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.

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.

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.

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 a lot of potential distractions that can keep them from logging on.

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.

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.

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.  

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 30% of young people report being contacted by a campaign or party. Engaging young voters, especially on TikTok and other social media platforms, could make young voting rates go even higher.

If conventional wisdom holds that young people are uninterested in politics, then the past two election cycles have been anything but conventional. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University, young people are more interested in politics than ever before.