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Developing a Campaign Plan and Budget
A
successful campaign requires research, planning, preparation, organization and
execution. Research leads to information. Information builds strategy. Strategy
defines a message. The message is communicated to voters. Voters give your
candidate their proxy by voting. A campaign plan is a sequence of events that
pulls together all of these essential elements. The plan will illustrate what to
do, when to do it and who will do it. An effective campaign plan will allow you
to act rather then react during the election.
There are four steps to a campaign plan:
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Prepare
-
Plan
-
Organize
-
Execute
Whether you are developing
a campaign plan for your local or serving as a campaign manager for a candidate,
each of these steps should be carefully considered.
The campaign plan is
predicated on the campaign budget and resources. In addition to money, other
resources in a campaign include time, people and assets – such as a union hall,
phone banks and vehicles.
It’s also important to
establish a campaign budget to help prioritize the elements of your plan. A
well-planned, organized and executed campaign plan will help ensure success on
election day. Develop and write out your campaign plan and
budget -- the plan can be modified as needed as the campaign progresses. But if
your campaign plan isn’t written out, you won’t have a plan to follow, and
you’ll end up reacting to events throughout the campaign rather than helping set
the course of the campaign.
Prepare: Internal Evaluation and Research
Before
developing a campaign plan, it is important to conduct an internal evaluation of
what you want to accomplish and what resources are available to reach your
goals.
Internal Resource Evaluation
Another
critical component in developing a campaign plan is knowing what resources your
local has to use during the course of the campaign. For example, does the
committee have a PAC? If so, how much money does the committee have available
or raise annually? How many members can be counted on to carry out the tasks of
the plan? Are members motivated to roll up their sleeves and engage in sweat
equity to help the campaign? What other resources does the local have available?
Does the local have a union hall that can be made available to candidates? Does
the local have a phone bank?
In most
races, there will likely be a cap on the amount of direct contributions you can
make to candidates. However, by having other resources available, you can
increase the level of help you provide your endorsed candidates, even if the
campaign has to pay/reimburse the local for the use of these resources.
After
performing this resource review, your local may determine that it needs to
increase its fundraising, recruit additional members or retool its plan to fit
its existing resources. However, it is critical that the local establish
realistic expectations when doing its review. You can’t expect to run a
champagne and caviar political operation with beer and brats resources.
Before
meeting with your endorsed candidates, know what you can offer to avoid making
commitments you won’t be able to keep later. Remember, it is far better to
under-promise and over-deliver rather than over-promise and under-deliver. This
approach will allow you to make a positive, lasting impression on the candidate
and the campaign.
Also
consider the following questions when doing an internal evaluation:
-
What is the overall mission? (For example, winning two council races)
-
What is the election process? (Primary, general, non-partisan, ballot
initiative)
-
What research do you need to undertake? (Both in terms of the election
process and any issues you will focus on in the campaign)
- How
much time do you have? (When is the election?)
- How
do you get information to people? (How will you communicate with your
members and the public (if that is part of your plan?).
External Evaluation and Research
After
you complete the internal evaluation, you should have a good idea of the tools
you have and the tools you will need to complete your mission. As a part of this
process, you should also compile research to identify important information for
your campaign plan. This research should answer many of the questions below:
1.
What are the
election laws?
2.
Why are you
involved in this campaign? What is at stake?
3.
Who is your
candidate/what is your issue (if a ballot initiative)?
4.
What’s going on
politically, economically, socially?
5.
Who are the
voters?
6.
Who are the
major employers in the area?
7.
How much time
do you have? When is election day?
8.
What is the
political landscape? (Anti-incumbent, open seat election, etc.)
9.
How do people
get information and what are the costs (Newspaper, radio, TV, etc?)?
10.
What resources
do you have to bring to the table? (As determined by your internal resource
evaluation.)
11.
Who are your
opponents? (Beside your endorsed candidates’ opponent, who else is supporting
them that you may need to counter against?)
12.
Who are your
potential allies in this election? (Other labor unions, community groups, etc.)
13.
Where can you
get additional information/research?
14.
Where are your
strengths and weaknesses? (Again, refer to your resource evaluation. However,
also consider previous campaign experiences by the local, assuming there are
any.)
Now you’re ready to begin the process of targeting and
focusing your campaign plan. In addition to your own research and evaluation,
you should consider other information that is available, such as polling data
conducted by the local, news outlets or your candidate andvoter file
information to give you a picture of a voters frequency to vote (this is
critical depending on when your election is), demographic information (which can
be helpful depending on the candidate’s running, or how a ballot initiative will
affect certain communities (both by their location and the make-up of the
individuals within the community).
Compiling this information will help better focus resources
and target voters who are either more likely to vote or to support your
candidate.
Writing a
Campaign Plan
A campaign plan builds accountability. A good acronym to
remember when developing your campaign plan is SMART: Specific, Measurable,
Assignable, Realistic, Time-based. If an element of your plan doesn’t fit into
one of these five areas, you make a serious evaulation as to why that item needs
to be included in your plan.
There are several elements to a campaign plan that you can
pull together at an early stage. These components are important to discuss and
consider within the parameters of your budget.
1.
Who will draft
the campaign plan?
2.
Design a
campaign calendar for everyone involved in your local’s effort.
3.
Begin filling
in key dates and holidays on the calendar.
4.
Discuss goals
with the planning committee (if there is more then one person drafting the
plan.)
5.
Divide goals
into broader categories (budget/finance, communication, field, etc.)
6.
Work backwards.
Begin with election day and work your way back to the present on your calendar.
This provides a better idea of when goals need to be met and when resources are
needed. This will also ensure that if you have limited resources available that
you will be using them in the key period of the campaign -- usually the last 10
– 12 weeks leading up to election day (for a November general election this
usually means Labor Day to election day).
Determine Campaign Goals and Priorities
Your campaign goals should be specific, clear, attainable
and measurable. Each goal should also be prioritized in your campaign plan.
All goals are either long-term or short-term achievements.
For example, in your jurisdiction you have a mayor and eight city council
members. The mayor votes only if there is a tie. Currently, the mayor is a
friend, but only two of the eight council members can be considered friends.
The long-term goal is to get a majority of the council
(five of eight) to be friendly. However, since all eight seats are not up in the
same election year, your short-term goal may be to win two of the four up this
year and at least one of the council seats in the next elections. At the same
time you will need to make certain that the mayor is re-elected and that you
retain your other two friends on the council.
In developing your campaign plan, the local should
incorporate a number of goals for the course of the election.
Some suggested goals:
1.
Include
candidate materials in local and state union publications.
2.
Update
Membership Lists – Take time to make sure you have complete and accurate contact
information for each of your members (home address, phone numbers and email
address). Having accurate member data is critical when working to recruit
members and, more importantly, when expending financial resources to communicate
with them.Distribute leaflets at fire stations at least once a week beginning in
September and up to election day.
3.
Mail two
letters from the local president to members on behalf of your endorsed
candidate(s).
4.
Make two phone
calls to every member from the local: one to notify your members of your
endorsed candidates and the second to get-out-the-vote closer to election day.
5.
Increase voter
registration by 10 percent in your local.
6.
Organize a
get-out-the-vote drive to ensure that members make it to the polls.
7.
Organize two
weekend canvasses with your members in conjunction with your endorsed
candidate(s).
8.
Organize a ride
to the polls effort with your members in conjunction with your endorsed
candidate(s).
Develop a Campaign Budget
A campaign budget is an essential element to all successful
campaigns and political action. A good campaign budget will direct the campaign,
providing structure and prioritization. The budget will let you know what goals
are attainable and what goals will need to be built for the future. Most
importantly, a budget will prevent you from over-promising and under-delivering
during a campaign.
Remember these three components in developing a budget:
1.
Spend Smart –
All campaigns have limited resources. There is no money to waste. All
expenditures need to be accounted for in your campaign budget.
2.
Stay on Track –
Even if the cash is available, if it has not been budgeted, it is not in the
plan. Your campaign budget should keep your campaign focused and on task.
3.
Manages
Expectations – A campaign budget will allow you to manage your goals and keep
your expectations in line with what you are able to deliver.
Depending on the size of
your local, consider outside fundraising to build your budget to implement your
campaign plan. This is especially true for smaller locals. There are several
ways to raise additional money:
1.
Membership Assessment – Perform a special assessment of the members to
raise additional funds to go directly into the PAC fund. This is usually
accomplished by a majority vote of the members. However, before attempting an
assessment for your budget, know your members. What is their tolerance for a
dues assessment? While the particular campaign you are involved in may be
important, has the local effectively educated its members about the importance
of political action?
2.
General Public Fundraising –Undertake a number of fundraisers to raise
money form the public for the campaignRemember to maximize your fundraising
ability and limit your costs. For example, if your local holds a reception to
raise money, get the food and drink donated by a local vendor to minimize cost.
Similarly, work to have entertainment and other components donated. It’s also
helpful to have a “celebrity” personality at the event, such as the candidate
you are supporting or a prominent community resident (such as another elected
official, a political party leader or someone else who is known in the
community). Another key to fundraising is to limit the time invested in putting
the event together. Don’t spend a lot of time on a fundraising event at the
expense of getting other campaign tasks completed.
Fire Fighter to Fire Fighter Plan
It’s now time to execute the campaign plan. Remember to
keep track of your calendar and make sure that tasks are completed. You may need
to make adjustments and revisions to the campaign plan based on execution and
budgetary concerns. Meet regularly with your campaign team and assess progress.
It is equally important to set accountability standards for each of the
responsibilities assigned. This will not only ensure that the plan is being
executed, but will also provide a sense of accomplishment to your campaign team
when milestones are reached.
Sample Forms (PDFs)
Campaign Plan
Campaign Fundraising Projection
Campaign Budget
Phone Bank Case Study
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