Getting Your Campaign Off the Ground
About the Course
Set yourself up for success from day one by learning the rules that govern your campaign. By the end of this course you will be ready to officially set up your campaign. You’ll learn how to register your campaign with the appropriate government entity, get your name on the ballot, and start adding key deadlines to your campaign calendar.
When to Take This Course
Take this course at the very beginning stages of your campaign. If you’ve already filed to get your name on the ballot and laid the basic groundwork for your campaign, you can skip this one.
Take Aways
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Register your campaign with the appropriate government entity
- Get your name on the ballot
- Identify key deadlines and add them to your campaign calendar
By the end of this course, you will have these resources for your campaign:
- The “Getting Started” Checklist
- A Campaign Finance Startup Resources Spreadsheet
- Registering Your Campaign Committee Worksheet
- A List of Campaign Staff Roles & Responsibilities
- A List of Campaign Consulting Roles
Sign up and enroll in this course to begin!
Valerie Martin
Instructor
Co-Founder & Partner, Silversmith Strategies
Specializing in fundraising, campaign management, and media, Valerie Martin has spent seven election cycles working on competitive campaigns across the country. For the last six years, Valerie worked on national campaigns to create television advertising, provide media trainings for candidates, develop campaign plans, and offer strategic advice. She is now the Co-Founder and Partner at Silversmith Strategies, a full-service media and consulting firm.
Previously, Valerie managed two U.S. Senate races, including the 2010 open-seat U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire. Valerie raised money for a governor’s race in Georgia and Claire McCaskill’s 2006 upset victory in Missouri. McCaskill was one of six new Democrats who tipped the balance of the Senate toward Democratic control in the 2006 elections. In 2004, after serving as Finance Director for several Congressional races, Valerie led Allyson Schwartz’s finance team in her successful open-seat bid in PA-13, raising more than $4.6 million in that hotly-contested race.
A native of San Diego, California and a graduate of the University of Dayton in Ohio, Valerie currently resides in Chicago.
