The Campaign Workshop Blog

At The Campaign Workshop, we love issue advocacy campaigns. As consultants, we get to work on a wide variety of campaigns and with a wide variety of clients. While we could never pick a favorite, working with a group of passionate people to make a substantive change on an issue they care about is our jam. People working on advocacy campaigns are the experts in their issues and are a true resource when we are working hand in hand on crafting a campaign to reach a wider audience

Whether it’s for Coca-Cola, AARP, or your local 4-H club, the goal of a print ad remains largely the same: get the reader to take an action. That action could be buying more pop, calling Congress, or raising a prize pig. To make that happen, you need to catch people’s attention and then clearly and concisely tell them what you want them to do. A print ad can be expensive, so make sure you’re getting your money’s worth. Below are a few of the best-practices we have used to create advocacy print ads for clients that make an impact.

Recently a student at Queens University, Stephen Crotty, reached out to The Campaign Workshop with questions for his paper on political writing. Stephen’s questions were really thoughtful and forced me think critically about some of the things I do when communicating for politics. Stephen kindly agreed to let us repost his questions and my responses as a 7 questions post. 

Throughout the year, we’ve been lucky enough to speak with so many people who are experts across many different fields as part of our 7 Questions series. These folks made some book recommendations that we want to highlight and share with you. 

No matter the size of your nonprofit, advocacy campaign testing should be a key component of everything you do digitally. Testing allows you to find out which tactic, message, strategy, etc., is the most effective in accomplishing your goal. Instead of relying on a hunch of what the best thing to do is—which we are often wrong about—tests allow us to find what really works.

Get ready, I’m about to crack advocacy budgets wide open (pun intended, and it won’t be the last). I know you’re on the edge of your seats, but this is really no chicken and the egg conundrum I’m about to solve for you. When you’re looking to develop an advocacy program, your budget should always come first. This may seem counterintuitive when you begin talking to consultants (like you’re tipping your hand and about to get taken for a ride), but it’s really important for a few reasons:

It can be hard figuring out what to gift everyone for the holidays, but we’ve got your back. If your friends and family aren’t readers, we even have cookbooks for those looking for a less traditional read. In fact, there are options for all interests and ages.

Can you believe the holiday season is already upon us? Though we know you’re already gearing up for 2020, the 2019 election season has finally come to an end, and it’s time to take a deep breath before jumping back in. 

If you’ve just come off of a political campaign, chances are you’ve spent the last few months consuming nothing but political content—from news to television to a podcast or two. After you’ve wrapped everything up, and shut down your campaign properly, maybe you need a break?

Kate Childs Graham is currently a principal at West Wing Writers but has long worked in the field of political speechwriting. She is the former communications director for US Senator Amy Klobuchar. She also wrote speeches for principals and surrogates during the Clinton-Kaine campaign and the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Peter Greenberger is an experienced political consultant and media executive with a background working in government, on campaigns, and in digital media. Peter has served as Director of Congressional Correspondence in the White House during the Clinton Administration, the Global Director of News Partnerships at Twitter, and everything in between.

Self-care is a must after a grueling election cycle. Getting through Election Day is a huge accomplishment, but it takes a toll. Late nights, too much pizza, a prolonged, laser-like focus on work—it can leave you feeling drained, foggy and exhausted. Moral of the story, you deserve to kick back with a good book (or a great crossword, if you’re a nerd like me) and an even better drink in hand. Cocktail, mocktail or wine, the choice is yours, but the sentiment is the same: treat yourself.

Dr. Alan Rosenblatt is an expert in social media strategy. He is the Director of Digital Research for Lake Research Partners, a Partner and Lead Digital & Social Media Strategist at turner4D, and a Principal at Unfiltered.Media with 30 years of experience in the digital politics industry.

You’ve worked hard to run a strong campaign—now you can carve out some space for some post-election self-care ideas!

If you work in the campaign world, I’m willing to bet you’re deeply acquainted with post-election burnout. While that fatigue may be more acute after presidential and mid-term elections, never discount the exhausting pace of state and local races. No matter the election year, type, or outcome, it’s crucial to take care of yourself after you take care of your campaign.

Twitter announced that they will stop allowing political ads to run on its platform which has the potential to have further implications across the industry. Will other companies follow suit? Facebook has received a lot of flak lately from both the public and the government centered around political ads.