https://wiki.democratsabroad.org/MembCountGuide
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1. Membership Count & Verification Overview
The official membership count is taken each January 31st. To be included in the membership count, member records must meet the following:
Be already approved as a member
Have a full local street address and/or phone number
Be verified as a valid member within the past 4 years. In other words for our upcoming count valid members must have an ‘Expiry date’ after Jan. 31, 2025
Your country committee's role is to verify as many "expired" member records as possible.
When a member joins and is approved and verified, an expiry date (as valid member) is set for 4 years later. So, unless updated or re-verified, the membership of Person X who joined on November 2, 2020 will expire November 3, 2024. Note: An expired membership date does NOT mean that a member's record disappears or is to be deleted from the database! The member exists in all senses of the term, EXCEPT that:
- They are no longer included in the official membership count
- They are included in the percentage of members "excluded from the membership count".
Each country committee is asked to review your membership list each year and try, as far as possible, to confirm that each of your members is still present in your country.
Why is it important? Your verified membership count (as of January 31 of each year) is used in odd-number years to calculate your country committee's voting weight. More importantly, having a clean and up-to-date database is the key to making sure your members receive all the right information, so they can vote. Phone calls, targeted emails, and event information can reach your members when we have accurate records. It also motivates your country volunteers when they know their messages are reaching the right people.
2. Membership List Excel Extracts
IT will produce extracts several times during the Membership Verification process. If you want to request the database extract for your country or you would like an extract at another time, send an email request to membership@democratsabroad.org
3. NationBuilder Saved Filters
Identifying expiring memberships expiring before February 1, 2025
Several Saved Filters have been created to help you find the people whose last verified date (LVD) is expiring. The members on these lists should be your first priority to email or call.
- 2025 Expired - all the people with memberships expiring before 2025-02-01
- 2025 Expired Emailable – people who can be emailed
- 2025 Expired NotEmailableCallable – not emailable, for any reason, but can be called
- 2025 Expired BadEmailCallable – email is bad, but they can be called
- 2025 Expired Opt-OutCallable – person has opted out of email, but can be called
- 2025 Expired NotEmailableNotCallable - not emailable (any reason) with no phone number or marked as do not call
- NoAddressNoPhone - people who will be excluded from the membership count because they have no local contact information
4. Member Communications
Global-level Communication: At the global level, the IT Team will send out verification messages to everyone whose membership has expired. Members are invited to fill out a form to update their data or confirm their information is correct. If they respond, their last verified date will be updated by the IT Team and an expiry date will be set to expire in 4 years.
Country-level Communication: Countries that plan to send their own verification messages can find information on the setup in the Guide on Auto-tags and Google Forms. Countries sending messages with an auto-tag should use this tag: 2025selfverifyCC - which Global IT will use to batch update of the LVD. If you have no idea what we're talking about here or you would like more information, contact us.
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Important DatesNovember 13, 2024 - Membership Count File Extract January 4, 2025 - Membership Count File Extract January 24, 2025 - CC Last day to request batch update February 1, 2025 - Final Membership Count |
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TemplatesMembership Verification Sample Call Script.docx |
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Q&A Sessions Live Training SessionsFriday, Nov 22, US/EMEA friendly @12 Noon EST RSVP here Tuesday, Nov 26, AP/EMEA Friendly @ 5 AM EST RSVP here Thursday, Nov 28, US/EMEA friendly @ 12 Noon EST RSVP Here |
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Contact UsSend Questions to: membership@democratsabroad.org |
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Communication from Global ITMembership 2024-11-13 (Summary).pdf Kick-off Announcement November 13, 2024.pdf IT Team email blasts to expired emailable members (tentative schedule)
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Presentations:
2025 Membership Count & Verification
- includes all the information you may use to help with database cleanup. Best practice is to take these actions throughout the year. Topics covered include
- filters to find members needing to be verified
- use of social media
- important notes on emailing individual members
- guide on when to delete
- logging contacts from email response or phone contact
- and more
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The W's of Membership
- Why: We need valid information about our members
- Who: Our Members
- What: Things to check
- When: By January 31
- How: Resources, Spreadsheet and Specific things
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Approve, Welcome, and Move Member
- New member review and approvals should be done regularly (daily is optimal). Members who are not approved are excluded from the Membership Count. Welcoming new members shortly after they join encourages members to become more active in DA. Keep approving new members. To find yours,
- Open the dashboard, then click Activity and then Followup. This link takes you there
- Or, use the saved filter: FollowupIsVerifyApprove
View file name DA-Membership-ApprovingWelcomingMovingDeleting_2022.pdf page Reference Materials for Website, Email, & Membership space ZORA height 250
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| page | Reference Materials for Website, Email, & Membership |
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Duplicate Member Records
- Takes you through how to find, analyze and handle duplicate records. The Global IT Team regularly checks duplicate records. Sometimes, the people are not duplicates, but instead happen to share the same or similar name. Other times the program fails to detect records that really are duplicates. Your job is to check these people, merge duplicate records, and identify false duplicates.
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Guide on Auto-tags and Google Forms
- Inserting field labels in an email blast is an interesting way to create hyperlinks that can be used to tag your members or even partially pre-fill reply forms. Learn how to set up messages with an auto-tag and/or a link to a Google Form.
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GDPR Compliance Policy and Expectations
- The General Data Protection Regulation - is a set of data protection laws in Europe. Under GDPR, consumers own their information - names, addresses, email addresses, etc., and thus have the right to control its usage, and companies with that information - like Democrats Abroad - have an obligation to give consumers the tools to exercise that control. Although this is a European Law, it applies to ALL OF DEMOCRATS ABROAD.
View a Training Video on the membership count
- Haven’t found what you’re looking for? The DA Wiki contains all Training & Reference Materials for Website, Email, & Membership
AND if all this sounds like a big mystery and you’re not sure where to begin, don't worry. You’re not alone and the Global IT Team is just an email away - contact us at: membership@democratsabroad.org.