Blog
Analyst Institute Settles It:
Our Mail Programs Work!
But you already knew that 🙂
Our mission has always been working toward a fairer, more equitable democracy for all, and we are consistently experimenting and testing to understand which of our methods are most effective in fulfilling this goal.
We partnered with Analyst Institute to analyze dozens of Civitech’s 2024 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to examine what makes our model most effective in practice.
Our initial trials ran across a wide range of direct mail programs, testing to see which method was most cost effective and efficient for mobilizing voters. Analyst Institute’s analysis evaluated the targeted voter registration mail programs we implemented across a range of organizations, states, and contexts.
Our 2024 RCTs evaluated which of our targeting strategies were most effective in terms of votes generated, while testing our overall methodologies. We made a whole site to tell you about it:
Who We Reached
Analyst Institute found that by utilizing partisan modeling and targeting, our voter registration efforts reached unregistered voters representing key parts of the Democratic coalition in 2024. We were also able to target many voters missing from standard voter files, reaching people not captured in public data.
Overall, our 2024 programs were able to increase registration across all age groups and were equally effective at registering both women and men on average, which the Analyst Institute report confirms. Racially, Analyst Institute confirmed that our programs increased registration rates among individuals modeled as white, AAPI, Black, and Latinx.
Our Strengths
Just as our RCTs found, Civitech’s mail-only voter registration programs performance was comparable to those incorporating follow-up SMS. The Analyst Institute report confirmed our previous finding that our standardized, pre-filled mailers were effective across age, gender, and ethnoracial groups.
By making the registration process as simple and accessible as possible, we were able to improve outcomes across audiences. This report is further evidence that making democracy more accessible is the most effective way to include communities that would otherwise be left out of the democratic process.
Our programs showed consistent, measurable lift across organizational categories. Candidates/campaigns, parties, 501(c)(3)s, 501(c)(4)s, or PACs all showed considerable progress in registration and voting rates among their targeted populations. In other words, our voter registration programs supported positive turnout for every type of organization we partnered with.
Looking Ahead
Analyst Institute’s report illustrated our programs’ strengths and acknowledged the path to increasing our efficiency in the future.
In 2024, our efforts were consistently positive among recent movers and college students. It is evident that devoting resources to populations who have never registered to vote is critical for upcoming cycles.
Civitech’s mail programs drive most of the impact on meaningful registration and turnout. Our programs increased both voter registration and turnout in 2024, with data suggesting our efforts might have been more efficient in registration than for total turnout, while still being impactful for both.
When expanding our resources, we must continue to prioritize strong mail registration, while also acknowledging the need for investment in complimentary follow-up approaches designed to increase follow-through engagement.
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