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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Political Advertising Mediums - Pros and Cons

Choosing the right political advertising for your political campaign can make the difference between winning and losing. Which political advertising medium a campaign chooses depends largely on their strategic objectives, targets, and, of course, budget.

Donkey and elephant face off Learning from loss

7 Qs Seth Masket Learning From Loss The Democrats

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Seth Masket is a professor of political science and the director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver. His academic and research interests include political polarization, state and local politics, and campaigns and elections.

Volunteer at a door with a clipboard and a campaign walk card

Campaign Walk Cards - How to create Great Campaign Lit

by Ben Holse (He/Him)

Campaign walk cards are an important element to any field strategy. They give your canvassers something tangible to discuss at the doors and are a great way to introduce your candidate to voters. Unfortunately, a lot of campaigns create walk cards the wrong way.

row of old books

Political Campaign Strategy: Read these books to get a strategic edge

by Elena Veatch

To build an effective political campaign strategy, you need to understand the landscape your campaign is operating in. While talking to voters is always going to be the best way to get to know the issues that drive your community (and the larger American electorate), books are another great resource to inform your approach to politics.

one woman advising another at a business setting - digital advocacy consultant

Digital Advocacy Consultant: Do You Need One?

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Digital advocacy seems to be the term of the moment, but achieving real online advocacy results can be tough in both execution and budget. If you are at a nonprofit where money is tight, (when is it not?), spending money on hiring a digital advocacy consultant to manage your digital and online presence can seem like an easy line item to cut.

Woman reading laptop political blogs

Political Blogs We Like! Get your State Political Blogs Here!

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Political blogs as a news source seems very and 2004 but finding local and state specific perspectives on politics and communications matters. As quaint as it seems Try reading national and state political blogs. Here at The Campaign Workshop, we enjoy reading national and state-based political blogs to learn about local politics in states across the country and stay up to date on cutting edge campaign innovation.

filled out checklist

Post-Election Campaign Shutdown Checklist

by Ben Holse (He/Him) and Martín Diego Garcia (He/Him)

Your campaign is finally over and you might be feeling a bit of that post-campaign emptiness inside. We understand that feeling and have a lot of insight on what to do after a win or a loss. Like for most things in your campaign you’ll want to be thinking about a plan for your campaign shutdown at the beginning of the campaign as part of your overall campaign plan.

election day on a calendar:  - After the election

After the Election Checklist

by Elena Veatch

It’s the day after the election — you finally made it. Whether you won or lost your political campaign, your operation won’t end as soon as the results are in. You ran an organization for months that hopefully bore semblance to a well-oiled machine. You likely had people on your payroll, whether it was one campaign manager or a whole team of dedicated staff.

Stressed woman with laptop

Election Stress: How Can You Deal Election Week Stress?

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

As someone who has been in the world of elections for 30 years, election stress has been a constant in my life and those around me. But this year it is even more stressful

list matching

List Matching For Digital Politics & Advocacy

by The Campaign Workshop

Political advertising can be expensive, so it is imperative to make sure that every dollar is well spent. A big chunk of that change will go towards figuring out who you want to serve your ads to and where, whether for conversion or eyeballs. Over the past few years, methods for creating ad universes have evolved to become more precise and granular – enter list matching.

Voting Machine Hal Malchow

Hal Malchow - 7 questions on 42 Million to One

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Hal Malchow is the former Chairman of MSHC partners, which was a political consulting firm that pioneered the use of statistical modeling and control group experiments in politics. His work in changing campaign politics is chronicled in Sasha Issenberg’s 2011 book, The Victory Lab, The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns.

"Vote here" sign hanging outside

Get Out the Vote for Political and Voter Turnout Campaigns

Get out the vote, better known as GOTV is the final phase of any campaign. The whole point of this phase is in the name: get your voters out to vote. This phase applies to electoral campaigns, voter turnout campaigns, and independent expenditure campaigns.

Woman looking at mail in ballot by a mail box - Vote by mail

Vote by Mail FAQs

by The Campaign Workshop

A hot topic for this coming election is how many people will vote by mail. With COVID-19 still rampant in the U.S., voting by mail will be a critical part of the November 3rd election. But whether or not you’re eligible to vote by mail depends on where you live, even down to the county level. Read on to find out more information on how to vote by mail.

Two women chatting in park with masks on

Deep Canvassing in a Pandemic: A Complete Guide

by The Campaign Workshop

Deep canvassing is a growing tactic for voter persuasion that uses longer, two-way conversations. Campaigns, especially electoral campaigns, are always on the lookout to find the most efficient and effective way to persuade voters to support their cause. In the past, door to door canvassing and phone campaigns were a staple of field operations to identify and persuade voters to vote for their candidate or issue.

Black woman with palms facing camera saying "Stop Racism". Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter: How to Talk to Your Family About It

by The Campaign Workshop

Black Lives Matter. Across the country and around the world, we have seen protests demanding an end to systemic racism and police brutality in our country as well as justice for the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Rayshard Brooks, Elijah McClain and countless others.

Colored pencils vertical, on dark turquoise background

How to Guide: Campaign Logos

by Martín Diego Garcia (He/Him)

The advertising world is well-versed in using and exploiting the visual language of typography to convey messages that go beyond the overt, verbal language on the page. Cal Swan, author of Language and Typography, says, “These two distinct areas often come together in practice as there is clearly a very strong relationship between the conception of the words as a message and their transmission in visible form.” Nowhere is this more important than in political messaging.

Monkey and kids wearing tin foil hats and 3D movie glasses with radio and notepad

Wacky Ways to Make Presidential Election Predictions

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Looking for accurate presidential election predictions? As Election Day approaches, it seems like every news channel will reference the latest polls or how many points ahead Trump or Biden are in the race for the White House. But as scientific and data centric as polls can be, there are a few unconventional ways to make presidential election predictions, and most are eerily correct.

GOTV -  Get Out The Vote letters in the word vote hanging off a clothesline

GOTV: Get Out The Vote - Voter Turnout Strategies

by The Campaign Workshop

Get Out the Vote (GOTV) or Voter turnout, describes a campaign strategy for candidates or organizations to get eligible voters to head to the polls or return their ballots by Election Day,  GOTV is an essential part of any campaign strategy and can make the difference between winning and losing an election.

Presidential Election Predictions Crystal ball sitting on a map

Presidential Election Predictions, Are They Accurate? | Predicting Elections 2020

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

We are often asked to predict the future in politics—especially when it comes to Presidential Election Predictions However, being a political consultant does not mean being the best judge of what will happen on Election Day. We are determined to help our candidates win, and that can make us less objective in predicting electoral odds than we should be.

Pile of mail-in voting envelopes and "I Voted" stickers and an American flag

Debunking the Myth of Mail-In Ballot Voter Fraud

by Elena Veatch

No one should have to choose between making their voice heard in a pivotal presidential election and risking their life by voting in person during a pandemic. That’s why states have taken measures in 2020 to make mail-in voting easier for and accessible to more voters. This fall, states like California are automatically sending ballots in the mail to all registered voters (rather than just those who explicitly request a ballot).