Useful campaigning tips

With the election some 153 days away, campaigning effectively and successfully is very important. Part of my aim to help others in 2010 is to share what I know and learned through the years. In this instance I will share what I believe are effective campaigning tips. I do not claim to be a scholar or a professional campaigner but I have campaigned for many years for a diverse number of issues. In this series I intend to share my personal experiences, the experiences and advice given to me by others, and what I gained from observations.

Most of the tips are obvious because they are the basic fundamentals of campaigning, but I hope by highlighting them one tip at a time that will keep them fresh and crisp in our minds.

Campaigning Tip # 1 – Keep it Light and make it Fun!

Leafleting and canvassing must be fun; that also applies to all other campaigning activities. All people are not the same and different methods motivate different people. Since no candidate or campaign manger (team leader) have the time to individually study each volunteer or tailor make activity for them. Just make campaigning enjoyable fun and short. By keeping it short people will not run out of steam and lose focus, and by making it fun and enjoyable they will want to come back and help you again and again.

Campaigning is very similar to healthy eating, small regular meals are much better for your weight, your digestive system and sustained energy. The same goes for campaigning, short daily sessions or, even two daily teams especially on Saturdays are much better and more effective than one very long and exhausting session. That is why any campaigning sessions (specially canvassing whether face to face or on the phone) longer that 90 minutes are not as fruitful. Get lots of people out per session to keep the activity light, end the session at a nice meeting point a cafe or a pub.

The team leader MUST get to know and meet each volunteer and make sure to get their details for future use. He MUST spend around 45 minutes to an hour gathering all canvassing information, material and debriefing volunteers. Organized team leaders/groups can book the second meeting after the debriefing.