• Media Consolidation Changed Political Campaigns

    Jun 27, 2022 by Joe Fuld (he/him)

    Media Consolidation

    Media Consolidation Makes It Harder to Localize a Message

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  • Campaign Message: 7 Tips for How to Stay on Message in 2022

    Dec 20, 2021 by Kata Grosman Fernandez (she/her)

    campaign message

     Stay on Message: A Good Campaign Message Helps Campaign and Advocacy Goals. 

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  • Ending Your Political Campaign the Right Way

    Nov 15, 2018 by Joe Fuld (he/him)

    Image of a soapy window with a person scrubbing it down.

    Just because your political campaign is over, doesn't mean it's the end.

    Whether you won or lost your political campaign, the 2018 Election Cycle is over. Like us, you're probably pretty exhausted. These past months you've likely been getting your hands dirty and working tirelessly on your campaign cause, and we want to help you clean up both your literal and figurative mess.

    Here are our tips on how to end a campaign:

    1. Make sure to end on a good note. 

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  • Non-Political Books for Politicos

    May 10, 2018 by Elena Veatch

    non-political books for politicos

    10 Non-Political Books Every Politico Should Read

    *Originally written by Joe Fuld and updated by Elena Veatch 4/3/18

    When you get into politics, it’s hard to resist the all too common tunnel vision of focusing only on politics. But be careful – binge watching Veep or The West Wing is not going to help you run a better campaign or organization; nor will reading solely political books.

    The fact is, you are running a business. And while we like to think of politics and business as totally separate realms, it’s tough to run any political operation without a Business 101 crash course. So, take a break from the latest Clinton campaign staffer or Obama aide memoir you are probably reading, and check out some of our non-political book recommendations. Below are ten non-political books that will be helpful to any politico running a campaign, a non-profit, or really any operation.

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  • Canvass Training to Make Your Canvassing a Success

    Mar 05, 2018

    canvassing

    Canvass Training - Will Make Your Canvass Count

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  • 7 Questions with Joshua Kalla on Political Persuasion

    Jan 29, 2018 by Elena Veatch

    7 Questions with Joshua Kalla on Political Persusaion

    Is persuasion still possible? Political scientist Joshua Kalla answers our questions

    Joshua Kalla is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley whose research focuses on American political behavior and opinion. Along with Stanford’s David Broockman, Joshua Kalla co-authored a study on voter persuasion that made a splash in the media and in progressive circles in September 2017. In this study, Kalla and Broockman argue that voter persuasion through traditional campaign communication methods (such as direct mail, canvassing, and digital advertising) have essentially no persuasive effect on voters during general elections. We asked Kalla about his recent work and its implications for campaigns.

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  • Digital Advocacy: Advertising Campaign Goal Setting Part II

    Jan 30, 2017 by Sophie Thurber (she/her)

    Digital Advocacy

    Digital Advocacy Advertising: Making the Most of My Campaign.

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  • Get Out the Vote with Social Media: Digital GOTV

    Oct 06, 2016

    How to Use Social Media for Get Out the Vote

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  • Member Public Affairs Strategies to Remember

    May 16, 2016 by Joe Fuld (he/him)

    Member Public Affairs Strategy

    Member Public Affairs Strategies to Remember

    Member public affairs strategies can be an amazing way to move your issue forward. Membership organizations should have a head start when it comes to public affairs strategies, but that head start is often complicated. Membership organizations tend to have bureaucratic structures that make it difficult to work nimbly, especially when it comes to public affairs. Because of this, some member organizations have avoided using member-based public affairs strategies and they are missing out. 

    Here are some ways to use your membership to enhance public affairs strategies by turning them into member public affairs strategies.

    Membership Storytelling

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  • What Does A Political Candidate Do?

    May 12, 2016 by Joe Fuld (he/him)

    political candidate

    Explore the role of the political candidate

    By the title, this could be the shortest post in the history of our blog. The typical answer to this question, and the way I teach candidates about political campaigns, is that a political candidate has two jobs: to raise money and meet voters. But these tasks are easier said than done.

    A political candidate’s perspective is that message, fundraising, and strategy come from her or him, so not involving the political candidate in those decisions could be disastrous. Anyone who has been involved in a political campaign knows there are many levels of involvement. So let's dig into it. I’ll chat about the candidates role in each element of a campaign and some of the pressure points in between.

    Assessment of viability/ deciding to run: 

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  • Running for Office? Revisit "Ready, Set, Go!"

    Mar 14, 2016 by Joe Fuld (he/him)

    Running for Office

    The Campaign E-Book Candidates Running for Office Needs To Read!

    Running for office or working on a campaign? Six months ago, we released our fifth e-book “Ready, Set, Go! Jumpstart Your Political Campaign.” As candidates all across the country are beginning their campaigns, we wanted to reintroduce you to some of the e-book highlights. 

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  • Political Email Surrogates

    Feb 22, 2016

    political email

    Does Your Sender Matter in Your Political Emails?

    Much has been said about political email, especially as it grows in popularity. Email is certainly not going anywhere and political email has proven to be an effective tool in both recruiting supporters and raising money for your campaign. It’s important to pay attention to all aspects of your email, but how much attention should be paid to the sender?

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