From Non-Member to Member: The Union Outreach Playbook

61.7 million non-union workers in the United States would join a union if they could. 

Public approval of unions sits at 68 percent, a near 60-year high. 

The demand is real. You just need the right outreach.  

Running a digital outreach campaign without a tested system means wasted volunteer hours, inconsistent conversations, and contacts who fall off before they ever sign. 

This playbook gives you five sequential digital campaigns, from the first survey to a signed membership card, with every script, sequence, and decision tree built in.

• A union preparing to launch a membership drive targeting non-union workers at a specific workplace or sector.
• You have a contact list and need a structured outreach sequence that moves contacts from cold to signed without losing them along the way.
• You are running phone banking, SMS broadcasts, peer-to-peer texting, or voice broadcasts, and want scripts that handle real objections, not just introductions.
• You have tried outreach before but lost contact after the first touch because there was no follow-up system in place.

A phone and SMS survey campaign that surfaces worker issues, warms cold contacts, and segments the list for every campaign that follows.

A full phone banking script built on the AHUY framework with branching objection handlers for dues, retaliation fears, and skepticism about impact.

A three-touch drip sequence for interested-but-unsigned contacts, plus a welcome sequence for new members the moment they sign.