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Appendix F: Turnout Guidelines

There is no more basic organizing skill than the ability to turn people out to a meeting, action, training or other event. The old organizing pearl that “turnout is 90 percent of the event” is true. Here are some guidelines for effective turnout.

  1. Relationship and Trust
    Good turnout depends on relationship and trust. Very few people will come to an event when asked by a stranger — or worse yet by a leaflet. Leaflets, while helpful in providing information about the location, time and date of the event, do not turn people out. People come to an event because someone they know and trust asks them to come. (There are some people you respect or like to such a degree that you would attend just about any event they asked you to attend.) Direct, one-onone contact is what moves people to come to an event.
  2. A Clear Purpose
    Good turnout depends on a clear purpose for the event being communicated. The purpose must be important enough for people to take the time and make the effort to attend.
  3. Realistic Goals
    Good turnout depends on making a determination of the turnout needed for the meeting or event and then setting realistic goals. In general, you can expect half of the people you invite to say they will come and half of those who say yes to show up. So if your goal is to recruit five new members to attend a monthly union meeting, you must invite 20.
  4. Shared Commitment
    The work of turning people out to an event should be shared among all the members of a local leadership team. A commitment to assist with turnout is not an “I will try.” It is a firm “I will” based on a list of people the individual can name. Commitments must be realistic. No one person can do it all. Ask each person to take on a reasonable share of the work. Record assignments on a flip chart if possible, so that the commitment is public. It is okay to change the commitment before the event — it can be lowered or raised — so long as the individual making the commitment is accountable to the leadership team.
  5. Follow-up
    Good turnout depends on follow-up and persistence. People who say they will come to the event should be contacted two times before the event, including the night before.

Turnout Tips

  • Devote much more time to turnout than any other aspect of the event. All too often a great deal of time is devoted to the program
    (preparing speakers, materials, etc.) and turnout is ignored.
  • Good turnout will make the event great by creating momentum and excitement. A poor turnout will have the opposite effect on an event.
  • Pick your meeting space carefully to match your turnout. Nothing is worse than 10 people in a huge room. On the other hand, having an overflow is a “happy problem” that you should be prepared to deal with.
  • Good turnout depends on putting the whole leadership team into action. The more leaders are involved, the more likely a high turnoutbecomes.
  • Spend some time discussing how to do turnout with your leadership team. Teach team members the fundamentals listed above. Real turnout discipline takes place when people understand the fundamentals. Adapted from Industrial Areas Foundation
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