Reading Time: 8 minutes You: You are a passionate progressive leader who wants to launch or grow your career in politics but aren’t quite sure where to start. What kind of campaign staff training do you need?
The Importance of School Board Elections School board elections are incredibly important. Though many people discount the influence of their local school board, the group makes a huge difference in the community. The school board often has a more direct effect than either state or federal government officials. To give you an idea of the influence of school board officials, [...]
Twitter, though not as wide-reaching as Facebook, is an important element of a campaign’s digital strategy. Today, we’re here to help you establish an active, effective, and engaging Twitter page for your campaign. Using Twitter for political campaigns can be tricky, so we'll offer some insight into building an effective social media strategy. When you first run for office, you [...]
Negative campaign interactions are an unfortunate part of every campaign. Almost everyone that’s worked on or in a campaign has a story about that one angry person met on the doorstep or talked to on the phone. In our current political climate, rudeness is a frequent player in campaign life and political discourse. Politics inherently breeds strong emotions. The issues [...]
Relationships Matter It’s incredibly important for all candidates to remember that no campaign is won alone. Successful campaigns are the result of a strong network of family, friends, and supporters. These are the people who organize and mobilize voters to help your campaign succeed! But first thing’s first - how do you create a network? We wanted to create a [...]
You want to get a job on a campaign but feel overwhelmed and unsure where or how to start. Or maybe you are already involved in politics as a volunteer or a field organizer and want to build your passion into a career. We know it can be difficult to get your foot in the proverbial "campaign door." That's [...]
From casual observers to political buffs, working on a political campaign seems to be a mysterious, exhausting, and challenging experience. While there’s a certain level of truth in the latter two, it’s important to demystify the world of campaigns and the people who run them. First, we'll hear from some seasoned campaigners about their experiences. Then, we'll take a look [...]
Expectation vs. Reality According to movies and TV, life on the campaign trail is constant work, but rather glamorous. Think of shows like The West Wing and Scandal - huge staff, endless budgets, and incredibly high stakes. While it’s true a campaign is a lot of work, these programs don’t really show what life is actually like on the campaign [...]
Between all of the different levels, offices, and various organizations involved in American government, it can be tough to keep track! So, if you’re thinking about getting involved in politics, you should start by understanding the alphabet soup that is our political system. That’s why we’ve put together this basic Government 101 candidate guide. The information in this guide will [...]
Where You’re At In order to plan your campaign, it’s important to have a comprehensive understanding of your district. After all, this will be the area, people, and community that you’ll represent when you win! For our final installment of our series on how to use NDTC’s campaign plan template, we’re talking about creating your district overview. A district overview [...]
On every political campaign, there are many moving parts. All of which need plenty of attention and planning. That’s why a campaign plan is such a vital tool for any candidate. A plan allows you to manage the many different parts of your campaign with ease and sets you up for success. But, creating an entire plan is no small [...]
A crowded 2020 primary and a critical general election make activating strong networks of digital volunteers, and effective volunteer management, a necessity. Digital organizing offers an efficient and scalable way to do that quickly. By organizing online, campaigns can build powerful digital communities and mobilize supporters year-round. These seven tips will help you make the most of your organizing work [...]
Reading Time: 5 minutes Have you ever wondered how to work on a political campaign? You’ve come to the right place. NDTC's Staff Academy can help you make your dreams come true.
Campaign fundraisers are common occurrences on our favorite political tv shows, but in real life, they’re often much more subdued, drama-free events. They give the candidate a chance to have more one-on-one interactions than a speech or rally and to meet whole networks of potential supporters and donors. If you’re starting your first campaign, it might seem daunting to have [...]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Candidates rely heavily on volunteer engagement to reach their campaign goals. But what happens after Election Day? How you continue volunteer engagement?
