Campaign Leadership for Electoral Success

Campaign Leadership for Electoral Success is a 3 part course. Each module can be taken separately or as part of the series.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the course is filled.

Tuition is $300 per module, or $700 for the complete series. The 3 modules are:

• Organizing People: Leading an Engagement Field Campaign (February 21-March 22)
• Organizing Money: Finance to Win (March 27-April 26)
• Organizing the Message: 21st Century Communications (May 1-May 31)

Class Schedule for All Courses:
Instruction: Tuesdays, 3:00-4:30 PM ET
Coaching: Thursdays, 3:00-4:30 PM, or 6:30-8:00 PM ET

Organizing People: Leading an Engagement Field Campaign

In recent years, we've seen the power of a well-developed field program. From major national elections to local offices, from state ballot initiatives to national issue fights, field engagement has made a critical difference in the eventual outcome of key elections. But building and managing a people-powered movement for change is a true science, and requires careful planning, immaculate data management, and a leadership structure that can adapt and learn along the way.

In this 5 week course, participants will learn the art and science of developing and leading a field program, including creating data-driven goals, building real volunteer leadership, developing strategic plans, and effective staff management. During the term, participants will draft their own field and GOTV plans to put the learning into action.

Class Topics

• Week 1: Crafting a Field Plan for Engagement Campaigns
• Week 2: Setting Vote Goals: Metrics and Data for Field
• Week 3: Volunteer Engagement, Development, and Capacity Building
• Week 4: Developing and Managing a GOTV Plan
• Week 5: Building and Leading Your Team

Course Outcomes
Participants will create a field plan with vote goals, volunteer goals, timeline and baseline program details.

Organizing Money: Finance to Win

It's no secret that campaigns require money. Whether you're paying your field staff, buying TV ads, or hosting your website, raising and managing your finances can mean the difference between success and failure. In this course, we'll take the mystery out of fundraising and budgeting, and teach you to raise and manage your campaign budget effectively.

Participants will learn the key elements of finance, including writing a budget, managing donor databases, fundraising strategies from direct appeals and events to direct mail and online campaigns, and how to build and lead a capable finance team. During the course, participants will write a campaign budget, create supporting collateral, and engage in workshops to test and practice the art of fundraising and budget management.

Class Topics

• Week 1: Course Overview, Writing a Budget
• Week 2: Writing a Finance Plan
• Week 3: Data for Finance
• Week 4: Preparing Tools for Fundraising: Call Time, Direct Mail, Events, Online
• Week 5: Building and Leading Your Team (Finance Committee, Fundraisers, and Staff)

Course Outcomes
Participants will develop a budget and finance plan, including fundraising goals and a baseline finance timeline and program

Organizing the Message: 21st Century Communications

It's an old adage: if you don't tell your story, someone else will tell it for you. But how do you craft a narrative and message for your campaign that will engage your audience to join you and take action? What steps are needed to earn media coverage? How can you leverage the power of online organizing to build and reinforce your message? And how can you strategically place ads across media to ensure that your narrative is heard?

In this course, participants will learn to perform self and opposition research, craft an aspirational narrative, develop a message calendar, and understand the media ecosystem, from earned and paid media to online engagement. By the end of the term, participants will have crafted an aspirational narrative and a message plan to put these skills into action.

Class Topics

• Week 1: Research and Narrative Development
• Week 2: Crafting an Aspirational Narrative
• Week 3: Building a Communications Plan and Strategy
• Week 4: Engaging the Media: Earned Media Online and Offline, Paid Media
• Week 5: Building and Leading Your Communications Team

Course Outcomes
Participants will draft a campaign narrative (aspirational message), digital media plan, earned media plan, and paid media plan

Prerequisites

For all three modules, the only prerequisite is at least one election cycle as a full time employee on an electoral campaign.

For more information on cost, scholarship, course credit, and other common questions, visit our FAQ and/or Policy pages.