing and how Mobilize and NGP VAN can help you achieve your organizing goals.

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