We partnered with Empower Project on a fall 2020 volunteer engagement test with volunteers who had signed up to use the Empower RVT app. The test included two conditions, a group that was targeted with paid digital ads on Facebook and Instagram and an uncontacted control group. The ads encouraged people to contact their friends and family about voting and the ad program ran in the two weeks prior to Election Day.
Overall, the paid digital ad program does not appear to have increased engagement with the Empower app (i.e., adding contacts or logging conversations). While the ads had a large number of impressions, 3-second views and 50% views were relatively low, which may have limited the potential of the ads to impact volunteer behavior. Additionally, it is possible that volunteers engaged in relational GOTV conversations without logging them on the Empower app.