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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What to Stream to Fuel Your Social Activism

by The Campaign Workshop

Amplifying Black voices is always important, and streaming services are helping to do just that. Now, if Netflix users search “George Floyd,” they’ll be taken to a curated list for their Black Lives Matter Collection, which has over 40 movies, T.V. shows, and documentaries. Amazon Prime’s collection is called Black History, Hardship, and Hope, and it’s home to documentaries like I Am Not Your Negro and The Central Park Five.

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Social Media Activism 7 Qs: With Erick Sanchez

by The Campaign Workshop

Erick Sanchez has successfully orchestrated multiple online campaigns from convincing Chef José Andrés to pull out of the Trump International Hotel, to organizing a rally for Comet Ping Pong, a pizza place under attack from the far-right. His social media activism and previous involvement in politics has led him into his current position as the spokesperson for former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and his wife, Evelyn Yang.

Campaign endorsements rainbow colored hands all doing a thumbs up-

Campaign Endorsements; Turn Support Into a Victory at the Polls

Campaign endorsements can make or break a race for a candidate. But how do you get them and what do you do with them? Below are tips on how to determine which endorsements to go after and what to do after you get them to get as much mileage as possible out of your campaign endorsements.

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Incorporating Geofencing into Your Campaign Advertising

by Sophie Thurber (She/Her)

Whether you’re running a political campaign or an advocacy program, geofencing can be an incredibly useful tactic within your larger campaign advertising toolbox. Geofencing is a method of targeting mobile ads to people within a tight geographic area.

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7 Questions with Campaign Manager Keith Rosendahl

by The Campaign Workshop

Keith Rosendahl is the past campaign manager for Henry Cuellar for re-election as Congressmen for the 28th Congressional District in Texas. We asked Keith some questions about how COVID-19 has changed the way campaigns run, especially in the lead up to the 2020 election.

5 hands raised of different skin tones each holding a cartoon heart in their hand

Relational Organizing: Where to Start

by Martín Diego Garcia (He/Him)

Relational organizing is the process by which campaigns, groups, or individuals harness their personal relationships to effect community change. It is a form of organizing that is specific to an individual’s personal network in which they mobilize those relationships into taking action.

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ActBlue - Democratic Grassroots Campaign Fundraising Platform

by The Campaign Workshop

ActBlue is a nonprofit organization that aims to increase public participation in politics primarily through grassroots campaign fundraising. Their grassroots political fundraising tool allows Democratic and progressive campaigns and organizations to increase their individual donations and build a grassroots-funded movement.

Checklist

Top Tips for Hiring a Nonprofit Consultant

by The Campaign Workshop

Anyone who has worked in the nonprofit industry for long enough will tell you that it is full of quirks and choosing the nonprofit consultant that is right for you is no easy task. Time and time again, we have nonprofit clients come to TCW after hiring the wrong firm.

Grassroots movements come in all shapes and sizes

Grassroots Movement Building During COVID-19

by Ben Holse (He/Him)

We originally wrote this blog post on how to build a grassroots movement in 2016, and it’s amazing how much things have changed in the last four years. For most campaigns in 2016, canvassing was still the go-to way to build your grassroots movement and was a tried and true way of connecting with people. Some smaller campaigns had built their entire programs around a relentless canvass strategy and talking to every voter in their turf.

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Legislative Advocacy Kick Off

by Ben Holse (He/Him)

For many issues, legislative advocacy is the best and only way to bring about real change. But there’s a lot of different ways to engage in legislative advocacy. There’s the traditional “inside game” where you work to provide resources and information to lawmakers. There’s also the “outside game” where you work with a network of volunteers to provide pressure on legislators from the outside.

two envelopes side by side, one with a check mark and one with an x

Direct Mail Testing Is Worth the Time and Resources

by Elena Veatch

Direct mail testing can strengthen your voter contact efforts in the long run by revealing what works and what doesn’t through concrete data. If you want to glean insights from your program, setting up an experiment is worth the time and resources, no matter the size or scope of your campaign.

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Membership Surveys: 7 Questions with Ruth Bernstein

by Ben Holse (He/Him)

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.

Campaign Manager, Woman in suit shaking hands with someone

Campaign Manager Hiring Guide

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Hiring the right campaign manager may be the most important choice you make as a candidate. Your campaign manager is the lifeblood of your campaign. He or she doesn’t need to always be out front or be the face of your political campaign, but he or she does need to be prepared to do anything for you to advance your run for office.

People in suits in runner's position

Political Candidate Assessment: Am I Ready to Run?

by Joe Fuld (He/Him)

Before any runner steps up to the starting blocks, there are months and months of preparation done to ensure they are ready. The same goes for a political candidate deciding to run for office. Here’s a self-assessment guide that’s a follow up to our e-book Are You Ready to Run for Office? and can help potential first-time candidates make a thoughtful decision.

Photo of the Capitol building

Deciding to Run for Office Ultimate Guide

by Martín Diego Garcia (He/Him)

A run for office is not easy. Once you’ve decided to run for office you will need to answer the question “why are you running?” For some it is an easy question to answer because you’re running to solve a particular problem and have a passion for the work that needs to be done in a particular office. For others, the answer may be murkier.

Woman standing in forest

Political Direct Mail Is Going Green

by Elena Veatch

Political direct mail is one of the most effective ways to reach voters, but I’ll be the first to admit: all that paper takes a toll on our environment. At The Campaign Workshop, we’re passionate about protecting our natural world—luckily for us, so are a lot of the printers we work with.

black and white colors, group of people at protest with girl holding up Black Lives Matter sign

Make Change for Racial Justice

by The Campaign Workshop

This past week we've seen folks across the country come together, demanding criminal justice and police reform. Here at The Campaign Workshop, we stand with those fighting systemic and institutionalized racism in our country. We are taking a critical look at ourselves to change and grow into better advocates for Black lives. There is a lot of work to be done, but police violence against Black communities must end.

Digital Advocacy Campaign Magnifying glass over numbers

Digital Advocacy Campaign: How Do You Measure Success?

by The Campaign Workshop

Every digital advocacy campaign is different and has unique goals. Therefore, there are a variety of metrics that you should focus on depending on your goals. There is not a one-size-fits-all benchmark or metric to track the success of every digital advocacy campaign.

Lincoln Mitchell Golden Gate Bridge view from street level with a blue and yellow sky

Lincoln Mitchell: 7 Qs on San Francisco, Social Movements, & Politics

by The Campaign Workshop

Lincoln Mitchell is a political analyst and writer based in New York and San Francisco. In his book, San Francisco Year Zero: Political Upheaval, Punk Rock and a Third Place Baseball Team, Mitchell explores how San Francisco became a city of contradictions as one of the most socially liberal cities with some of the worst income inequality in the United States.

Students signing petitions opposed to online petitions

Online Petitions: Is it time to get rid of the clipboard?

by Elena Veatch

You don’t need a clipboard for online petitions, but you do need a strategy. Online petitions are a great way to bolster your supporter base around an issue. You can use a digital action as a hook to get folks involved with your campaign or cause in the long run. List building isn’t always easy, quick, or cheap—make sure you plan ahead so you can do it right and make the most out of your new supporters.