Building stronger community relationships

If you’re an election official ready to expand your voter outreach efforts, you’ve got plenty of options: tabling at a community event this summer, visiting your local community college, teaching a workshop at your local library branch. 

But no matter what format your voter outreach takes, one thing is always true—effective outreach depends on partnerships. 

At CCD, many of our projects are collaborations with community organizations. Just as we do with elections offices, we help these groups create great election outreach materials in the languages of their community.

We’ve learned that it’s not just about the designs, but also about how we interact with them, both in each moment and over time. Here are 3 ways that we have adapted our work to make these projects more successful.

Invest in relationships

Meaningful partnerships take time to develop. (Think years, not weeks). They grow over time, building on trust and repeated connections. That means you need to start getting to know your community partners before you need something.

What this looks like: 

During quiet periods, look for—or create—opportunities to meet community partners. Go to events hosted by local organizations. Host open house days for community members to visit your office. Schedule casual get-to-know-you conversations with organizations working in the civic space.

Then stay in touch after you meet someone. Add them to your newsletter, follow the organization on social media, or send a follow up email.

The best part is, when your office is ready to launch a new initiative or combat misinformation, one email or phone call might be all it takes to reintroduce yourself.

For example, we recently completed a project in Houston, Texas, where we worked with community partners to develop a multilingual voter education toolkit. But we first got to know the partners over 3 years ago.

Keep track of people and ideas

You’ve probably had a great conversation that sparked an idea, only to forget the details a month later. It happens! That’s why keeping a simple record is so important.

What this looks like: 

Jot down who you talked to, when the conversation took place, what you discussed, and how to reach them. You can use a paper notebook, a document or spreadsheet, or a CRM database.

You may not have the time or resources to act now, but when you’re ready, that record can reconnect you to the right person at the right time. When you run a post-election debrief and begin planning goals for the coming election cycle, go back to this list to see if there are any ideas that you can use.

Start small—but start somewhere!

Don’t wait for the perfect plan or moment. The key to community building is to begin building relationships and trust, even with small steps. Starting small shows you what works in your specific community, builds your confidence, and creates momentum for larger initiatives.

What this looks like: 

Identify one small step that gets you closer to your long-term vision.

Let’s say you want to start a language access program, but don’t have the budget to hire a language access coordinator or translate all of your materials. You could start by running just a few ads on the local in-language radio station. Or partnering with one local organization to run one voter information session in another language. Any of those steps is a good first start, and gives you a base to build from in future election cycles. And you’ll begin learning more that you can add to your language access plan.

Final thoughts

Building community partnerships isn’t just about executing a plan—it’s about building trust, listening deeply, and taking action, even in small ways. Start with conversations. Track what you hear. Keep showing up. The relationships you build now are the foundation for everything that comes next.

See how other election offices are growing their community relationships

How this helps build election excellence

Community relationships are part of the U.S. Alliance for Elections Excellence standards. The Community Relationships standard says: 

Your election office builds and maintains strong relationships in your community that foster trust in the election process. To achieve this standard:

  • You build relationships in your local government and with community partners that represent a range of voter demographics.
  • You maintain community contacts, and relationships continue through staffing changes.
  • You solicit, document, and act on relevant feedback from voters and partners in your local community.
  • You identify misconceptions about elections and respond accurately and in a timely manner.