The Campaign Workshop Blog, is hosted by The Campaign Workshop - an advocacy and political consulting firm. We write about tactics for advocacy, membership, civic engagement, and progressive politics.  We post weekly, and also publish ebooks, host webinars, and The How to Win a Campaign Podcast. Sign up to learn more.   

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Favorite Podcasts

TCW's Favorite Podcasts

by Elizabeth Rowe (She/Her)

We love podcasts here at The Campaign Workshop. When we're not busy working on our own podcast, How to Win a Campaign, we love learning, laughing, and growing through our favorite podcasts and hosts. Jump into fall by checking out the top podcast recommendations from The Campaign Workshop staff.

Political Photography Tips

Political Campaign Photography

by Julie Watson (She/Her)

A picture is worth a thousand words, especially in the world of political communications, where space is limited, and readers’ attention spans are minimal. This means that the images you choose for your campaign are critical and will likely require some level of investment.

Favorite Books

TCW's Favorite Books of the Summer

by Elizabeth Rowe (She/Her)

Summer is a time for rest, relaxation, and yes, reading! Summer may be ending but check out the top 2023 reading recommendations from The Campaign Workshop Staff. Check out our staff’s picks for the best books of their 2023 summer!

party convention

How to Win a Party Convention Fight

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

In the world of political campaigns political power is often achieved through the party convention process. Whether you are running for state representative, county office, or President of the United States conventions still matter in many places.

political campaign strategy

Political Campaign Strategy Tips -How to Run a Campaign

by Martín Diego Garcia (He/Him)

At any level, campaign fundamentals can mean the difference between building a winning or losing political campaign strategy. While much of this may seem like common sense (and it is), it's crucial to bear with me, as many of these essential aspects are often overlooked during campaign development.

Training Tips

Training Tips from The Campaign Workshop

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

When we started building training programs, we had a limited training tips to work from. However, after connecting with great mentors, going through various training programs, and learning through trial and error, we have accumulated tools to run effective training session.

row of customer service representatives at work

Patch-Through Calls: What Are They & When to Use Them

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Organizations and campaigns have used patch-through calls for years when they need many people to reach out to elected officials. But in an era of cord-cutting and digital everything, will folks still take the time to get patched-through to a lawmaker? And will lawmakers listen? The answer is maybe.

Texting fot advocacy

Texting for Advocacy | Using SMS for Nonprofits

by Alice McLoughlin (She/Her)

Have you been implementing SMS for advocacy, or texting for advocacy, into your issue advocacy or public affairs campaigns? Texting for advocacy is an important tool for nonprofits and organizations creating an issue advocacy communications program.

Advocacy Emails

Advocacy Email Campaigns: Don't Ignore Email for Advocacy

Advocacy emails are a powerful tool. For many groups and organizations, advocacy emails can amplify their message in a positive way. As you are probably well aware, most people use their email for both work and personal use, so communicating with your supporters with this medium is a logical choice.

advocacy video

Setting up your Advocacy Video for Success

We have all seen the exponential rise of short, viral videos in the last few years¬–so how can we garner the same popularity for advocacy videos? As social media platforms continue to expand and become more popular, creating videos for your campaign can prove to be a worthwhile financial and creative investment. 

Online Advocacy

Media Buying for Online Advocacy

by Julie Watson (She/Her)

Online advocacy campaigns are a powerful way to raise awareness, mobilize supporters, and influence decision-makers on a variety of issues and causes. Selecting the most effective types of digital media to use is essential for maximizing impact and engaging with your target audience.

advocacy engagement

Advocacy Engagement, Tactics and Strategies Evolved

by Martín Diego Garcia (He/Him)

Engaging individuals in advocacy efforts is an essential part of creating lasting change. But it can be a challenge to get people to take meaningful action, and even more challenging to keep them engaged over the long term. That's where the advocacy engagement funnel comes in.

Grasstops vs Grassroots Advocacy

Grasstops vs Grassroots Advocacy

by Ben Holse (He/Him)

Grasstops and grassroots are both an important part to any successful advocacy campaign. Maybe you’ve heard the term and have asked, “What’s the difference?" They sure sound the same. Well, you're not the only one scratching your head.

volunteer recruitment

Volunteer Recruitment That Rocks | Grassroots Campaigns

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Volunteer recruitment is never easy - but when done right, volunteer recruitment can build on itself. Here are 16 rock solid volunteer recruitment tips to get your grassroots campaign started:

Diverse group of people holding one another in solidarity.

Community Advocacy Basics: What You Need to Know

If you are thinking of working for a community advocacy group, here are some tips to get you started. As we have seen, both globally and locally, the best advocates for change are people who can tell a story that move people towards action — no matter their age or walk of life.

Remote Work

Remote Work: How to Boost Your Company Culture

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

We are now three years from the start of our remote work journey, and we have built a company culture based on remote work - we are not a hybrid workplace - we do have access to offices, but we are still focused on making remote work a vibrant experience for our team. Keeping a good remote work culture and building job performance and mentorships remotely means having a discipline and multifaceted approach to a flexible workplace.

Union Printers

Why Should My Campaign Consider Union Printers?

by Stephanie Khani (She/Her)

Post-pandemic, unionization efforts experienced a surge of support in the public sector, from coffee chains to online retailers. It is estimated that in 2022 alone that more than 16 million people were represented by a union and 60 million workers wanted to join a union but were unable to do so (Economic Policy Institute). Public support for unions continues to grow in 2023.

Advocacy Campaign

Advocacy Training: 7 Questions w/ Martín Diego Garcia

by The Campaign Workshop

Martín Diego Garcia has devoted his professional career to building a more representative democracy. For the past nine years. Martin has developed advocacy training, and trained and developed the leadership abilities of thousands of candidates, campaign operatives, and advocates. He is passionate about uplifting marginalized communities and advancing a progressive and inclusive political agenda.

email list

Email List Hygiene: A Clean List Makes for Better Email Marketing

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Let’s face it, most folks don’t spend enough time working on their email list hygiene. There is always something wrong with your email engagement. If you are working with emails, you can always fix something.

 Opposition Research

Using Opposition Research to Boost Your Advocacy Campaigns

by Tobias Cebulash (He/Him)

Opposition research is an important component of any advocacy campaign’s messaging strategy. This research is more commonly associated with candidate campaigns — however, being able to articulate a contrast with the other side is equally important in the advocacy space. So, where to begin?