In order to advance Ranked Choice Voting, we’ll need the financial support to give this reform visibility across the state.  One proven way to build grassroots donations is through hosting house parties. Hosting a house party is easy and fun! Have your own ranked vote on anything from music, to beer, to donuts. Then we ask guests to support our movement. Check out our house party guide to find out more.

Hosting 101

  • Set a Day and Time. Set your date at least one month in advanceIt’s great when parties are a minimum of 2 hours long, plus some additional time for setup and breakdown.
  • Find a cohost. Ask a friend, partner, neighbor, or anyone else to co-host with you. You can share networks, craft an invite list together, and share event duties. Parties with co-hosts tend to have a larger turnout.
  • Choose your RCV Election Theme. Many hosts choose to run mini-elections at their parties. We provide you with printable ballots and we will run the election at your party.
  • Send invites to your guests. You can design your own invitations, or we can help you customize our email template to send to your guests. Facebook Event (optional) - Either you or we can create your house party event with a link to the VCMA Facebook page using this template.
  • Prepare your home or venue. Set up and clean up is your responsibility. VCMA volunteers may lend a hand as needed.You will provide light refreshments, utensils, and other supplies for the party.
  • Introduction and Fundraising Ask. You will introduce our speaker and volunteer(s) at the beginning of their presentation. Share a few sentences on why you support Ranked Choice Voting. When the speaker asks for funds, you could chime in with something like: “This is a reform that I believe in, so I hope you will donate tonight.”
  • Thank Yous. Send your own personal Thank You emails or notes to your guests after the party.

Election Details

  • Choose 4-5 “Candidates” These are enough options for an interesting race, but not so many that the results are confusing.
  • Be Creative! We started this tradition with beer elections at breweries. Past house parties have used desserts, costumes, and even bourbon for their elections!
  • Campaign for your Candidates. For example, you can create signs for your flavors of cupcakes, or have a poster for the contenders in your costume contest.
  • Print Ballots for the Party. Find blank ballots here with instructions on how to edit them. We can also help you with this.

How We Can Help

  • Invitation Materials. We provide a template for Invitations that you can copy and paste into an email or send as an attachment. We will provide your own personal RSVP link and donation link, as well as templates forWe also have templates for Facebook events, and Thank You emails.If you’d like a public event, we can post an event on our website and Facebook page.
  • Volunteers, Our volunteers will attend the event: one from our Speaker’s Bureau, and one to assist with counting ballots, collecting sign-ups, and processing donations.
  • RCV Presentation, A member of our Speaker’s Bureau will present using a slideshow. They will bring a laptop, and an HDMI cord to display the presentation on your TV, or bring a projector to display on a wall.
  • Literature. Flyers, Sign-in Sheets, Donation Cards, and Pens. We will print and bring everything needed to educate and fundraise during the party.
  • Thank Yous. We have a template for thank you emails that you can send to guests the day after your party.We will also follow up with guests who expressed interest in volunteering and donating.