• Political Pollsters: Making the Most of Your Polling

    Feb 22, 2021 by Elena Veatch

    A person's outline and question marks drawn on blackboard with chalk

    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.

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  • Membership Surveys: 7 Questions with Ruth Bernstein

    Jul 02, 2020 by Ben Holse (he/him)

    Membership surveys three people sitting holding paper thought bubbles above

    Membership Surveys: 7 Questions with Pollster Ruth Bernstein 

    Ruth Bernstein is president and CEO at EMC Research, a national polling and opinion research firm. Ruth leads polling on a wide variety of political, policy, and marketing projects. She is especially proud of her work helping to elect women and people of color to office and securing voter approval for education, transportation, minimum wage increases, and environmental protection. We asked Ruth 7 questions on membership surveys and how they can benefit your organization.

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  • Political Consultant Spotlight: Pollster Mike Bocian

    Jun 30, 2016 by Joe Fuld (he/him)

    political consultant

    Political Consultant Spotlight | Pollster Mike Bocian

    This week’s Political Consultant is Michael Bocian. He is a founding partner at GBA Strategies, serves as pollster and strategist for gubernatorial, senate, congressional, state legislative, mayoral, and ballot initiative campaigns. With 15 years of experience, he has worked for the DGA, DCCC, DSCC, issue advocacy groups and membership associations.

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  • Advocacy Polling, Research and Focus Groups

    Jan 26, 2015 by Sophie Thurber (she/her)

    advocacy

    Advocacy Polling: Do Your Homework and Research 

    Advocacy polling is an important foundation for campaigns that are, more often than not, a long haul. They require long-term planning and commitment, and ideally, they have the benefit of staff that has extensive knowledge and policy experience in a particular issue area. That deep knowledge of an issue is incredibly valuable, but it can also create some message obscurity if you’re not careful. In other words, there can be a huge temptation to explain, in minute detail, the many nuances of the issue you’re working on, but that detail (counter-intuitive as it may be) can often be a turnoff for your average supporter.

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