5 Ways To Build An Award-Winning Youth Outreach Program
In the United States of Zohran Mamdani, young people are energized, mobilized, and eager to be part of something bigger than themselves. Campaigns that harness this momentum can open new pathways to victory. Here are some practices any campaign can adopt:
1. Start by Identifying Young Voters between the ages of 18 - 25
Targeting young voters is not as simple as selecting an age range in the voter file. Campaigns with limited resources must balance high-propensity voters with new voter activation, but common targeting tools often work against youth engagement. Screens like “2+/4 general or primary voters” inherently exclude young voters—no one under 21 could have participated in four elections, even if they registered at 18. A better approach is to create youth-specific sub-filters in VAN that loosen vote-history requirements from “at least” to “any.” For primaries, campaigns should target young voters who participated in the most recent general election. Similar results can be achieved by screening based on recent registration dates.
2. Leverage High Schools and Universities
Leverage colleges, high schools, and local Young Democrats chapters by recruiting students as paid organizers, interns, and volunteer leaders by activating them through coordinated Days of Action. Campus tabling and youth-led outreach raise awareness about the candidate and help register new voters. They also create a pipeline for canvassing, phonebanks, and Election Day turnout. This approach lets campaigns expand field capacity, make the most of limited paid staff, and build long-term engagement with young voters.
3. Youth Campaign Leadership
Establish a Lead Youth Coordinator role, an entry-level, growth-oriented position responsible for youth outreach and youth-led media. After VAN training, the coordinator should participate in senior staff meetings, cut turf, and develop youth-specific strategies, including managing a dedicated “Youth for ___” digital account. By empowering young leaders to create and share short-form content that resonates with their peers, campaigns expand unpaid media reach, strengthen youth turnout, and build a durable pipeline of future organizers.
4. Set up Communication Channel
Utilize tools like Slack to share campaign updates with campaign volunteers, even if they may be low impact. This will allow campaign initiative to reach further and may even bring in a new volunteer base.
5. Youth Targeted Media
Utilize their tech savvy skills to film campaign videos and interviews. These videos will be more appealing to young voters as they will appear on algorithms with minimal campaign spending. Young people are more likely to repost social media posts that they feel targeted to their generation. It is important to remember that short and concise gets the message out to youth.