7 Tips to Improve Elections with OrgSync

March 1, 2013

Increase voter turnout by using OrgSync for your student elections! How do you do it?


Improve your elections with OrgSync

Accept nomination forms online. 1.    Use Online Nominations and Applications
Using the forms feature, create a nomination or application form for your election, putting all potential candidates in one easy online location. Have students fill out explanations for their nomination; for example, “John Smith has a commitment to volunteerism that will make him the best choice for Homecoming King.”

Create an online ballot. 2.    Create a Ballot
Take votes via a simple poll or a voting form. In elections for a single position, use a poll.* Votes will be limited to one per user, and all will be anonymous. Students can vote directly from their newsfeeds.

For a more complicated election, use OrgSync’s form feature. Administrators can track who voted, and the form can include space for comments and other information.

*Note: If voting for multiple positions, you will need to create one poll for each position.

 Use OrgSync as a virtual voting booth. 3.    Build Virtual Voting Booth
Keep voting information all in one place by creating a “Voting Booth” portal (either import all students or ask them to join). Make sure students never miss an election and are always eligible to vote!

 4.    Promote Elections
Promote your election on social networks.Promote your upcoming election with banners featured at the top of Community Home. Every student will see your graphic banner as soon as they log in. You can also post a news post to Community Home, send instructions via email and OrgSync messages, and post a link to your election on your public website.

Highlight your election by making an event to put the election on everyone’s calendar and use mass texting to remind voters the day-of. You can also analyze who hasn’t filled out the form and send them personal reminders. OrgSync has many communication tools; use them to maximize student awareness.

Use photos and videos to advertise. 5.    Incorporate Photos and Videos
After you’ve selected your nominees, you can ask them to post in the Photos and Videos sections. When a portrait or video nomination is posted, it will automatically populate the news feed for all to see, to help make a decision.

Graphically analyze the data to get results.
6.Analyze the Data to Determine the Winner
View forms or poll results visually as they come in. Rather than counting up paper forms, running your election in OrgSync means instant results with easy-to-read graphs. For more detailed information, export all form submissions to Excel for a deeper analysis.
Share results to let everyone know the winner.

7. Share the Results
Announce results across all OrgSync channels, including news posts on community home and posts on your public website.

Want to learn more about how OrgSync can improve elections on your campus? Read our case study with Furman University about how they streamlined their elections process and doubled voter turnout after switching to OrgSync.

Join us on March 25 for a webinar all about elections, “Cast Your Vote: Facilitating Campus Elections on OrgSync.” Sign up now!

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Megan Kinkade

Megan is a Marketing Coordinator for OrgSync, where she has worked since October 2012. She holds a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and worked in Institutional Advancement at Austin College. She has written and edited for several publications, including The Dallas Morning News, The Beaumont Enterprise, and CURE Magazine.
See Other Posts by Megan Kinkade

  • http://twitter.com/HamzaARiaz Hamza Riaz

    Can you expand on what a virtual polling booth is? I’m curious because 2 of our organizations chose not to use electronic voting this year but are looking for it for next year. This still doesn’t seem very fleshed out. Our major concern was security and ease of use. We don’t want people to have to create a new account or to join a new portal to vote.

  • http://www.adamrcebulski.com Adam Cebulski

    The virtual polling booth would be a portal you use to conduct officer, homecoming, other elections through the forms or polls module. We have a webinar dedicated to conducting elections which can be found at: http://www.orgsync.com/videos/webinar-cast-your-vote-facilitating-campus-elections-on-orgsync. If you speak with your campus consultant or a sales team member, they’d be more than happy to expand on the process as well.

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