How to Conduct A Successful Campaign

How to Conduct
A Successful Campaign
A workbook for candidates and their
campaign staff members seeking to run
an effective local campaign on a budget.
How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 1 Workbook Contents
Campaign Clarity
Why are you running?..................................................................... Page 4 What are you running for? ............................................................. Page 5 What do you hope to accomplish? ................................................ Page 7 The Campaign Team
Finding good campaign team members ......................................... Page 8 A bare bones campaign team strategy ........................................... Page 9 Building an ideal campaign team.................................................. Page 10 Finding and keeping volunteers.................................................... Page 11 Your Campaign Plan
What to expect: an overview ....................................................... Page 15 Campaign set‐up ........................................................................... Page 17 Strategic planning ......................................................................... Page 19 Campaign messaging..................................................................... Page 19 Fundraising .................................................................................... Page 28 Campaign materials ..................................................................... Page 32 Finding voters ............................................................................... Page 37 Your Get Out The Vote plan ......................................................... Page 40 Election Day................................................................................... Page 45 The morning after ......................................................................... Page 47 Your Questions .......................................................................... Page 48 How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 2 Before You Begin…
Commit These Three
Thoughts To Memory:
It takes courage to run for public office.
Win or lose, your candidacy will change
the campaign debate for the better.
Somebody has to win: why not you?!
How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 3 Campaign Clarity
Congratulations on making the decision to step forward and either run for office or help someone you know and believe in run for office. You are embarking on a journey that will involve a great deal of effort, and it is likely you will be juggling this arduous task with other important priorities in your life. Given all the work you will be putting in to it, it is very important that you know exactly why you were running and what you hope to accomplish. Knowing this will also help you return to what is most important when you get in the heat of battle and have to make rapid decisions about where to allocate your time and your resources. How to use this section: if you are still in the planning stages of your campaign, or if you have not yet decided whether you will be involved in running for office, this section is a good way to crystallize your intentions and evaluate whether you think the effort is worth it. If you have already made a decision to run, completing this section will provide you with a really good base for creating campaign messages that accurately reflect who you are and what you stand for. 1. Why are you running?
People run for office for many different reasons. Some people are disgusted with the job that their current elected officials are doing. Others have observed unfair public policies and they want to see them changed. Some people run for the power it gives them. Others care about their community and want to see it move in the right direction. When was the first time you thought about running for office or helping someone run for office? Do you remember what it was that happened to make you think of this idea? Enter what comes to mind below: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 4 Now, think about what it is you want to change if you are elected. List what you want to change and why you think things need to change: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Finally, list three personal benefits you hope to get out of serving in office. Be honest. If you want to attract more attention to your local business by being active, say so. If you want to build a better community for your children, list that. Or maybe you will get a bigger say in how your tax dollars are spent and that is important to you. There is no right or wrong answer. Just list the first three benefits that come to mind: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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2. Are you running for the right office?
People usually enter the world of politics by running for local office. This is really the only kind of office you could run for and hope to win without having a lot of money in your campaign chest. Most people run for a seat on the school board, a soil and water district supervisor, a spot on the City Council, County Commissioner, Mayor or Sheriff when they think of serving locally. You should be absolutely sure you are running for the right office, given what you hope to accomplish in your community and what your schedule can accommodate. You’d be surprised how many people run for City Council and are then dismayed they have to attend frequent meetings. Even if you think you have already decided which office to run for it, take a few minutes to fill out this section to confirm you are on the right track. What elective offices are up for grabs in your town that you might be able to run for? List them below. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 5 Which of these offices are you most qualified to hold, given your personal and/or your professional background? It could be you are qualified for the school board because you have volunteered in the school system for years as a parent. Or maybe you are in law enforcement and know what the Sheriff's office needs? Perhaps you have been active in community organizations and understand the different issues a City Council member must consider. Given all these things, which offices are you most qualified to run for? _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Now take a look at the local political landscape in your town. Which of these offices have been held by the same people for so long that unseating them may be impossible? Or, conversely, which of these offices badly need someone new in them? Is someone retiring or has someone announced they will not seek re‐election? List what is working against you and for you in terms of the incumbent below: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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It is now time to commit to running for a specific office. List it below: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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X Now that you have decided what office you are running for, your first homework assignment is to get your hands on a copy of the official duties of that position. You can usually find this on the web, as part of your town or county’s website. Memorize the duties and powers of your position. Knowing what the job actually entails can give you a big edge in debates against your opponents and it makes it clear that you know what you are doing! How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 6 3. What do you hope to accomplish?
Let's take a closer look at what it is you hope to accomplish if you are elected. This will be important when you begin to craft your campaign message. Earlier, you listed how you wanted your community to change as a result of your service. Take those ideas further and list some specific changes you would make in prevailing policies if you were elected to the office you are seeking: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Congratulations! You should now have a pretty clear idea of why you are running for office, what office you are running for and what you hope to accomplish if you win. It is now time to take a look at what you need in terms of a campaign team… How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 7 The Campaign Team
You cannot run for office and win on your own. You will be kept very busy knocking on doors, attending events and calling people on the telephone. All of your attention will be focused on putting your best foot forward in articulating your campaign platform. You cannot be expected to handle the details involved in a successful campaign while doing a bunch of detail‐oriented tasks. There are also legal implications to accepting donations for a campaign, and you cannot afford to make mistakes. Therefore, it is very import that you begin now to identify the people who will help you run for office. You will need a core campaign staff and a group of volunteers. Note: If you are considering serving on a campaign staff, this section will help you decide which position is best for you. How to use this section: first, identify a pool of people who might serve on your core campaign team, then take a look at the positions listed in this section and what each staff member normally does. After reading each description and the job’s requirements, write down one or two people in your life who may be able to do that job for you. Note: If you are considering taking a position on someone else's campaign, then you can help your candidate by writing down people who might be good for the other team positions. Choose people who complement your own talents. Finding good campaign team members:
Where can you find people to serve on your campaign? Ideally, you already have some community service under your belt or you would not be stepping up to run for office. The best place to find campaign members are in the groups you already belong to. Maybe you are part of a neighborhood association, or you belong to a civic organization, or you have been very active in your school or church? It is probable that like‐minded people belong to these groups. Who among them might commit time to volunteering for your campaign? List all the organizations you belong to that have large enough memberships to allow you to find campaign staff and volunteers among their ranks: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 8 Family members are also a good choice to help you with your campaign. You may want to involve a family member because it makes it easy to discuss campaign strategy, because you have a family member who is very well known in your community and will help raise your visibility, or because you want to teach your children the importance of being involved in your community. Just make family members have a specific task to do, such as fundraising or knocking on doors, or else they will be looking for things to do when the mood strikes them and that can be more of a distraction than an asset. List family members below who might be a good addition to your campaign team: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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A bare bones campaign team strategy:
As you go through the positions that follow, don’t panic if you can’t think of many candidates. You may be able to get away with this bare bones strategy: at the very minimum you will need a Campaign Manager and a Treasurer to keep track of your campaign donations and file the necessary reports. You will also need volunteers. X If you go this route, and choose a small campaign team, you better be sure that your campaign manager is prepared to fill all the roles described below and can work close to full‐time on your campaign. It is hard to find a person to do this! Few people have the skills and few people have the time. Most people serve on local campaign teams for free, but asking someone to be a jack‐of‐all‐trades campaign manager is asking a lot of them! Sometimes paying a small stipend to someone who is working part‐
time or retired is your best bet. In either case, your all‐in‐one campaign manager needs to a good communicator and well‐known in your community. If you need a good all‐in‐one campaign manager, your best for finding one is to: ƒ
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Ask prior candidates who managed their campaigns for them. Contact your local political party and ask them for suggestions. Sometimes, a long‐
time GOTV volunteer can fill the job. See if your local civic organization or the groups you belong to have any retired public relations or communications professionals who might be interested. Go young: ask your local college’s political or journalist stars if they are interested. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 9 Building An Ideal Campaign Team
If you are running for a tough office, or a higher‐level office, try to find people to occupy the following positions on your campaign team. Remember to write down a few names below each position so you can start identifying people to be part of your team. Campaign Manager
This person will manage the day‐to‐day operations of your campaign and stand in for you if you are unavailable. Depending on the rest of your team, they must be able to talk to the media on your behalf, help with fundraising, manage volunteers, schedule poll workers, brief you on campaign events and, most importantly of all, the campaign manager is also responsible for making sure that all the other team members are doing their jobs. When you are talking about a volunteer organization, this is a task that requires flexibility and tact. Choose your campaign manager wisely! X You must decide upfront who has the final say when it comes to day‐to‐day decisions: you or your campaign manager. Then you must make sure the rest of your staff understands who has this authority. A campaigns can and will collapse if its decision‐maker refuses to or cannot be found to make the call on critical issues and tactical matters. The worst thing that can happen in a campaign is analysis paralysis. To paralyze a campaign by over‐analyzing the outcome of decisions, or by involving too many people in the decision, will lead to missed opportunities and wasted resources. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Treasurer /Fundraiser
This individual keeps record of all campaign donations you receive, tracks all campaign expenditures and files all required campaign finance reports on your behalf. They also usually oversee fundraising and follow‐up with donors, and make sure you have the necessary information on donors as required by law. But remember that, ultimately, YOU are responsible for all your reporting and forms must be signed by both you and your Treasurer, if you decide to have one. There is no margin for error in this job: you must file receipts and expenditures reports on time and comply with the law. Choose someone who understands this and has the skills to handle these financial tasks. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 10 Volunteer Coordinator
This person schedules, trains and oversees the volunteers who are helping you get your campaign message out and work the polls on your behalf. This person must like people and not get frustrated when volunteers change their schedules at the last moment. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Media/Public Relations Coordinator
If you know someone experienced at press outreach but with limited time, separating this function from the campaign manager role can allow you to build an even stronger staff. Your Media Coordinator will send out press releases to newspapers, television stations and radio stations; monitor the press and let you know when you need to react; monitor opponent press and point out any opportunities for you that may arise from their missteps; help you with your messaging and speech writing; handle press inquiries; and make sure everyone working on your campaign is sending out consistent messages. Make sure your Media Coordinator gets along well with your Campaign Manager and is on the same page with them when it comes to your messages or your campaign is toast! _______________________________________________________________________________________
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GOTV Director
When it comes time to contact voters and get them to the polls during the Early Voting period and on Election Day, you will often find that you must adjust your original strategy to account for unforeseen events and to take advantage of opportunities. Having a GOTV Director gives your campaign someone who can focus on interpreting information coming in from the field and campaign trail; shift volunteers to areas where large numbers of your supporters are not showing up to vote; and suggest new ways to contact voters as the campaign evolves. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 11 Data Coordinator
If you are lucky enough to know someone who is good at database management, grab them for your campaign! A good database coordinator can help manage your list of local voters, keep volunteers schedules organized, help immensely with tracking and targeting donors, can get you up and visible on social media sites, and may be able to handle email newsletter to supporters as well. Note: this person should be the only person to touch the database. You will corrupt your data and lose your Database Coordinator if you let other people go into their files, especially people who only think they know what they are doing! _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Finding volunteers!
If you hope to win, you will need a corps of volunteers to let people know about your candidacy, to pass out literature and to work for you on Election Day. It is extremely difficult to recruit volunteers one by one, especially if you have a small campaign staff. The best way to find volunteers is to concentrate your efforts on enlisting the help of people who serve as gatekeepers to other organizations and can then recruit other volunteers on your behalf. List the people you know who are gatekeepers in your community, or influencers who always seem to be bringing people together and steering them in the right direction. These are the people you need to contact personally so you can ask for their support and help finding you volunteers: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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A word about churches: if you belong to a faith community, it can be a great place to find volunteers and donors. There is nothing illegal or wrong with you personally asking people you know from your church to help your campaign. However, you must not use church resources to promote your candidacy and you should not ask your pastor to publicly support you or say anything about you from the pulpit. If you do, your faith How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 12 community will be breaking the law and could lose their nonprofit status. For more information on allowable activities by faith communities, please visit www.democracy‐
nc.org and download our "Election Year Guide For Faith Communities." Now list all the people you know who you think would make good volunteers or who have indicated an interest in your campaign. If you have trouble thinking of enough people, please see the section below this one: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Where to find more volunteers:
After you have looked through the groups you belong to for possibilities, and gone through your contact list for family and friends, ask your family and friends and any existing volunteers if they know anyone else who might be interested in volunteering for your campaign. Be sure to distinguish between asking for volunteers who will help you leading up to Election Day and volunteers who will only work at the polls during Early Voting or on Election Day. Many people will offer to work the polls for you on Election Day, few will come along for the long haul. Having both options available will get you more volunteers. After that, remember this: asking people to volunteer for you is just like asking people to vote for you or give you money: you have to ask to make it happen. Getting people to volunteer the first time is the hardest step. Once they come and volunteer, they will return, assuming they had fun and you did not waste their time. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 13 Everything you do as a candidate should be considered a volunteer activity. Whether you are canvassing, phone banking, doing a mailing, or holding a sign, it’s always better when you have volunteers. Not only will it demonstrate to others that people support you; but it’s also great to have others help you reach more voters. Take the opportunity always to make these events volunteer recruiting events as well: if you meet someone interested in your campaign, make sure they get asked to volunteer! Never hesitate to ask someone to volunteer. If you come across someone while at an event, or while phone banking who is very excited that you called, ask them to come to your next phone bank, sign‐making party, or envelope‐stuffing event. The worst thing they can do is say no, and the best thing is that they say yes! Think up a low‐key way to ask people to volunteer for your campaign, write the phrase below and memorize it: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Make sure that you or a staffer always get contact information for potential volunteers, especially their phone number and email. Once you generate this list, DO NOT LOSE IT. It will come in handy during your re‐election campaign, fundraising, or any other campaign event you may have once you are elected. Make sure that you and your campaign team are on a first‐name basis with your volunteers. Again, they’ll be more likely to return and to help recruit more volunteers if they feel valuable and part of the team. Always follow up with a personal thank you or an email, note, or phone call to your volunteers when they make a big contribution of their time so that they know you appreciate their help. People remember your kindness and will be more likely to bring a friend along the next time you need volunteers. Now that you have started to build a campaign team, it’s time to understand what a successful campaign plan looks like… How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 14 Your Campaign Plan
An Overview
Running a campaign requires three to four month’s worth of work at a minimum, as well as a team approach. This section will help you decide your campaign strategy and craft a solid campaign plan. However, you should expect even your best laid plans to go astray sooner rather than later. One great thing of having a plan written down in advance is that even if you have to change directions, you will always have your written plan to go back to. This will make it easier to evaluate how you need to change your initial strategy to take advantage of opportunities or account for setbacks. Campaign Elements
Every campaign will have these elements: Campaign set‐up and pre‐filing tasks: inform yourself so you do not miss the filing or any other deadlines; know what you are getting into and the legal requirements; and let local power brokers know you are running before you declare. Try to decide on a campaign core team two to three months before the election. During this time you will choose your campaign staff, set up your campaign bank account if you choose to have one and start identifying volunteers and strategy. The exercises featured in the first section of this workbook are this planning stage. Strategic planning: Once you know who is on your campaign team and the types of challenges you will be facing, it is time for your team to get together and discuss what type of campaign you want to run, what your core message is, where you will get your money and what you can afford to do. You should do this immediately after choosing your campaign staff, so that you are at least ten weeks out from the election. These discussions should lead to a written campaign plan. The exercises you complete in this workbook should go a long way toward getting you to a solid written plan. Fundraising: Your first step in running a campaign is to approach your biggest donors personally and to mount a grassroots fundraising campaign for smaller donations. You need to do this first so that you can get an idea on how much your campaign will have to spend and the level of campaigning you can afford. You will continue to fundraise throughout the campaign, but you still need to start off with some major fundraising. Ways to do this are listed in a separate section below. Campaign materials: You must design and order your campaign materials far enough in advance that they are visible long enough before the election to make a difference. You How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 15 also want to avoid rush costs on printing when you order these materials. You usually cannot put out yard signs more than 30 or so days before an election, but you should add at least a month in before that opening day for the process of writing and designing these materials and having them printed. This means you should begin working on campaign materials at least two months before the election. Finding voters: With your campaign materials in the works, it is time for you to take a very close look at the voter base in your community and figure out who your voters are and how you can reach them. You should start this step no later than four weeks out from the election and you must hit the ground running contacting voters from Day One of Early Voting. Getting out the vote: You have a lot of doors to knock on and a lot of phone calls to make, no matter what office you are running for. You cannot get to everyone, and the closer you wait to get started the more rushed you will be. At the same time, people have short memories. For a local campaign, the best approach is to start contacting voters and attending events and getting your name out about six weeks to a month before the election or primary. Election Day: You and your volunteers must be prepared to work all day on Election Day, and there are many things you can do that day to get people to vote for you. Follow‐Up: Win or lose, there are things you must do after the election is over to increase your chances of getting elected next time around. These are your basic campaign steps and planning for them should be part of your campaign plan. Now let's take a look at some of the most important steps and your options within them more closely...
How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 16 Campaign Set-Up & Staffing
Before you announce your candidacy, talk with sitting or past officeholders from your district as well as the chair of any local political party you may belong to. Do the same with community leaders and political action committee officers who are likely to support your views. Let them know you are running and ask for their support. Ask what issues are important to them and just listen. Send personalized thank you notes to show respect for their time, and you’ll get a positive reaction once you formally announce. Find out your local election calendar and key dates for filing your candidacy from your town/city clerk or the local board of elections. Stop by the office in person and ask for a copy of all filing documents and required campaign reports so you’ll know what information you’ll need when you formally file in person. If possible, get your hands on a copy of the manual of elections law that will apply to your campaign. Sign up for all the candidate trainings you can find. They’re often free or have a small fee, and can give you ideas and put you in touch with potential supporters. In addition to opportunities your state political party provides, there may be local or national activist organizations offering training sessions in person or on‐line and your local board of elections may offer training as well, especially in filing your campaign finance reports. There are also tons of resources and ideas on‐line for candidates. If you do not have a computer at home, you can find one at the local library. Visit your local board of elections and ask for a map of your district, the political calendar for the year, and any campaign manual they may have. You should also be able to ask for and receive a data file of voters in your district for a nominal fee. A hard copy is better than nothing, but an electronic file is best for your purposes. File your candidacy on time and follow whatever process is appropriate for the office you are seeking. Your local board of elections can tell you what this is. You must do this within the time period announced or you name will not be on the ballot. Make sure you understand all campaign finance laws and other election laws that apply. Again, visit your local county board of elections for guidance. Drive your district to get a feel for its various neighborhoods and note which ones, if any, are walkable for door‐knocking, find out where the condominium and apartment communities are, and see if they allow access for political purposes. Find out what other candidates with your political affiliation have filed for races in your community and meet with them. Some of them may have run for office before and can offer valuable experience. This will be much easier if there is no contested primary. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 17 Ask people to serve on your core campaign team, then assemble for an initial meeting to discuss your campaign message and strategic plan and to identify potential donors and volunteers immediately. Given the steps outlined above, take a moment to write down all the information you need but are missing to get your campaign off on the right foot. Do you know where to go to file, where your local board of election is, who your local political leaders are? List the questions you have below, along with the names of people you need to contact to get the info you need: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Now it's time to go to the next step: campaign strategy and messaging. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 18 Strategic Planning & Messaging
Crafting a core message:
The first step in building an effective campaign is deciding what your core campaign message is going to be. You can do this by yourself or as part of your first campaign team meeting. Just remember this: at any one time, you will have no more than 20 to 30 seconds to get your message across to the people you want to vote or volunteer for you. That's it. It is very important that you distill your core campaign message down to that length, and that you train your campaign staff and volunteers to repeat versions of this message over and over. It takes a lot of repetition for your message to get through. This section helps guide you toward a solid campaign message. Basically, your core message needs to answer the question: “Why you, now?” This is especially important in races with an incumbent. Remember: races with incumbents are always about the incumbent! What’s your message?
Think of the office that you want to run for and the types of community activities it oversees. Now list the three biggest things you think need to change in that area (you may have already done this earlier in the workbook): _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Next, in very general terms, describe what you would do to make this change happen: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 19 List the overall benefits to your community should these changes take place: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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With this information in mind, fill in the blanks in the following statement on the lines provided below it: I believe that our town needs (list the overall benefits to your community of the change you envision) and we can accomplish that if we work together. To get there, we need to (list the main things you think need to change.) I can make that happen because (briefly state your community experience or background that qualifies you for this job.) _______________________________________________________________________________________
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The information you put down in this section should be the basis for your main campaign message. Take it to your campaign team, revise it to make sure the language is action‐oriented and sings, then commit it to memory and repeat often. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 20 Keep it simple.
Notice that your core campaign message did not include how you intended to make your vision real. How you intend to make it happen is something you will talk about in response to voter questions, in debates or during interviews with reporters. Most people don't have a long enough attention span to care. They just want to know what you believe in and get a sense of what your values are. Keep it positive.
On the national level, people get a lot of media attention for attacking their opponents and fostering fear and division. This type of behavior is amplified by media outlets seeking to build ratings. However, this approach does not work well at all on the local level, where the person you are attacking may very well be a relative or friend of the voter you are trying to reach. In addition, people are weary of bickering and partisan mudslinging on every level of American politics. They are looking for leaders who can paint a positive vision and lead them there. Think of Bill Clinton when he first ran for office: he was the underdog and he won because he ran in the middle of an economic downturn, painted a better vision of what America could be and convinced people that he was the person to take them there. It may be difficult to hold your temper and to resist the temptation to make negative statements about your opponent or current government. But if you give in, you will likely lose more voters then you will pick up. If you think you need more practice at thinking positively — and many people running for office do, since they feel very passionately about their ideas — then take a moment to practice framing statements in a more positive light. Three statements are listed below. How would you say the same thing, but in a more positive way? We have been wasting our town's money on things that do not matter and only benefit the few. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Our children are failing their standardized tests, our schools resources are disgraceful and the poorest kids are paying the most. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Our town is dying and small businesses are going under. We must find a way to save our local economic base. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 21 Anticipating the opposition.
Note: you may not be ready to complete this section. As you go out on your own and create an actual campaign plan, be sure to come back and complete this section. If you have been paying attention to local politics or if you are good at reading people, chances are very good that you can already guess the type of things your opponent is likely to say. As you clarify your platform and messaging, now is a great time to think ahead and find positive ways to respond to any mud you suspect your opponent may sling. List the campaign themes you have heard from your opponent below, then briefly jot down a response and, if necessary, revise it to come up with an even more positive way of framing your response in a way that illustrates you are a leader: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Communicating campaign messages effectively:
Your campaign is going to spend the majority of its resources trying to get your message out to the right set of voters. You must know what the message is and be able to restate it in a way that appeals to the audience you are speaking to. Remember, in many communities you are the campaign. Local press will look to you for advice and input into the story. You have to know what is going on if you are going to be quoted. Here is some advice on effective campaign messaging: Good Messages are CONCISE. Go directly to the point. Avoid complicated jargon. A good message can be expressed in a few phrases. Good Messages are CLEAR. Use stark language. Leave no doubt about whose side you are on. You need the free press you will be getting to complement and reinforce what you are saying This can only happen if you are clear. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 22 Good Messages are CONSISTENT. Repeat, repeat, and repeat. Voters are barraged with a steady stream of conflicting information every day. You have a very small window of opportunity to reach the voter. Having multiple messages dilutes your ability to deliver a consistent theme. You must stay on message and repeat that message over and over and over again. Good Messages are CONVINCING. Never, never, never lie. No short‐term advantage gained through lying is worth the loss of credibility that occurs when caught in a lie. But also remember that the truth is not enough. Voters must believe what you are saying; you must be credible. You risk your credibility when you try to convince voters of something they do not believe in or do not care about. Is your message about something they care about? If not, move on to another message. Good Messages draw a CONTRAST. Your goal is to draw a distinction between you and your opponent. Voters need to have a basis on which to decide who to vote for. Your job is to provide favorable contrast. The practices, policies, and history of the incumbent are there to help you reinforce your message. Even when your response involves complex public policy issues and positions, your job is to clearly establish in the voter’s mind a clear impression about who you are and what you stand for so that they can see if you share their values and beliefs. Next step: evaluate the political landscape.
Now that you have agreed on what you stand for, you and your campaign team need to answer the following questions before you can decide on a campaign plan. The answers to these questions will determine what your campaign plan should be: Who is your opposition and what advantages do they have over you? How much money are they likely to have for their campaign? _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 23 How much time do you as the candidate or key staff members have to devote to your campaign? Are you all holding down jobs in addition to campaigning, or are you available to campaign full time? _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Who are your key allies when it comes to getting elected? What groups are likely to support your candidacy and what influential individuals in your community are likely to support your candidacy? _______________________________________________________________________________________
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What local groups or PACs do you need to win over in order to gain votes and donations? How can you go about winning their support? Are you willing to give them what they may want in return for their support? _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Who are your biggest likely donors? You may have worked on this earlier in this workbook, look back and list their names below along with any other new names that occur to you. These are the people you need to contact personally: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 24 Think back to past local candidates who either lost due to spectacular errors in their campaign or unexpectedly won. What did they do wrong and what did they do right? What can you learn from their example? _______________________________________________________________________________________
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What local media and community outlets can you use to get information about your candidacy across? First think of all the free outlets at your fingertips, including local newspapers, free community newspapers, radio stations, libraries with bulletin boards, and other gathering places. List the paid outlets separately since you will have to evaluate whether you have the money for them at a later date. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 25 Are there any other people running for office who might want to join you at campaign events or run on an informal ticket with you? Are you certain that their association with you will be 100% positive given their background and your voting base? _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Which neighborhoods or groups of voters must absolutely turn out and vote for you in order for you to win? List them below. These people will be your priority targets when it’s time to get out the vote: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Which people or groups are unlikely to support you no matter what you say or do? List these groups below and let them go. You have more productive things to do. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Do any of your supporters have special talents or abilities they could contribute to your campaign? For example do you have a friend who plays in a pretty good band or a friend who is a caterer? Both could help at a fundraising event. Do you know a printer who might give you a break on your printing costs, or someone who owns a taxi service and could help take people to the polls? Remember that you cannot ask a church to use its resources to help you, so you should not ask for use of church buses or their facilities for your campaign. Also, donations of goods and professional services must be reported as campaign donations just like cash donations are. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 26 Do you know anyone who ran for office before you who might give you access to their list of supporters or volunteers? If the person is not running this time, he or she may be willing to give you that information as well as advice. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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You are now ready to craft your plan!
With the answers to the above questions in mind, you are now ready to review the sections that follow, which list your options in key areas of your campaign plan. As you go through, check off the options you think your campaign can handle or that it would be wise to do. The most important considerations to keep in mind as you choose the elements of your campaign plan will be how much money you have, how much help you have and how much time you and your staff have to campaign. Your goal after reading all of the sections that follow, and identifying the options that will work for you, is to create a step‐by‐step campaign plan that includes: ƒ Your core campaign messages. ƒ How you intend to fundraise. ƒ What campaign materials you can produce. ƒ How you will identify voters to reach. ƒ How you will get your message out to voters. ƒ How you intend to Get Out the Vote. ƒ What you plan to do on Election Day. ƒ What you will do and say once the results of the election are in. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 27 Fundraising
Fundraising is critical to your campaign’s success. Without money, you will not be able to get the word out to voters that you exist and that they should vote for you. Beyond that, it is unlikely you will be elected unless you have the support of people who are willing to put their money behind you. Regardless of what techniques are used, the most successful campaigns target their fundraising efforts, events and phone calls to specific levels of donors: small, medium and large, with the candidate always personally contacting potential big donors to ask for their support. Where can you find dollars for your campaign?
Personal Savings: but be careful. You will likely be getting paid little or nothing once elected, and your new job will encroach on the time you have for your paying job. That is why it is unwise to go into the hole personally to run for office. Budget what you can afford and stick to it. Friends and Family: look for campaign start‐up funds by asking people you know best –
family members, friends and business contacts. Get out your address book and holiday card list and start dialing. If you are embarrassed to ask for money directly from people you only know slightly: get another family member or a campaign volunteer to do it for you; write each person a personalized email; or send out a fundraising letter. But you will have to be the one to call any potential big donors. Otherwise, you are unlikely to illicit their support. List who you plan to approach in below: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Past Donors: If you’ve run for office before, contact all past donors, whether you won or lost. If you are a newcomer, a retired politician who shares your views may be willing to give you their donor list. Your local political party may also be willing to share their membership list with you. List past donors or sources of past donors below: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 28 Your Opponent’s Enemies: Incumbents and well‐known politicians always have enemies who want to see them defeated. They may give you money or access to a donor list. Approach them personally and present yourself as an alternative to the candidate they dislike. List possible people to approach who fall into this category below: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Friends’ Friends: People give money when someone they know and trust asks them for it personally. Bring your family, friends and close contacts together and ask them to solicit donations on your behalf from within their own extended family and business circles. Think outside the box! They do not have to have access to formal groups. If your sister belongs to a couple of book clubs, she can ask other members. If your uncle owns a barber shop, he can set up a donation box for you at his shop. If a friend is a regular at a local bar, he or she can ask other patrons to chip in. Likewise for church members! The possibilities are endless; the key is that someone they know asks for the donation. List family, friends and contacts who may have access to groups of other people below: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Other Fundraising Options
The personal ask is always your best bet for raising money locally. But there are other fundraising options you may want to try and some of them are listed below. Take a look at them and evaluate the pro’s and con’s of each, given your available time and staff resources, then check off those that appeal to you the most so that you can discuss them with your campaign staff. Ask people you know to host coffee or small house parties: they pay for the refreshments and take care of the invitation list; you show up to talk about your candidacy and to ask for campaign donations. Be sure to have forms on hand so people can fill out the proper campaign finance information, if needed. Make fundraising phone calls: an effective way to raise funds is to get your hands on as many member directories as possible – those of local churches, civic How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 29 groups, employees, faculty, etc. Once you have them, you and your volunteers should go through these lists and flag everyone you or they know personally and call them and ask for a campaign contribution. If time allows, you can also have them cold call people on your behalf, but this only works if you or they have some connection with the person being called: you go to the same church, you work for the same company, you live in the same neighborhood, etc. It also helps to set a target for each person you are planning to call. Just have people jot down what they think that person can afford to give, and ask for that specific amount. A good strategy is to ask for a little more than you think people will give. That gives them the room to offer you less. Many people will offer less; no one will offer more! Successful fundraising calls are short. Tell the person who is calling, why you are calling, why you are running, why you need the money and ask for a donation. And remember: it’s only weird if you make it weird. The more you practice, the more natural it will feel and sound. On‐Line Outreach: To fundraise on‐line, first set up a PayPal account that has an email address tied to your campaign and that goes into your campaign bank account (if you choose to set up one). Be sure you ask people for all required legal information if they donate on‐line, or at the very least a phone number where they can be contacted to provide the required information! You can then post this link on your website and send out emails requesting donations with a direct link to where they can give via PayPal. But be sure to always include a snail mail address where people can mail in checks and always encourage recipients to pass the email request along to their friends. Do not expect much from this technique, and do not use it unless you have an Internet‐savvy volunteer and a good email list to try it out on. Otherwise, it will not be worth your time. Social media: You should set up a Facebook group page for your candidacy and include a button or link off of it to your PayPal account. By doing this, you may be able to raise a little money using social media, but the truth is that few people have had success using social media to fundraise unless they already were backed by a great many people willing to re‐post the request and who already had the support from people who were simply using the convenience of going online to contribute. If people don't know you, they are probably going to have to meet you before they open up their checkbooks. To maximize your chances of raising money using social media, update your Wall posts frequently, ask people to “Like” each status update and use Facebook primarily to publicize in‐person fundraising events that put you face‐to‐face with people. Plan a Kick‐Off Event: Soon after announcing your candidacy, hold a campaign kick‐off event to inject money into your campaign in its early stages. This can give your campaign momentum. Charge a modest admission, if you can, as you are more likely to get funds that way rather than simply passing the hat (best How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 30 choice = do both!). The most successful events are simple ones: a fish or pancake dinner; a party with a band; an event to honor a beloved retiring incumbent. You can also sponsor other events throughout your campaign, but do not incur heavy expenses putting on any event! If you can’t find food or entertainment that will be donated, think twice: the cost of fancy events can spiral out of control, as anyone who has ever put on a wedding knows, and that could cripple your campaign from the start! You should also be sure to advertise your event relentlessly if you want it to be successful. Regardless of how you raise funds, always follow up! This means thanking ALL donors and keeping top donors informed of the progress of your campaign with insider information through bulletins or email newsletters. This helps top donors feel like they are part of your campaign, which encourages their continued support right up to Election Day. If you thank and follow up, you will be able to contact donors at the beginning of a campaign, again in the middle, and in the closing days of the campaign to ask for more money without embarrassment. Think of your town, your circle of friends and your resources, then list fundraising ideas you think will work best for you below. Don’t limit yourself to what is described in this workbook. You may have some great ideas of your own: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 31 Campaign Materials
The end goal of creating and paying for campaign materials is name recognition. There are many different ways to get their name and your core message out, and what you do will depend entirely on your budget. Some options are listed below, along with some ideas for ways to get your name out there if you have virtually no money at all. Take a look at them and evaluate the pro’s and con’s of each, given your available time (you must order many of these in advance!) and staff resources, then check off those that appeal to you the most so that you can discuss them with your campaign circle. Basic campaign literature options:
Your website: even candidates running for local office can benefit from a website, primarily because it can be a vehicle for soliciting donations and because it gives newspapers and other media sources a place to learn about and link to for voters motivated to learn more about you. You do NOT have to put up an elaborate website. Even a one‐page website with your bio, campaign message and goals would be enough. If the election is heated and there are key issues, it’s good to include a section for each key issue that has your basic statement about that issue on it. You don’t have to pay for a campaign website if you go to www.wordpress.com and select one of their basic designs. You’ll be able to write an intro to your candidacy on the first page and post updates or fundraising pleas on the same page, and set up an unlimited number of additional static pages about other elements of your campaign. If you would like a more traditional and robust website, you can get a one‐stop website, including design and hosting, at www.campaignwindow.com for between $100 and $125 for a year, depending on if you want email service and other options. For this money, you can set up a website within an evening using their design templates, manage a mailing list through the same service, collect donations, and use a lot of other on‐line campaign options. Www.godaddy.com also has a feature called Website Tonite that, for $4.99 a month, will give you a 5‐page website and hundreds of designs to choose from. Both godaddy and campaignwindow have a user interface that is a lot like the word processing menu you are used to seeing in Microsoft Word. Campaign brochure: at the minimum, you will need a flyer or a brochure that contains your core campaign message, a brief bio of yourself and where you stand on important issues. If you can, include a picture of yourself as well as your email address and phone number. You can have this printed by a professional service such as www.vistaprint.com (looks great, but it’s your most expensive option: in large quantities, i.e. over 500 copies, a full‐color 2‐sided tri‐fold brochure will run you about 40 cents each), done locally by a copy shop (moderately expensive) or simply run off copies yourself using a photocopier (cheapest). You may want to give your literature a hook that makes people keep it around, like having key municipal phone numbers printed on one side (emergency numbers, city hall, schools, etc.). How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 32 Business cards: a simple card with your name, what office you are running for, your campaign slogan and your contact info is very useful to have and they are cheap. Give them out to anyone and everyone you meet. Buy on‐line at a place like www.vistaprint.com or have them printed up locally. Issue statements: if a hot issue or set of issues dominates your campaign, it can be very effective to develop an issue‐specific flyer that outlines your take on the problem, how you would solve it, your credentials in solving it and asks people to vote for you. This could be a postcard‐sized statement, half a letter‐sized page or a full sheet. These are great to hand out at debates and gatherings and can be useful when dealing with the press. These can be cheaply printed at any copy shop. Campaign event signs: you can get banners, large signs and magnetic car signs surprisingly cheap on‐line and you only need to order one or two of each. A large banner could decorate your campaign headquarters, form the backdrop for campaign events, and be used when you march in parades. Large signs can be placed in the yards of supporters who live on busy intersections, or used in similar ways as the banner. A magnetic car sign can be a good attention‐grabber for your own vehicle. Check out the latest prices on‐line, most places let you do the art as you order. Be sure to take a look at www.halfpricebanners.com. You can get a 2’ X 5’ color banner for only $20 plus shipping there. That’s the size of a typical long table used at events and gatherings. Event hand‐outs: if you want something small to slip under car windshields at big gatherings (ball games, Sunday church, street festivals) or hand out at events, you can have postcards printed (even full‐color glossy ones are relatively cheap) with your photo and core campaign message on them, or use palm cards that are the size of postcards but can be printed on card stock at a local copy shop or even at home. Sample Ballots: if you are running with other candidates on an informal slate, you may want to have sample ballots printed up with your names pre‐checked off and a statement of whatever groups are endorsing you on the sample ballot. Be sure to ask your local board of elections about any special regulations or rules that apply when you are creating sample ballots! There is no need to have these printed professionally, and you should feel free to ask voters to re‐cycle them after they have used them at the polls. GOTV campaign literature options:
Yard signs: as annoying as they are to some people, yard signs work! Especially when they are planted firmly in the front yards of people well‐known in the community or who live on busy intersections. They are, however, expensive. Expect a full supply (300 to 500), with wire frames, to cost you between $750 to $1,000. And they must be ordered at least two months before the election to avoid costly How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 33 rush printing and shipping costs. If you are short on cash, choose only one color to be printed on a white background with reverse letters for your yard signs. It saves printing costs and it makes a bold statement. One good NC‐based source for yard signs is www.capitolpromotions.com. However, there are many other services easily found on‐line. Canvassing materials: if you have the money and plan to walk door‐to‐door, or have volunteers willing to canvas, specially‐shaped “door hangers” can be printed that are easy to slip over a door knob. These are available at a variety of on‐line sources, but unless you plan to use a lot of them they may not be cost‐effective. You can get several thousand for about $600. The poor man’s alternative: print out a simple flyer, roll it up and then tape or staple a rubber band to one edge of it. Loop the rubber band over the door knob and loosely back over your flyer to keep it in place. If you target correctly, mailings can be very effective. These are typically postcards sent to specific zip codes or households, publicizing your candidacy and platform. Your goal is to energize your base to vote; not to convince indifferent people to vote for you. They should be timed to arrive in people’s mailboxes no later than the Friday before Election Day, and that means getting the artwork to your mailing house at least four weeks before the election if you want them to print the postcards for you! A mailing house will handle the sorting and mailing of your postcards, saving you money on postage, and often will also print up the postcards for you. This will be the most expensive step in your campaign. For example, in 2008, a mailing sent out to around 10,000 people cost $3,000 for printing, postage and mailing services. If you use a large, national service (www.vistaprint.com or purepostcards.com), you will need to provide them with a mailing list in the form of an Excel spread sheet. If you use a more local service, and they can often match the price of the larger houses, they may be willing to generate the list on your behalf and apply their own political strategy to who you target. One great NC‐based political mailing service is: Ernie Thurston NC‐VOTERCODE 828‐252‐2585 Cell: 828‐280‐2234 [email protected] www.NC‐VOTERCODE.COM Ernie is especially good if you do not have a database expert on your campaign staff. He can slice and dice your list based on your competition and local demographics, and recommend which voters to mail to, depending on how much money you have. Election Day handouts at the polls: you can print special hand‐puts asking people to vote for you or you can simply use overruns of any materials you have left over from campaigning. Put them in plastic bags for each polling place, giving a larger supply to the larger polling places. The main thing is to get your name in people’s hands. You How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 34 and your volunteers can politely ask people to return these items when they are done voting and your supply will last longer. Printed buttons and bumper stickers: Commercially printed buttons and stickers (bumper or lapel) are only a good idea if you are able to raise enough money to easily pay for your other materials. The price for these items runs the gamut and depends on colors used and size. In many ways, they are more useful for making supporters feel good than for getting you new voters. Other campaign swag: all of the following items can be used to get the word out about their campaign. You can buy them on‐line at dozens of different places, and most allow you to design as you order. Should you use them? If you have the money or if someone is offering to buy them for you, sure! Just don’t spend money on these items at the expense of your core campaign materials: ƒ
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Balloons Handheld Fans Litterbags Magnetic Business Cards Pencils and Pens T‐Shirts (good as rewards for volunteers!) Tips when ordering campaign materials:
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Decide on your slogan, your typeface, and your message before you prepare any materials, so you have a consistent look and consistent messaging. Get a professional or very good color photo of yourself to give to the media and to use in your campaign materials. Some candidates like to pose with their family. A good photograph signals that you are a serious candidate! Don’t forget to factor in how ALL mailings and literature drops for the entire campaign when you consider quantity for your print orders. Order more than you think you’ll use and have copies on hand everywhere you go. The more you order at once, the lower the per‐piece cost will be. If it is important to your base, be sure to use a union printer for all of your commercially printed materials. They will be looking for the union “bug” which is a small symbol placed on all union‐printed materials. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 35 Low to no-cost campaign material alternatives:
Print your campaign literature yourself using any copier you can get your hands on. Office supply stores have really great variety in the types of paper they carry. You may be able to buy color stock and get some nice‐looking literature, even using a black‐and‐white copier machine. They also carry stick‐on labels in all sizes, allowing you to print lapel labels and bumper stickers yourself using a color printer or copier. The home‐made bumper stickers will fade more quickly than commercially‐
produced ones, but they will last long enough for your campaign. Recycle someone else's yard signs: simply turn them inside out and have someone write your name and the office you are seeking on the reverse. It is better to make it look intentionally homemade and jaunty rather than to try to make it seem as if it were professionally printed. If you are running for an office like school board, you could even make this technique work for you by drawing your homemade yard signs to look as if a child did them with happy illustrations. Mount a homemade postcard campaign: print up a supply of cheap postcards at a local copy shop, using cardstock and black ink only, printed on one side with a space for the address on the right, and your name, office and campaign copy on the left. The reverse side can be blank. Ask volunteers to arrive with a roll of stamps to donate, then give them mailing lists of people who belong to groups they are members of. Ask each volunteer to mark the people they know on the list, then ask them to handwrite in their addresses and put brief notes on the reverse saying they are supporting you and hope they will, too. This can be a VERY effective technique in a small town. Use local community boards and a Xerox machine: create a decent campaign flyer and post it on entrances to libraries, bulletin boards outside grocery stores, community centers and anywhere else where people gather. Do not put them on telephone poles or you will be fined. Phone bank endlessly: if you can't afford campaign materials, you may be able to get the word out using volunteer phone bankers. Obviously, they will need to be able to make unlimited phone calls for this to work. Phone banking is described in the GOTV section, but you can usually get a list of voters from your local board of elections, and many of them will have their phone numbers included in their files. Blanket the polls on Election Day: if your opponent is not doing much, you may be able to get away with doing a lot of volunteer phone banking and then handing out flyers with your name and the office you are seeking plus a few words about your campaign on it to people as they enter the polls. Most people either return these flyers to you or just throw them away, so you may as well design them so that you get to flyers out of one regular sheet of paper. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 36 Borrow people's front yards or the sides of their barns for large homemade signs: if you have access to free space at a busy intersection or a critical point in town, then take advantage of it. Even a hand‐painted sign will get your name out there. Stand on a street corner: identity the intersections in town with the most traffic. Park yourself on corners during rush hour, holding a sign announcing your candidacy and the office you are running for. Have fun. Add a “honk if you are voting for me” message and, if the office you are running for has any power over traffic, be sure to include “If elected, I’ll get rid of these daily traffic jams!” to it. Piggyback on your party's efforts: if you belong to a political party and you followed an earlier suggestion to visit local leaders and ask for their support, you may be able to piggyback on any flyers or other advertising your local political party does. If no one else is suggesting it, then you should certainly suggest that they prepare a sample slate and passed out at the polls. Many people will vote as instructed by their party and you want your name to be on that endorsement list. Take advantage of free samples: right now, many of the online postcard and brochure printers are so desperate for business that they are giving away up to 50 or 100 samples at a time. You can sign up for free samples from them, and they will then try to sell you more copies, but if you hold firm you will at least have a small supply to work with. Usually you can get the samples for free or for a small shipping charge. Sometimes they even waive the shipping charge. Visit www.vistaprint.com or www.purepostcards.com to see if they have any free samples available. Make a spectacle of yourself: if you are an extrovert, with no money for campaign materials, then you were going to have to be your own walking billboard. Slap a big sign on your car, show up for every single possible community event and gathering, from the farmer’s market to every church service you can possibly wrangle an invitation to, wear a big campaign button for yourself and just get out there and shake as many hands as you can. A local election may be the one opportunity left in America where shoe leather has a hope of triumphing over big bucks. Turn up the heat: if you are an outsider running against an entrenched incumbent and you are outmanned and outspent, then you may have nothing to lose by being so aggressive that you get more than your fair share of media coverage. You risk alienating voters, but you may end up getting enough headlines or name mentions to give you some increased visibility and a shot at winning if the incumbent is disliked enough. Just be sure you never slide into the “kooky candidate” category by having the facts to back your positions, by being professional and courteous in the way you articulate them and by emphasizing your professional background often. With how you can reach them in mind, let’s talk about finding the right voters… How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 37 Finding Voters
It is important for you to identify your base before you begin your Get Out The Vote campaign. This will allow you to focus your efforts where they will do the most good. Identify the voters you are trying to reach by contacting your local board of elections and requesting a list of voters. Usually, it will be given to you as an Excel spreadsheet or other database. You may have to pay a small fee for it, such as $25. This list is public information and must be provided to you by law. Not everyone on the list will have a phone number, but you will be able to see the name and address of all people registered to vote in your county. If you are lucky enough to belong to a supportive local political party, you can also go to them and ask them to use their access to the Voter Activation Network (VAN) to generate a list of appropriate voters for you to contact. The easiest thing to do is to ask for a list of people sharing your political affiliation, along with their contact info and voting history, and then ask for a separate list of Unaffiliated voters in your district with the same details. Here is what you should do with the list or lists you obtain: 1. Go through the list and mark out or eliminate all voters who belong to a political affiliation unlikely to support your platform. Put these names aside. You will only bother with them if you inexplicably find yourself with extra time. 2. Take the remaining voters, which should include people who belong to the political party likely to support your platform or who are Unaffiliated. These are the people you want to reach with your message. 3. The voting record of each person will be listed. Identify those voters who share your political affiliation and who always vote in an election, no matter what. These are the first people you should contact. You must contact as many of them as you can – they are going to the polls and you want your name in their head when they do. 4. Next, identify those voters who share your political affiliation and who only vote in major elections like in presidential years. These are the people you want to contact as your second priority, especially if you are running in 2012. 5. Take your Unaffiliated voters and flag those who live in neighborhoods that are known to be favored by people who share your political affiliation. These are the people you want to contact as your third priority. 6. Take your Unaffiliated voters and flag those who live in neighborhoods that could go either way in terms of political affiliation. These are your low priority voters. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 38 A note about targeting priorities:
If you are the endorsed candidate of a specific political party or powerful PAC and you have no other opposition within in your own party, you may be able to take your affiliation’s frequent voter support for granted — your party’s endorsement will likely win you their votes — and concentrate your efforts instead on getting less frequent voters to the polls or convincing Unaffiliated voters to support you. This is a call that you and your campaign staff should make early enough to ensure that you are using your time most productively. However, when it comes to nonpartisan elections — which most local elections in North Carolina are — this is truly a judgment call. Take frequent party voters for granted only if resources are tight, time is short and you need to take the chance. If you are running for City Council or school board and there are multiple seats available, knowing whether or not you are the front runner or have enough likely votes to capture one of the seats, can be even trickier. Better safe than sorry. A non-tech solution to targeting voters:
If you find yourself panicked at thought of using a database and you are confident that you can accurately target your political base using just your knowledge of your town’s neighborhoods, you may be able to map out a geographic strategy for contacting voters this way: 1. Sit down with a good map of your district. 2. Identify the core neighborhoods where you know your supporters live with one color highlighter. 3. Using a different color highlighter, shade in borders areas, or areas where you think people who would be likely to support your platform live. 4. Use a third color to identify places where a lot of people gather regularly, regardless of affiliation (Little League fields, community centers, libraries, etc.). 5. The highlighted areas are where you will concentrate your door‐to‐door efforts or hand out literature, and where you will need to man polling places on Election Day. The important thing to remember, regardless of the approach you use to identify voters, is that you are trying to reach voters already inclined to support you and get them to the polls. Don’t waste time on people who hold opposing views. You have no time to waste. With a list of targeted voters in your area, you are ready to move to the next step and start getting out the vote. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 39 Get Out The Vote!
There are many different ways to increase your visibility with voters and get out the vote. Some of the popular techniques are listed below as part of a sample calendar timeline. The ones you choose will depend on how many volunteers you have, how much time you have and how much money you have in your campaign chest. As you go through this section, flag the techniques you will think work best and then transfer them to your campaign calendar so you remember to schedule time to try everything you want to try. In addition, remember the lesson from the prior step: whenever you can target your efforts and concentrate on the voters most likely to support you, rather than simply working an unknown crowd, do it. Your goal is to make every moment you spend campaigning the most productive possible. Note: it is extremely important that you learn to think beyond Election Day and that you take advantage of Early Voting. Getting those voters who have special needs, such as the elderly or large groups, to the polls ahead of time frees you and your volunteers on Election Day. Do this by verifying the times and dates of Early Voting in your county, then flagging voters you want to encourage to vote early. And be sure to tell all voters about the Early Voting and Same Day Registration option as you conduct GOTV, since many people have difficulty getting off work on Election Day. Eight Weeks To Election Day
Your campaign team should be in place. Together, make sure you have decided on a campaign message and overall strategy. Decide on your campaign’s graphic identity and order any campaign materials that will take several weeks to print, such as yard signs and commercially printed brochures. Have a campaign kickoff event and make it a fundraiser so you can jumpstart your campaign war chest while getting a little publicity for your candidacy. Obtain your voter files and select your targeted voters. Decide the best ways to reach these voters: door‐to‐door, phone banking, mailings, special events? Identify dense neighborhoods of target voters where walking door‐to‐door will be productive. Choose another technique for contacting voters in spread out neighborhoods that have less than four homes to a block: the effort of door‐to‐door is not worth it there. Decide how you will contact each neighborhood or each group of voters and schedule when you intend to work in each neighborhood. Check your town’s calendar and flag events where large numbers of people are likely to gather. You are looking for festivals, political gatherings, grand openings, town hall meetings and, of course, any political debates that are scheduled. Try to get an invitation to speak at any or all of these. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 40 Seven Weeks To Election Day
Get some volunteers to use an on‐line phone directory to find the telephone numbers of any high‐priority voters you want to phone bank whose numbers are missing from your board of elections list. Get your phone banking and door‐to‐door lists to your Volunteer Coordinator, if you have one, so he or she can start recruiting volunteers. Six Weeks To Election Day
Make sure your website and Facebook page is set up and the donation link works. Ask your local board of elections for an up‐to‐date list of absentee voters so you or a volunteer can immediately start contacting those likely to vote for you. Start attending all events where voters may be gathered; pass out literature at these events; start visiting new congregations: get yourself out there! If you have not already done so, issue a press release to all local media announcing your candidacy and what your platform is. Begin talking to your mailing service if you are going to do a mailing. Decide where your postcards will be mailed and put in your order. Prepare the art. Five Weeks To Election Day
Step up your fundraising efforts: by now, you should be starting to get an idea of how much money your opponent has. If you need more campaign materials, order them now. Make sure your door to door materials are written and designed. Issue a serious call for volunteers: be as specific as you can. Let people know you need volunteers to phone bank, volunteers to walk door‐to‐door and many people on Election Day. Start assembling lists of people who will volunteer for you, as well as the tasks they are willing to do and when they can do them. Many organizations wait too long to book their debates: if you have not yet heard from groups that traditionally sponsor debates for elections in your town, now is the time to call up someone in that group and ask if they are planning a debate or not. Your goal is to head off any instances where you are unable to participate in a debate down the road because you were already scheduled for another event. Prepare any phone scripts or written instructions for door‐to‐door canvassers, if you are planning to use these techniques. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 41 Four Weeks To Election Day
Start going go‐to‐door in dense targeted neighborhoods, if you are comfortable doing so, meeting voters personally and asking for their vote. Many campaign guides will advise you to cut walk lists and to mark those houses you should stop at, but if you have chosen neighborhoods full of voters who share your political affiliation, the fastest thing to do is simply to go door‐to‐door as fast as you can. Early Voting is likely to be opening soon, offering the opportunity for Same Day Registration. Now is a good time for your volunteers to table at events, campus neighborhoods or contact groups of people, such as young people, with information on your candidacy as well as how to use Same Day Registration and Early Voting. Three Weeks To Election Day
Have your volunteers start going go‐to‐door in dense targeted neighborhoods, leaving your campaign literature and talking to voters on your behalf. Do not leave any materials in the mailbox as this violates federal law. If you have the budget to print up a large enough supply of campaign materials, begin slipping campaign literature into the corner of the war windows at large gatherings or events in your town. Do not put anything under the windshield as it is a burden for elderly or disabled voters to have to get out f the car and remove it if they failed to notice it at first. Volunteers should phone bank your targeted voters and urge them to vote early! Start phoning elderly voters on your targeted lost and offer to give them rides to Early Voting. Your goal is to get all voters who need rides to the polls early so your volunteers are free to pass out literature on Election Day. Arrange for any large groups supporting you to go to the polls early and vote. Find a reason to issue a press release and get your name in the paper. Everyone hates robocalls, but an exception is when you use them to call people and inform them that Early Voting has opened, and to provide information on where and when they can vote early. If you have the money to do this, be sure to only call voters who share your political affiliation. All you have to do is introduce yourself and the office you are running for, then say that you're calling to let them know about Early Voting. Keep your tone casual and conversational, and ring off with a cheery message about how important it is to vote. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 42 Two Weeks To Election Day
if you have not already done so, contact the volunteers who offered to work on Election Day and schedule them to hand out literature at the polls at very specific times. If you cannot cover the polls all day long, be sure to cover them before working hours, at lunch time and after work until closing. Volunteers should continue phoning your targeted voters and urging them to vote early. Volunteers should continue going go‐to‐door in dense neighborhoods, leaving your campaign literature and talking to voters on your behalf. Check and make sure your mailing house is about to drop your postcards in the mail, if you are doing a mailing. If you doing a homemade mailing, now is the time to gather together and get the postcards ready and addressed to go. Find a reason to issue a press release and get your name in the paper. One Week To Election Day
If you can, get a list of everyone who has voted early to date from your local BOE and mark them off your targeted list. Then get the absentee voter file, add all new persons requesting absentee ballots to your contact list, and remove all who have voted absentee already. You should now have a pretty good list of voters likely to vote on Election Day. Print new call lists of targeted voters who haven’t yet voted and step up your phone banking efforts. Drop anything you are mailing directly to voters into the mail now! Be everywhere! Meet as many voters as you can, shake as many hands as you can, leave the heavy duty canvassing to others and make your goal for the week before the election to be meeting as many voters as possible in the shortest amount of time. You do not want to wake up the day after Election Day wishing you had worked harder that final week. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 43 More about phone banking:
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Your GOTV coordinator or campaign manager should decide which voters are to be called each night. Phone bankers should make the calls in priority order. You can either have organized phone banks, held at a location with multiple phones lines (law offices are great for this!) or at a central gathering spot with everyone bringing their cell phones to use. If it’s a nice day, this can even be outside. You can have virtual phone banks where you trust people to call from their homes. Just know that phone bankers working alone from home are the least reliable. It is unlikely that they will complete all of their calls on their own. Recruit twice as many volunteers as you need to phone bank: people who have never phone banked before often think it is harder than it is and will not show up. Consider using paid phone bankers to call your most important target group of voters, and then use volunteers to call the less important groups. Provide each volunteer with a suggested script, but encourage them to say it in their own words and to be natural. When you are phone banking locally, it is much more effective for the phone banker to say, "I am your neighbor and I support…" then it is for them to rattle off what is obviously a canned script. Be sure all calls end with a direct request for the voter to cast their ballot for you. Do not ask the voter who they intend to vote for: many voters find it offensive when asked to reveal this. Make sure you divide your phone banking list between volunteers and keep track of who has been called, so you do not make multiple phone calls to the same voter. People find this very annoying and you may lose their vote. If the voter is not home, there is nothing wrong with the volunteer leaving a cheerful, personal message stating their support of you and asking for the voter’s support as well. Often, the voter will think they actually know the volunteer but can’t quite place from where. Volunteers should mark on their phone list whether they were able to speak to the voter or had to leave a message. If it turns out to be a very tight race, you may want to call back voters who were not actually spoken to. Ideally, phone banking should take place between 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM at night or all day Saturday (10:00 AM – 9:00 PM). If you fall behind and need to call during the day, simply ask your volunteers to concentrate on calling voters who are over 65 first, as they are the ones most likely to be at home during the day. A word about going door-to-door:
Going door to door is brutal work, best suited for teenagers and college students. If one of your target neighborhoods is dense and it is really worth your time to cover it, you may want to hire people to make sure it gets done. In addition, if you are a candidate and can afford little more than business cards, your only hope of winning may be to spend the eight weeks prior to the election knocking on as many doors as you can in hopes people will remember that you made the effort come Election Day. How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 44 Election Day Strategy
You've given it your best shot. E‐Day is here. You've scheduled as many poll workers as you can. Fasten your seatbelt and get ready. Here’s what you need to do: 1. If you are the candidate, get up at the crack of dawn and to be at your town's biggest polling place when the polls open. You want to catch the early voters, you want to be dressed well, and you want to impress them with your presence and your dedication. All you have to do is stick out your hand and say, "I am so‐and‐so, and I am running for [desired office]. I would appreciate your vote." Trust me. They will remember that you were there, early, showing you wanted the job. 2. Throughout the day, be at the busiest polls you can find. If your campaign staff and your volunteers have your cell phone number, they can call you and let you know if a line forms at a poll or if it starts to back up. That's a great time for you to work the line and shake hands. 3. Your volunteers should be at all the other polls as early as possible on Election Day with two of your yard signs in tow so that your name is visible near the main entrance to the poll from either direction. Your volunteers should hand out literature about you throughout the day to voters entering the polls. If all day is not possible, have them cover the polls before work, during lunchtime and after work until the polls close. Always assign your poll workers to their own polls or to a polling place where they know a lot of people. Your goal is for the poll worker to know as many of the voters personally as possible. 4. For literature, you can hand out a pre‐printed sample ballot (be sure to follow the rules about sample ballots) or simply hand out any literature you may have left over from your campaigning efforts to date. It doesn't really matter what it is, so long as it contains your name and the office you are running for. If you are running in a nonpartisan race, a few lines about your platform make it plain what your political viewpoint is: use these in neighborhoods you know will support your viewpoint. 5. You are allowed to go into the polls and ask or check to see what the turnout is so far. If turnout looks sluggish in your critical neighborhoods, you may want to send volunteers to knock on doors and encourage people to vote. This is called “flushing” and big campaigns do it all the time. Your version may be as simple as hitting key community gathering places, and telling people you need their help and asking them to alert others to vote. Or, if you can afford it, you may want to rent a sound truck and have it drive through your critical neighborhoods urging people to vote for you. 6. Don't forget that your poll volunteers will need food and drink throughout the day. Assign one volunteer, or ask a member of your campaign staff, to drive around bringing coffee and doughnuts or lunch to your poll workers if they are working a How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 45 shift longer than two hours. At the same time, this volunteer can check turnout for you periodically and phone it into you or your campaign manager. 7. Don't ease up on the phone calls if you have enough volunteer phone bankers. Phone calls to voters likely to support you should continue throughout the day. 8. Once the polls close, your poll workers should make sure that all of your campaign signs and literature have been cleaned up so you don’t get fined. After the polls close
Campaigning is exhausting and nerve‐racking. You will need to decompress and you will need to be with friends and family when the results come in. Good or bad, you got through this journey with other people and they should be there with you at the end. Some people go to the expense of booking a room at a restaurant or gathering at a local watering hole. Others just join the crowd at the local board of elections. Some‐times, local political parties will have a vote‐counting party. Wherever you choose to go, bring your campaign team with you as well as a graceful victory statement you can release to the press if you win. You should also plan a graceful exit strategy in the event that you lose, and have a short concession speech ready for the press. Winning office can sometimes be a long‐term process. You may lose one election, but build your visibility toward the next. If you do lose, you want to go out looking like a leader and you want to set the stage for your next run at office. And if you win, you want to be seen as someone who is respectful of their opponent and ready to lead in positive ways. Where I want to be and the people I want with me when the results come in: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 46 The Morning After
Always plan to take off work the day after an election. Win or lose, you will be exhausted and you will have earned a day off. You will also want to either celebrate your victory in private or have some quiet time to evaluate your loss and see what lessons you learned for the next time around. No matter what, remember: it takes courage to run for public office and to expose yourself to the judgment of people you do not know. Just to step forward is a gift to your community. Your participation in the election raises the debate to a new level, especially when incumbents are accustomed to running unopposed. Just being in a race means that questions were asked that needed to be asked. Whether you won or lost, you have made a difference. What I am going to do the day after Election Day: Begin writing thank you notes to all of my donors and volunteers. ________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 47 Questions for the Presenter
If you did not have the opportunity to ask a question you need answered during this workshop, please write the question down below. You will have an opportunity to talk to the workshop presenter during the last part of the session: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 48 To download a Word Doc version of this
workbook, please visit:
http://www.democracy‐nc.org/downloads/CandidateWorkbook.doc
To download a .pdf version of this workbook,
please visit:
http://www.democracy‐nc.org/downloads/CandidateWorkbook.pdf How to Conduct a Successful Campaign Page # 49