Sister District Action Network

 

Sister District Action Network is a 501(c)(4) organization that runs programs in the areas of political research, civic engagement, and state legislator support. SDAN’s programs include: 

  • Political Research:

    • Academic-quality research in the form of randomized controlled trials, surveys and secondary data analyses in the areas of voter and volunteer participation and engagement, and broader electoral trends at the state legislative level.

    • District-level data analysis that guides Sister District Project’s electoral endorsement process and ensures that resources are directed to the most competitive races.  

  • Civic Engagement:

    • State Bridges Program: activates Sister District volunteers across the country to fundraise for grassroots organizations leading year-round power-building work in Sister District’s priority states.

  • Legislator Support:

    • Purple District Network: resource-sharing network to equip progressive frontliners with the skills and networks they need to succeed in advancing progressive policy.

 
 

OUR mission

Sister District Action Network inspires and empowers legislators, organizations, volunteers and voters through programs aimed at civic education, political research, and state legislator support.

 
 

Recent Projects

Vote By Mail Text Message Chase

In October of 2020, we sent almost 25,000 text messages to Georgia voters who had requested but not yet returned their absentee ballot for the 2020 general election in order to see if chasing vote by mail materials with an informational text message reminder would increase ballot return rates (compared to 25,000 voters who didn’t get messaged). We hope to release the results in summer 2021.

PRIMARY ELECTION STUDIES

In 2020, we ran two postcarding studies during the primary election season with promising results. One explored the role of postmark location (read more here), and one explored the role of sending GOTV postcards before both the presidential and the general primaries (read more here). These results indicate that primaries and quieter election contexts may be a good time to reach voters with postcards. Further, downstream analysis of the two primaries postcards study indicates there is some suggestive evidence for primary postcards even increasing general election turnout (read more here).

Mobilize + Personal Text for Event Reminders

In the spring of 2021, we ran a pilot study to determine if an additional personal text message reminder to RSVPs to an event (in addition to the automated text message reminder sent by Mobilize) would increase event attendance. We found no significant difference between people who received the additional text message and people who only received the Mobilize reminder. This indicates that an additional personal reminder text message is not necessary for (or effective at) increasing event attendance. Read more here.

 
 

Civic Engagement

Our Civic Engagement program works to educate and empower communities to engage deeply on state legislative issues.

 
 

Legislative SERVICES

Our legislator support program includes the Purple District Network, which is the only state legislator network exclusively focused on providing support to state legislators located in purple districts.