The Campaign Workshop Blog

Online Petitions: Build Your Email List - With Digital List Building

You don’t need a clipboard for online petitions, but you do need a strategy. Online petitions are a great way to bolster your supporter base around an issue. You can use a digital action as a hook to get folks involved with your campaign or cause in the long run. List building isn’t always easy, quick, or cheap—make sure you plan ahead so you can do it right and make the most out of your new supporters. How do online petitions work? There are a couple different reliable, cost-…

Down-Ballot Campaign - Five Tips to Win!

A Down-ballot campaign is  a great starting place for first-time candidates or folks who want to start working on campaigns. Getting involved in your local or state government is an important and noble task. State and local governments combined spend more than the federal government and some county governments are bigger than state governments.  There is a lot of opportunity for public service in down…

Printer Proof Check: 8 Tips for Checking Political Printing

So you send your final political direct mail file off to the printer and breathe a sigh of relief—until you get your printer proof. Now what? The political printing process continues long after you finalize designing and proofing your direct mail file in-house. After you send off your final political direct mail file, the printer will send you back something called a print proof that you need to approve. A print proof is an exact mockup of what your piece will look like when it prints…

Vote Goal and Vote Deficit: What are they?  Why Do I Need Them?

When you’re deciding to run for office, one of the very first things you should do is bust out your trusty calculator and calculate your campaign’s vote goal. Your vote goal is the number of votes needed to win your election. Your campaign has one goal: to convince enough voters to show up to the polls on Election Day or during early vote and vote for you. To…

Storytelling Tips to Strengthen Your Campaign Communications

Storytelling in campaign communications can have a powerful impact on your advocacy campaign, member outreach or political communications. There are many ways to bolster your message, from numbers and statistics to expert testimony to eye-catching visuals, but one tactic that sometimes gets overlooked is storytelling.  An effective advocacy campaign communications program will work to foster its supporters who have personal connections to issues and organizations into storytellers.…

Union Printers and Union Printing - Why We Use Them.

Here at The Campaign Workshop (TCW), we work with union printers. Union printers are not only committed to providing a safe workplace and fair wages but also benefits to their employees. Without going into a massive labor history lesson, unions are really important both to the middle class in this country and the progressive movement; something we certainly can get behind at TCW!  Why progressive candidates need to use union…

Nonprofit Ads, Budget Wisely - CPA for List Acquisition

Nonprofit ads are bought with a limited budget. To make the most of their budget for non profit ads, a lot of advocacy organizations will look for ways to increase their membership or put public pressure on legislators. The best way to accomplish both of these goals may be through a CPA campaign. CPA stands for cost per acquisition, which means that the…

Community Advocates Matter, Tips for Community Advocacy.

When people hear the terms “grassroots organizers” or “community advocates” they often do not see themselves reflected in those descriptions. However, very often they have already been an advocate without even realizing it. Community advocates are anyone advocating or speaking out on behalf of themselves, another person or a cause. Some simple examples of community advocacy are parents who speak out on behalf of their children in school when there is a problem, or someone speaking out on…

Why Does Paper for Political Direct Mail Printing Matter?

When it comes to political direct mail printing paper, there are as many choices as there are types of coffee drinks at your local Starbucks. Each paper type has specific characteristics that influence printability, color, texture, and price. Which option you choose depends on your budget, design, and overall goals.  Most political direct mail printing paper starts out as wood fiber-based, uncoated paper. Some paper stocks, such as a matte paper stock, leave the paper uncoated and…

Nonprofit Storytelling: Better Advocacy with Advocate Stories

Nonprofit storytelling is a powerful tool, but it often falls off the radar when push comes to shove, probably because it takes significant time and people resources to do well. This post will walk you through why it should always be part of your planning and priorities, how to weave it into things you’re already doing (it doesn’t have to be a heavy lift if you do it a little at a time) and some of the elements of compelling storytelling.  The purpose of nonprofit storytelling is to…

Political Digital Campaign Strategy- Don’t Neglect Social Media - 

Whether you’re running for your local school board or the U.S. Senate, social media will likely be a prong of your political digital campaign strategy. Strong digital campaigns meet people where they are online, and the numbers don’t lie—social media remains an omnipresent force in our world, with more than…

How to Get the Most out of Your Political Printing

The world of political printing is varied, vast and mysterious for many. But it doesn’t have to be a mystery (unless you’re into intrigue, in which case, I’m sure you can keep the mystery alive in whatever manner floats your boat)—this blog will help you navigate the ins and outs of choosing a printer for your political work. From direct mail, to yard signs (buyer beware, they don’t vote!) to walk lit, the world of…

Digital Advertising Acronyms - Key Terms for Political & Advocacy Digital Ads

When entering  the digital advertising world without any prior experience or  background in the field, one of the largest challenges you will face would be getting the hang of all of the digital advertising acronyms. Digital advertising has its own language DSP, DMP, CPM, CPA, CTR... What do all these ad terms mean? Understanding these acronyms will help you communicate better with digital vendors and allow you to ask the right questions. Luckily, we’re here to…

Tully Message Box: The Foundation of a Winning Political Campaign

The Tully message box, also just called a message box, is a simple tool that campaigns have been using for years. A message box can be used to create a specific theme, message, and strategy. Named for Democratic strategist Paul Tully, the Tully message box helps to visually break down four important components that will help any campaign craft their communications.  The beauty of the Tully message box is its simplicity. You don’t have to be a highly experienced political…

Check Out These Dos and Don’ts on Political Printing to Learn How to Avoid Common Mistakes. 

Regardless of how you cut it, writing and producing quality political direct mail and doing political printing is no easy task. There are a lot of things that go into quality political printing, and it takes quite a bit of time and practice to be able to do it well. With that said, below is a quick list of dos and don’ts to producing quality political printing. DO'S Use Big Fonts That Jump Out It’s a simple fact—the average voter is older. By the nature…