The Campaign Workshop Blog, is hosted by The Campaign Workshop - an advocacy and political consulting firm. We write about tactics for advocacy, membership, civic engagement, and progressive politics.  We post weekly, and also publish ebooks, host webinars, and The How to Win a Campaign Podcast. Sign up to learn more.   

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Issue advocacy campaigns

Issue Advocacy Campaign Guide

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Issue advocacy campaigns start with the best intentions. We begin with a coalition that cares about our issue and wants to make a real difference. But without a bit of strategic planning and issue campaign know-how, you will fall off track.

Woman looking at graphs on a computer monitor and laptop

Demand Side Platforms: What's the Best DSP for Your Organization?

What are the best demand side platforms for advocacy or political campaigns? That depends on what your needs for digital campaigns are. How much staff capacity do you have? What are the budgets you’re looking to spend? Most vendors now also give you the option to have a dedicated member of their staff manage your campaign or will give you the keys to their demand side platform to manage your campaign yourself.

Person holding up gold trophy

Do Awards Matter When You're Hiring a Political Consultant?

by Martín Diego Garcia (He/Him)

Lookin for an award winning political consultant? If you’re reading this post, you may have just found out political consultant awards like the Pollies, Reeds, Goldies and, more specifically, political ad awards actually exist. So, now you might be asking yourself if it even matters whether consultants you might be hiring have won awards for the work they’ve produced.

Political Campaigns and Coronavirus

Political Campaigns and Coronavirus

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Political Campaign and Coronavirus - It's a tough time for the world and political campaigns, Covid-19 is changing political campaigns. From field tactics, to fundraising to how campaigns buy media this crisis will have a long term impact on electoral politics.

Red mail box with letters in front of it - Campaign Mailers

Campaign Mailers: Getting Started with Political Mail

by Sophie Thurber (She/Her)

The world of campaign mailers is varied and complex, but don’t let that stop you from sending rad mail that gets you noticed. We’ve pulled together some things for you to think about as you start to pin down exactly how your campaign’s mail program is going to take shape.

Phones hanging from their cords, one orange one stands out

Campaign Fundraising: The Keys to Successful Call Time

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Let’s face it, campaign fundraising is hard, and call time is often the most dreaded part of it. No candidate wants to press pause on the many other duties of their campaign to dial for dollars. Every candidate will say the same thing: “I just hate asking people for money!” But whether you’re running for town supervisor or president, call time is a critical part of campaign fundraising efforts—and therefore, a critical part of every campaign.

Mailbox with digital pixels coming out of it

Democratic Direct Mail Voter File Guide

by Elena Veatch

Good data makes all the difference in building an effective Democratic direct mail program. Understanding your voter file access options is critical to laying the groundwork for a strategically targeted voter communications campaign. What’s more, knowing the ins and outs of voter file models and other data points will help you maximize your resources—after all, you can’t afford to target every voter in your electoral geography.

Judge's gavel on top of envelopes

Campaign Mailer for a Judicial Campaign - How to Write Direct Mail

by Ben Holse (He/Him)

Writing a campaign mailer for a judicial candidate presents many challenges. For most legislative races, it’s easy to say that you’ll “stand up for affordable healthcare” or “fight for a living wage.” But judicial candidates often can’t come out for or against a particular issue. If they do, they may have to recuse themselves in the event that they win and one of those cases comes before them as judge.

Woman smiling at phone - Political Campaign Ads

Political Campaign Ads: How to Get the Most Out of Digital Advertising

by The Campaign Workshop

Political campaign ads are part of every election cycle and we’re rounding up some tips on how to get the most for your campaign. In this post, we’re focusing on digital ads. Digital ads tend to be more cost-effective than TV, so you can reach a wider audience with a smaller budget. Where you run your ads and on what platforms is determined by your budget, target audience and the size of your race.

Cartoon protesters holding signs political-communications

Political Communications Guide

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Say it! Say it loud and say it proud. Political communications can spread fast or move like molasses depending on how you use it. We live in a world where political and advocacy campaigns have a lot of ways to communicate and influence their community advocates and opinion leaders.

Mouse with cord shaped like a thumbs up

Native Political Campaign Ads

Native ads have become popular over the past few years, but can you use them for political campaign ads?

advocacy training person writing in notebook

Advocacy Training Programs: Find the Right Public Affairs Training

by Martín Diego Garcia (He/Him)

We strongly believe in continued learning and leadership development and advocacy training programs at The Campaign Workshop. We even budget resources for our own staff to continuously learn throughout the year, ensuring they’re constantly growing in the areas that they’re interested in.

Political direct mail - woman looking at document

Political Direct Mail Examples - How To Evaluate Campaign Mail

by Sophie Thurber (She/Her)

Political direct mail, even in the digital age is a critical part of any campaign’s communications program. Not only is it cost-effective and efficient, but it is also an impactful way to target and communicate with potential voters. Therefore, when hiring a Democratic direct mail firm, you want to make sure you choose the firm that will produce the best product for your campaign.

storytelling techniques

Storytelling Techniques and Writing 7 Qs With Gavin Edwards

by The Campaign Workshop

Gavin Edwards is a three-time New York Times-bestselling author and public speaker. Throughout his career, he has written twelve books and made appearances on NBC’s Today show, VH1’s Behind the Music, and NPR’s All Things Considered. The common thread between Gavin’s praised writing and skilled public speaking is his ability to tell a story in an effective and engaging way.

100 campaign management tools

Campaign Management Tools: 100 Campaign Tools List 2020

by The Campaign Workshop

So your advocacy or political campaign is gearing up for the 2020 cycle, and you’re already starting to find that you can’t possibly keep track of everything that’s going on. Fear not — the 100+ Best Campaign Management Tools List will make your campaign life easier!

political direct mail practices

Political Direct Mail Best Practices

by Elena Veatch

For over a decade, folks have written off political direct mail as a remnant of the past akin to the flip phone. In reality, political direct mail is still thriving in the digital age—and it’s playing far more than a supporting role. Direct mail and television ads  traditionally account for about half of all media spending (whereas digital ads account for only five percent of paid communications budgets on average). While mail won’t be a good fit for every political or advocacy campaign, there’s a reason it’s stuck around for so long: it’s an effective medium for persuading and mobilizing voters.

political-consulting-firms

Hiring Political Consulting Firms -The Ultimate Guide

by Ben Holse (He/Him)

Picking a political consulting firms is not an easy decision. This is, after all, going to be your largest expenses, so it’s important that you get it right. Hiring the right consultants cannot guarantee you a win but hiring the wrong ones can guarantee you a loss. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to hire a political consulting firm.

Girl hitting a pinata

Political Campaign Ads: Increasing Your Reach

by The Campaign Workshop

When planning your overall campaign strategy, political campaign ads play an important role, however they are not without their issues. One of the biggest problems with digital campaigns is that they are not tied closely enough to your overall campaign strategy. Digital tools are an important vehicle to help you reach your overall political goals and should be thought of as such.

Advocacy strategies, man holding out water bottle

Advocacy Strategies for Health Reform Advocacy Groups

by The Campaign Workshop

If you work for a health advocacy group and are in search of advocacy strategies that apply to your specific industry, then you’ve come to the right place. In this blog we outline strategies that will help you maximize your impact, increase engagement, and move people to the polls on your behalf.

Woman looking at phone with social notification icons in the air

The Future of Political Campaign Ads

While digital advertising is always in flux, in the past two years and even the last few months there have been a whirlwind of changes for political campaign ads and it’s caused some uncertainty in the industry. While we don’t have a crystal ball to see into the future of political advertising online, there are some pretty sure bets you’ll want to keep an eye on a couple of trends in 2020. Read on below to find out what we’ll be watching carefully in 2020.