VotePlus10 - New Platform Gamifying Civic Activism - Launches Today

SAN FRANCISCO, May 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VotePlus10 - a free platform that gamifies and personalizes advocacy and activism - launches today, offering users simple actions that support the political, social, economic and environmental issues that matter across their community, city, county, state and nation. With a goal of committing at least 1MM users to vote by Election Day on November 3, 2020, VotePlus10's philosophy is that a person's civic connectedness can be enhanced with access to simple and personalized actions that can take as little as 10 minutes a month, ultimately driving an uptick in voter engagement and increasing trust in the democratic process.

"Even before the COVID-19 pandemic created an environment of disconnect and inactivity for many, it was apparent to me that the community of people around me felt powerless when it came to having an impact on the economic, social and political issues that mattered to them," said Ken Kurtzig, Chief Executive Officer for VotePlus10. "Now, the time is particularly ripe to leverage technology, social media and a few easy actions to empower every American to support the issues, campaigns and mission-driven organizations that matter to them. We hope that by making activistm easier and accessible to a wider audience, we can positively influence the number of voters in November."

HOW IT WORKS
Started by tech entrepreneur, Ken Kurtzig, as a grassroots bi-partisan program to help friends and family be more involved in issues that matter to them quickly and easily, VotePlus10 focuses on actions that can be done from anywhere, in as little as 10 minutes a month. Now a public web-based platform, the interface provides users with a personalized list of actions. At login, users identify the causes, candidates, and organizations that they want to support. In turn, VotePlus10 curates simple actions related to these personalized preferences. The actions can be taken from anywhere, on any device.

Users earn points by completing actions like committing to vote, posting a social thank you to frontline workers, contacting their local congressperson with a pre-populated letter, or donating goods and funds. Users can also earn points by getting their own network involved and activated. The more points the networks earn, the more points a user earns. Leaderboards highlight standout users across causes, candidates, organizations, events, conferences, and more.

Key features of VotePlus10 include:

• Issues personalization
• Voter registration and ability to publicly commit to vote
• Curated actions based on issues preferences
• Groups pages committed to specific causes
• Network engagement to enlist and activate the support of friends
• Tools to support campaigns and non-profits to drive results from their supporters

In time, VotePlus10 intends to reward various behaviors beyond the leaderboard.

"VotePlus10 is as much a perspective as it is a platform: a belief that simple actions really can add up to a major impact, we just have to do them. Ideally, we do them together, with family and friends," said Jarrod Russell, Chief Operating Officer for VotePlus10.

THE ISSUES
The tagline for VotePlus10 is "toward a healthier democracy and planet, together." This idea is to help give users a sense of agency and how they can help their voice be heard. Giving them access to issues that matter to them is a key step in this process to then drive voter action. VotePlus10 research shows that the issues that most matter to its users are:

• Climate Change
• Education
• Healthcare
• Income Inequality
• Gun Rights and Reform

The platform also activates users around incredibly localized issues like city council elections and neighborhood mutual aid programs.

PARTNERS AND INTEGRATED TOOLS
Over 30 mission-driven organizations, campaigns and schools have partnered with VotePlus10, including U.S. Senate candidate Maya Smith, Baltimore Mayoral candidate Valerie Cunningham and environmental organization Turning Green. VotePlus10 works with political campaigns and environmental and social organizations that want a powerful platform to engage, drive, and action through their supporter networks. Campaigns, group leaders and networks can grow their supporter base exponentially by creating and sharing actions that address any range of issues, including climate change, LGBTQIA+ issues, criminal justice reform, localized issues and more. Introductory plans are free and scale up with the growth of the campaigns' and organizations' reach.

"VotePlus10 is a game changer for political campaigns. VotePlus10 makes it so easy to get committed votes, donations and, most importantly, leverage supporter networks to drive greater awareness and reach," said Marc Levine, California Assembly.

Further, VotePlus10 has launched a national college ambassadors program to increase civic engagement and voter turnout. Colleges with registered ambassadors include University of California Berkeley, Brown University, Emory, Santa Clara University,  Dominican University and College of Marin.

With the support of over a dozen integrated partners and tools, VotePlus10 is able to keep actions easy, accessible and impactful without having to navigate multiple websites. Integrated solutions include: Turbo Vote, IssueVoter, UnitedWay, ActBlue, DonorBox, Vote.org, BallotReady, WhenWeAllVote, AllSides and WeVote.

About VotePlus10
"Toward a healthier democracy and planet, together," VotePlus10 makes democratic participation accessible and easy for everyone. VotePlus10 is a free platform that provides users with simple actions that take just 10 minutes a month to make a positive social, political and environmental impact. Users complete actions to gain points and reach new levels, building a much-needed sense of progress on big issues like healthcare, climate change, and elections. Users can multiply their impact by inviting friends to join their VotePlus10 network. Political campaigns, mission-driven organizations and colleges also use VotePlus10 to increase collective action in their communities. Based in Marin County, VotePlus10 is dedicated to getting 1MM users committed to vote on Election Day.

To start a VotePlus10 group for your political campaign, mission-driven organization, or college campus email [email protected] or visit voteplus10.org/groups.

For more information about VotePlus10, visit www.voteplus10.org.

SOURCE VotePlus10

Related Links

www.voteplus10.org