No two campaigns are exactly alike, but achieving
success requires advocates to:
Research the relevant laws, rules, and regulations before you start:
- Look into local or state laws
that relate to the change you are trying to make. Is it an issue governed
by the city charter or state constitution? If you are trying to create new
authority, is it legally permissible? If you are trying to run an initiative
at the local level, are there relevant state laws you should consider? If
you are not sure, seek an opinion from a lawyer sympathetic to your cause,
your city attorney, or state attorney general.
- Research the initiative process
rules. What are the requirements, guidelines, and deadlines? How many
signatures are needed? By when? What’s the signature verification
process? Format of signature petition? Are there any filing fees? How
long is the ballot
statement and when is it due? Can you submit a rebuttal?
- Ask about the applicability of
political campaign laws at the federal, state, and local levels. Will
you form a political action committee (PAC)? Do you have to file any
forms to
establish your campaign? Are you subject to disclosure laws that require
you to publicly report money raised and expenditures made during the
campaign?
Are you supposed to file anything when the campaign is over? Check with
the secretary of state’s office, or your city clerk’s office,
local department of ethics, elections commission, or similar agency for
information.
Charter (and constitutional) amendments
are generally more difficult to get on the ballot than an ordinance
or a statute because they
require more signatures. On the other hand, they’re harder
for elected officials to change after they are passed. At the same
time, keep in mind that you will need to pass another charter amendment
if you want to change your reform initiative in the future. If the
city charter governs your issue, you have no choice but to seek an
amendment.
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Draft
a simple, straightforward initiative back
to top
The content of your initiative is extremely important.
- Start early. To get it right,
you will need to thoroughly understand the issue, check the pulse of public
opinion, write and circulate many drafts of the proposed initiative, and
get input from your allies and others. This can take several months.
- Keep it simple. When voters are
confused, they will vote no on an initiative. Don’t complicate
your initiative. Too many provisions will confuse voters and make your
initiative
more vulnerable to attack from your opponents. You should be able to
clearly explain your initiative in a sentence or two, so people know
precisely what
they are saying yes to.
- Think about your audiences. Does
your proposed initiative address the concerns of your allies? Does
it appeal to a majority of voters? Does it neutralize or at least preempt
the opposition’s
arguments?
- Make sure it does the job. Will
the initiative as drafted accomplish what you need it to do? Can it
survive a court challenge? Is it clear about the responsibility, timing,
funding,
and process for implementation? Have you compromised essential parts
away? If you are trying to get your elected officials to put the initiative
on
the ballot, some compromise will inevitably be required.
- Give serious thought to the ballot
pamphlet. Many localities mail an official ballot pamphlet to all registered
voters before the election. The pamphlet contains the language of the
initiative
with arguments for and against it. Make your argument short, straightforward,
and easy to read; most people only skim the pamphlet. Have it signed
by
individuals and organizations that your target voters will recognize
and respect.
Raise
money for the campaign back
to top
Even if you are running your campaign on a shoestring budget, you probably
will have to raise at least some money to support your effort. The following
are some points to keep in mind.
- Nail down early, easy seed money.
How much can your organization contribute from the start? How about
other organizations in the coalition? Are there any likely contributors
among
the organizations aligned with or serving constituencies affected by
your issue? Early money will help you get started and demonstrate campaign
strength
to potential donors and opponents.
- Have a plan. How will you raise
the money you need? Do you have a donor database? Any potential major
donors? Will you do solicitation letters? Phone calls? Fund-raising events?
How
often and over what period of time?
- Be realistic. Don’t overestimate
what you can raise; it’s usually less than you think. Can you really
raise the money you need to run an effective campaign? Is it likely that
people who have committed to give or raise money will actually come through?
What’s the goal and what are the benchmarks to know you are on
track? Can you put together a broad-based fund-raising committee with
at least
some people who have a successful record of raising money?
Conduct
polls and convene focus groups back
to top
Polling and focus groups can help you assess public opinion on your issue
and initiative and also identify the messages—both for and against—that
effectively appeal to voters.
- Test your initiative language
and provisions. Do people get it? Do they agree or disagree with all
or parts of it?
- Ask hard-hitting questions. How
do people react to the strongest arguments your opponents are likely
to make? You need to know the worst.
- Identify swing voters. Some people
will naturally be with you and some against. You want to know who may
go either way; they are your target audience because you want to persuade
them
to come your way.
- Try different messages. Different
themes resonate with different people.
- Pick the most credible spokespersons.
Test different names. Who are the individuals and organizations most
persuasive to swing voters? To your base?
- Polling is worth it, even if
you cannot afford to hire a professional. A local professor might help
you draft objective poll questions and train volunteers to make the phone
calls.
For a local initiative, you can approximate a random sample of voters
by surveying the first person on every tenth page of your local phone
book.
- Try to get in someone else’s
poll. If there are other initiative campaigns or candidates running
at the same time that are sympathetic to your issue, they may be willing
to let
you put a couple of questions in their poll.
Build
a broad-based coalition back
to top
As in other advocacy efforts, having a broad-based coalition is invaluable
in an initiative campaign: it demonstrates wide support for your initiative,
it is a source for committed volunteers and donors, and it gives your effort
strength and momentum. For more on coalition building, see the Organizing
and Coalition Building section.
- Involve coalition partners at
the outset. If your key allies are not involved in shaping the initiative
and framing the campaign, they may not feel that they have enough of
a stake
to stay in it for the long haul.
- Pull together a diverse mix of
individuals and organizations. You want your usual and most reliable
allies involved. Also, bring in new, nontraditional allies who may appeal
to swing
voters or mobilize a new base of volunteers.
- Reach out to individuals and
organizations with initiative campaign experience. When you are in
the thick of it, there’s nothing like having someone on your side
who has been there before.
Develop
a campaign structure back
to top
Winning initiatives have a campaign
structure that provides respected and credible leadership, inclusive yet
efficient decision-making, effective day-to-day management, and strategic
direction from beginning to end.
- Someone has to take the lead.
This is an issue of both leadership and accountability. To make it
work, the person or organization in this role must be respected and trusted
by
all stakeholders.
- Make use of committees. One way
to make sure people are involved and also to streamline brainstorming
and decision-making is to set up committees with responsibility for following
through on different activities.
- Dedicate staff to the campaign.
Most campaigns have at least some staff whose full-time jobs are working
on the campaign, whether coordinating volunteers, working on media, communicating
with coalition partners and supporters, organizing public events, sending
out materials, or raising money. Some campaigns hire political consultants
to run the entire campaign or to provide such specific services as polling,
advertising, or campaign materials. Either way, make sure you keep ultimate
decision-making authority with the campaign leadership.
In establishing a campaign structure, consider
the following:
- Who will lead the effort and bring together early allies?
- Who will hire the staff? Develop the campaign plan? Make decisions
about campaign strategy? Message?
- Who will manage day-to-day campaign activities and make sure
the campaign keeps moving forward?
- Who will coordinate coalition partners and volunteers? Deal with
the media? Organize field operations? Distribute materials? Focus
on fund-raising?
- How will the leadership be accountable to coalition partners?
What decisions can the leadership make? When is consultation
with coalition partners necessary? What is the process for consulting
coalition partners?
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Recruite
and mobilize volunteers back
to top
Even with a hired campaign staff, you need to recruit and motivate enough
volunteers to get the work done.
- Figure out how many volunteers
you need. Identify all the tasks you will need volunteers to carry
out. Gathering signatures? Making phone calls? Raising money? Leafleting?
Securing
endorsements? Public speaking? Staffing the campaign office? Writing
letters to the editor or op-eds? Use this list to plan how many volunteers
you will
need and where and when you will need them. (See Points to Keep in
Mind below.)
- Start with your core organizations.
Most volunteers come from or are connected to the organizations leading
the initiative. Do not assume that every organization has volunteers
who
can dedicate themselves to the campaign.
- Make a pitch at every public
event. People who show up to your events are interested in the issue.
Let them know that you cannot succeed without their help.
- Tap into volunteer interests.
Some people are willing to do anything on a campaign; others are not.
Making phone calls, knocking on doors, and gathering signatures in support
of a
campaign are not for everyone. Some people prefer stuffing envelopes,
running errands, or distributing materials. Assign volunteers tasks they
are comfortable
doing—and have the time to do—and it is more likely they
will keep coming back.
- Keep volunteers informed and
engaged. Provide volunteers with the training, equipment, and support
they need to be productive. Update them on the campaign’s progress
so they know their efforts are making a difference. Thank them often
for their help
and contributions.
- The number of volunteers needed depends on the amount of
time each volunteer can put in.
- Of the 400 volunteers who signed
up for one campaign, only 50 to 60 were active throughout.
- Volunteers cannot always devote
their full effort to your cause. Some volunteers are community
activists who move from
one campaign to another without being able to commit for
the long haul.
- Coordinating and retaining volunteers
takes a lot of effort. It’s important to have someone focused
on it—full
time.
- As you move closer to the election, the number of paid
staff available to you will decrease. Other campaigns will
also need them and may be able to pay more for their services.
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Draft
effective messages and choose messengers back
to top
You will need to decide what your
campaign message is and who the messengers are. These are some of the most
important decisions you will make. The message and the messengers are the
public face of your campaign. Following are some points to keep in mind
in making these decisions.
- Frame the issue first, or your
opponents will.
- Create a simple, compelling one
to two sentence explanation of your initiative.
- Appeal to your target audience,
perhaps tested through polling or focus groups.
- “Stay on message.”
Repeat your message at every opportunity. Don’t change it unless
you have decided to change your strategy.
- For no campaigns, find the initiative’s
weak spot and keep pointing it out. Repetition is important.
- Put your most credible spokespersons
out front.
- Display the diversity of your
allies and endorsers.
- Put a human face on the problem.
Create
and implement a media plan back
to top
Television, radio, and newspapers
are where most people get their information and where you will most likely
communicate your message. They are often the key to reaching a large number
of voters. You should have a plan for making the most of the local and—if
appropriate—national media. For more on developing the media, see
the Media Advocacy section.
- Use a combination of paid and
free (earned) media.
- Issue news releases to mark key
milestones: the filing of ballot initiative language, submission of
qualifying signatures, release of favorable poll results, announcement
of newsworthy
endorsers.
- Invite reporters to campaign
events that are likely to draw a crowd.
- Educate reporters about the problem
you are trying to solve and how your initiative will improve the situation.
- Develop a research strategy with
the release of reports to highlight the problem and increase public
knowledge and support.
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