The Campaign Workshop Blog

The Tactics and Terms That Define Advocacy

Learn how we define advocacy -Advocacy, defined in the simplest terms, is about fighting for something you believe in. When we talk about advocacy, the issues and tactics may change, but the core is about supporting a cause or policy and working to create the change we want to see in the world. What is the difference between how we define an advocacy campaign and a political campaign? The difference may sometimes seem murky, but it boils down to express advocacy vs. issue advocacy. Express advocacy…

Land a Political Campaign Job with Our 12 Tips

When I started on the campaign trail, I was lucky enough to go through the Campaign Management Institute, where I became focused on grassroots political campaigns and met mentors through college programs and internships. Meeting folks who had made careers out of political campaigns, advocacy and public affairs, encouraged me to go on the road, pursue a career in politics and…

17 Nonprofit Job Boards for Your Search

If you’re looking for your next career move that makes a difference, check out nonprofit job boards to find openings in the areas you’re interested in. Below, we compiled a list of boards that will help you find the right fit. Check out our larger list of job boards, jobs banks, and search firms here.…

A Paid Internship Makes for Better Interns 

Finding a paid internship in politics, public affairs or political consulting is not easy.  Oftentimes, hours of web research end in disappointment with search results offering unpaid internships with unclear job descriptions. Many small businesses have given up on internships altogether, paid or unpaid, because they could not find value.  So, if you are looking for a paid internship or you are a company thinking about how to get real value from your internship program, this blog post is for you.  …

Advocacy Campaign Goals Win Your Public Affairs Campaign

Running an effective advocacy campaign takes skill and planning. As we head into 2021, there will be a lot of competition for different advocacy issues to take a spotlight, so you need to be ready to hit the ground running. We put together five tips to help you run a winning advocacy campaign. Have a clear and measurable goal. Advocacy organizations often have goals for their campaigns that are hard to measure. For example, it can be tough to determine if a goal like “raising awareness”…

Advocacy Video On a Budget

Advocacy video  is all over social media and across the internet. Video has really become an essential channel for leveraging support on an issue for nonprofits. It’s no wonder why, many advocacy organizations and nonprofits have supporters with compelling narratives, and video is a great medium for storytelling. But we’ve seen too many small or mid-sized nonprofits that still choose to avoid creating an advocacy video strategy because they have a limited budget.  Well, great news. Developing an engaging video for…

7 Questions with Dave Fako on Political and Advocacy Polling

Dave Fako founded Fako Research & Strategies (FR&S) in 1998.  His career in politics, public policy, and government affairs spans over thirty years.  Over his career, Dave Fako has developed strategies for statewide, congressional, state legislative, and municipal candidates, in addition to referendums, and has advised numerous public policy, advocacy organizations, and national and regional private sector companies.  Dave Fako has developed expertise in state, local, and…

Membership Communications Can Make a Difference

In our socially distanced world, having a thoughtful membership communications strategy is more important than ever. For labor unions and advocacy organizations effectively engaging members across mediums can make a real difference.  Activating members  to turn out in elections or put pressure on lawmakers to pass legislation is a core part of member communications. Here are our tips for taking your membership communications programs to the next level: Plan ahead for short- and long-term programs…

Advocacy Engagement Goes Further with A Funnel

Getting more advocacy engagement for your organization involves finding new supporters and turning them into dedicated advocates. But getting people to make the transition from giving you their email address to taking action on your organization’s behalf requires a thoughtful engagement strategy. We created an advocacy funnel to show different actions you could ask your supporters to take and what value can be assigned to each action. The more personal the action is, the higher its value.…

Grassroots Campaign Planning - Get Your Virtual Volunteers to Come Back

Even before the pandemic, running a grassroots campaign was hard. And in the age of COVID-19, running a successful grassroots campaign with a network of engaged volunteers can feel nearly impossible. There are always going to be volunteers who sign up for shifts and do not show up. While it may seem easier to get people to log onto a Zoom volunteer shift than it would be to get them to drive all the way to your office to volunteer in person, when folks are at home there are…

Author Paul Kendrick Discusses His New Book Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King Jr.'s Life and Win the 1960 Election 

As a former Obama White House Staffer, seasoned campaign organizer, former Harlem Children’s Zone team member, and now the Executive Director of Rust Belt Rising, co-author Paul Kendrick brings a fresh take to the idea that what’s past is prologue. In Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King Jr.'s Life and Win the 1960 Election, Stephen and Paul Kendrick present the story of Martin…

Pollsters- How To Work With Them & Be a Smart Consumer of Polling 

Pollsters shouldn’t be the only members of your team who understand how to build an effective survey for your advocacy or political campaign. Becoming a smart consumer of campaign polling data is a must.  this post will help you ask pollsters thoughtful questions. Good polling will help you utilize your budget efficiently, think strategically about your goals, and assess risks and opportunities in your electoral landscape. A good campaign pollster will understand your goals…

Advocacy Tactics Have Shifted Over Time

Advocacy tactics and advocacy campaign strategies have changed a lot over the last 20 years. When I was a Chief of Staff in the New York State Legislature, I don't remember ever seeing a real  public affairs campaign around public support of an issue that focused on legislators. The main way groups moved legislation was to hire a…

User-Generated Content Tools to Build Storytelling for Advocacy During the time of COVID -19, getting together and sharing stories is an impossibility. So, when my mom turned 80, my sister came upon an easy user-generated content tool to organize friends to send a message to my mom for her friends and family. Five days and a few tutorials later, using Video Hug, we had organized a couple dozen 80-year-olds to send a message to my mom you can see the finished product here.   The whole…

TikTok changes your social media presence to engage young voters

If you don’t think TikTok is valuable, think again. Young voters made up a good portion of 2020 voters on a national and regional scale, increasing by 10 percentage points from the 2016 to 2020 elections. This upward trend is promising since only…