Five important tips for running a winning campaign in the East Bay
The East Bay Leadership Council's candidate training program teaches local leaders the essentials of running a winning campaign. Here are five of our favorite tips from the program.
#1 // Ask yourself the obvious questions
Stop for a moment and reflect. Why are you running for office? How will you make a difference? You should be able to answer this in 2-3 sentences. If you think this is easy, ask Ted Kennedy.
#2 // Make a list of everyone you know
Get scrolling through your contacts and bring out the holiday card list. Try not to be too selective though. Even people who do not live locally may want to find ways to support your campaign. Organize the list in an excel spreadsheet for now and you can import it into a donor/volunteer management system in the future.
List still short? Time to get involved in local organizations, volunteer on like-minded campaigns, and start building your future campaign team from the ground up.
#3 // It is OK to not know everything
Ask questions. Lots of them. Meet with people who have held the position before, talk to small business owners, teachers, and your local elections office. We also have a candidate training program that gets rave reviews if you want to learn directly from campaign professionals.
#4 // Choose the signature option
For some offices the filing fee is waived or reduced if you submit a certain number of signatures. Set up a table somewhere that locals frequent like a farmers market and use signature gathering as a chance to practice answering the "why are you running" question.
#5 // Take it easy with the lawn signs
Just because you staked a sign with your name on it in a field does not mean you have a field campaign. If you must order signs, do so sparingly. Signs are expensive and often go unseen by voters. Curious what you should do instead? That’s exactly the kind of question we explore in Build the Bench.
Looking for the full campaign playbook?
We are currently accepting applications for our 2021 Build the Bench program. You can learn more about the curriculum, read testimonials from recent graduates, and apply to participate at buildthebench.com
Must Read // Local Fire Safe Councils receiving $2 Million from PG&E to fund 32 projects in 26 counties
Pacific Gas & Electric: This wildfire season, mobilizing Californians to protect their homes, businesses, communities, and the environment from wildfire is more important than ever. The work of local California Fire Safe Councils (FSCs) is critical to strengthening the safety and preparedness of local communities during the 2021 wildfire season.
“With our Community Wildfire Safety Program, we focus on reducing wildfire risk by meeting and exceeding state vegetation safety standards, continuing to harden our electric grid with stronger power lines and poles and by integrating new tools and technologies. But we can’t do it all alone. We need to work together and enable each other to prepare for this wildfire season, which is why the work of the local Fire Safe Councils is so essential,” said PG&E’s Peter Kenny, interim vice president of Vegetation Management.
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