campaign consultant

Online Advocacy Campaign Consultants: Is It Worth the Cost to Hire a Consultant to Manage Your Online Presence?

Online 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 online advocacy consultant to manage your online presence can seem like an easy line item to cut. But don’t be so quick to count campaign consultants out. Depending on your nonprofit’s size and goals, a  online advocacy consultant could be extremely beneficial (and we’re not just saying that because of our line of work).

This month’s political consultant is Stefan Hankin.

Stefan is a political consultant, campaign pollster the founder and president of Lincoln Park Strategies. With over a decade of experience in market research, working with clients at all levels of politics, as well as the non-profit and corporate world, Stefan’s expertise on positioning his clients to succeed across all demographic and ideological groups serves as the hallmark of his work.

Political Consulting Firms for Democrats: The Insiders Guide to hiring a Local or DC Based Campaign Consultant

Picking top Democratic political consulting firms or any political consulting firm is not an easy decision. Having been through this process on both’ sides of the table it is clear that many folks who make this decision don’t really take the time to decide what they are looking for ahead of time.

In the end, some folks are hiring based on solving a campaign problem but often it seems folks are looking for a drinking buddy, not a strategic consultant. Hiring the right consultants cannot guarantee you a win but the wrong ones can guarantee you a loss.   Although many folks think political consultants are only focused on mass media (television, mail and digital), political consulting has a lot of  specialties. Campaign consultants are located in Washington DC as well as across the country.  Campaign consultants provide services for anything a campaign may need including fundraising, opposition research, public opinion polling, field, and compliance. With the wide variety of  campaign strategists and  campaign firms out there, our first piece of advice is to take your time.

Seven questions with "The Campaign Doctor" Craig Varoga

Craig Varoga provides public affairs assistance and campaign services to a select group of public, private and non-profit organizations.  His firm offers clients strategic guidance in analyzing public opinion and developing strategies to achieve long-term goals. He answered seven questions on his experience with campaigns. 

1. How long have you been writing The Campaign Doctor column?

Campaign Strategist; Nancy Leeds

This week's campaign strategist is Nancy Leeds. Nancy is a writer and Political Campaign Operative who recently earned her MPA in Social Policy and Management at Columbia University. Sometimes people hire her to work on their non-profits and campaigns. When that happens, these opinions are still hers and do not reflect those of her candidates.

Figure out when it makes sense to add campaign consultants to your team. 

Campaign consultants bring the knowledge, prowess, and skills to win

Campaign consultants can bring a wide array of experience and expertise to any political candidate, whether it’s a small race or a big one.  Ask anyone running for Congress or any major office and they will tell you they have a team of campaign consultants surrounding them, guiding the way through their tough campaign.

Ask Your Campaign Consultants These Questions - But Make Sure You Want To Hear The Answer

Campaign consultants are paid to answer tough questions. Throughout the course of any political campaign, it is sometimes the unasked questions that are the most important. A good campaign consultant, candidate, and campaign manager should approach these tough questions head on. Let’s walk through the ten important questions to ask your campaign consultant to get your campaign off to a good start.

How to Have a Positive Political Consultant Relationship

Any experienced campaign manager or campaign operative can recall a bad experience working with a political consultant. Perhaps the consultant couldn’t deliver what they promised, they were unresponsive or didn’t hit deadlines. Undoubtedly, a lot of what goes into a successful relationship depends on the campaigns and the political consultant. How you start the relationship is important. As a former political organizer turned political consultant, here are my tips on how to jumpstart a successful relationship with your campaign consultants.

What's the Difference Between a Campaign Manager and a General Consultant? 

Political campaign terms can be confusing. In my work, I have seen many folks confuse a campaign manager with a general consultant or campaign consultant, and have trouble deciding on which they should choose. Below is my attempt to clear that up, as well as a discussion on the pros and cons of each.

A campaign manager is a day-to-day employee who works full-time and is paid for by the campaign. The campaign manager's job is to run a single campaign and keep all aspects of it running smoothly. A general consultant is someone who has multiple clients across multiple campaigns the clearer term is general political consultant. Their job is to focus on the big picture of the campaign and make sure it is achieving its short-term goals in order to win. In short, the big difference between a manager and a general political consultant is the time you get with each and the level of experience.

Both can be very helpful, but depending on your campaign and the level of experience of your manager you may or may not need a general political consultant.

Here is a breakdown on the pros and cons of using managers and general political consultants.