EveryAction

Indivisible HQ has contracted with a vendor, Bonterra, to purchase the use of EveryAction for the Indivisible network. HQ works with NGP VAN to acquire the tool, build the system to support the needs of all groups, and make it accessible to everyone who wants it. We will also provide trainings and support staff to assist groups with using this system. Acquiring this resource on your own can cost a group between $2000 to $4000 a month. HQ is providing this valuable resource to groups for free.

Because group members will be accessing EveryAction as users under HQ’s agreement with NGP VAN, HQ is responsible for ensuring that its users comply with EveryAction’s rules and restrictions. This is why we ask each user to sign the EA User Agreement, which lays out those rules and restrictions as they apply to your use of the tool.

The EA User Agreement also recognizes that groups own the data they put into the tool, as well as the data they gather about their members. This information will be exported for groups if they stop using EA for any reason. One important caveat is that groups are not allowed to export data about people that is from the voter file, because that data is subject to user agreements between HQ and the voter file vendors.

The EA User Agreement can be found and signed here.

Many volunteer management tools and email tools share functionalities. EveryAction brings those functionalities together in one package. Also, because EveryAction is owned by the same vendor that owns our voter contact tool (MyVoters) groups can easily connect their membership information with information from the voter file. This would allow groups to collect more information about an individual. For example, when members’ home addresses are put into the system, EveryAction will be able to find the political districts in which they live and assign them to members’ profiles. If you are already using an existing CRM, please reach out to your organizer for assistance transferring over your data.

EveryAction and MyVoters are made by the same company, NGP VAN, so there are many similarities between them. The primary difference between EveryAction and MyVoters is the source of the data. MyVoters contains the whole voter file, which is primarily data collected from voter registration forms. EveryAction data contains information that Indivisible groups and staff put into it.

The other major difference is that EveryAction has many features centered around events. In EveryAction, groups can track and record who RSVPs for and attends events. This allows groups to better evaluate and identify leaders in their networks. MyVoters has no event-tracking features. A detailed breakdown of the differences and similarities of EveryAction and MyVoters are below.

Before getting access to this tool, each user who will have access to the tool must sign the EveryAction User Agreement, which governs how the EA platform, and the data put into that platform, can be accessed and used by the individual users and by HQ. This agreement has four main points:

• Groups will have the ability to match group members to their information in the voter file. This gives groups access to a wealth of information: address, political districts, additional phone numbers, and more. HQ is also happy to help with this process if you have a list of members names and addresses.
• To support groups in building their power, HQ will develop ways to drive individuals from our national list to local groups.
• HQ will email group members, asking them if they want to join the national list (opt-in). If they say no, or if they do not respond, they will not be added to the national list. We are working on a way to leverage this opt-in ask as a way to gather information for groups.

Groups can use EA to build their own power by tracking information about their members and using that information to make targeted and more efficient asks. Groups will be able to know who shows up to meetings and actions, who is interested in gun violence prevention or democracy reform, and use that information to increase participation and identify leaders. Because EA is also an email CRM, groups can start to centralize their communications with their members.

Because HQ has a large, national bullhorn, we are able to help identify and recruit new members for local groups. HQ is committed to encouraging individuals who volunteer for national actions to also connect with a local group, because we believe that involvement in a local group is key to long-term movement building.

One specific way HQ leverages national resources to promote local groups is by including links to local events in many of the emails we send. By having events created in EveryAction show up on the map, we create a pipeline from our national email audience to local groups’ events.

Opt-in - individuals have to actively choose to join the email list.

Opt-out - individuals join the list automatically and have to actively choose to be removed from the email list

We are doing opt-in so that your group members have the opportunity to actively decide if they want to be on the national list. That said, for any members that opt-in and change their mind, they're always able to unsubscribe.