Political High

Having volunteered for political campaigns ranging from working at Al Gore’s Presidential Campaign HQ in Nashville in 2000 to volunteering for state and local candidates, I’ve had some very good and very bad experiences.

Frankly, most candidates take their volunteers for granted.  And part of it is understandable, as candidates are single-mindedly obsessed with getting elected.  And even campaign staff can be a little gruff at times.

No matter.  Treat your campaign volunteers like gold.  Besides all the work they do for you–for free–they are your best advocates.  They will tell their friends and neighbors all about you–for better or worse.

Here are eight simple ways to keep your volunteers happy and coming back to help you during this and the next campaign.

1. Keep the bathroom clean.  Yes, I’m serious.  When I was at Gore HQ, the bathroom was a stinking, nasty mess.  It was disgusting.  Having used open trenches to do my business in the Gaza Strip and China, I could handle a nasty American bathroom.  But that nice little old lady might never come back if your campaign office restroom is a science experiment.
2. Have coffee, drinks, and treats available.  Volunteers need breaks.  Have a well stocked refrigerator with water and pop.  Have a coffee pot on.  Have some chips or pretzels or other goodies.  These are also items you can solicit from your volunteers.
3. Make sure to greet your volunteers in a friendly manner when they come in for their shift and when they leave.  Nothing says “I don’t matter” more than no acknowledgment when people come and go.
4. Say thank you.  You can’t do this enough.  We all want to be appreciated for what we do.  The candidate I am volunteering for this fall, Clara Hart , who is running for state senate, always thanks me and makes a point to do it in public as well.  It is a nice feeling.
5. Buy pizza or other substantial meals for late nights or long days.  See # 2.
6. If you have people handing out palm cards (an upcoming post) at a precinct, make sure they get breaks and get meals and drinks.  It’s tough standing outside in the heat or cold trying to give out those cards!  I like to assign two people to a precinct for this duty–one, it helps morale, and two, people can take a break and the cards still get handed out.
7. Tell the volunteers what you can.  Make them feel like they are an important part of the team.  When I was at Gore HQ, the night before the election, all of us, no matter our status, were briefed by the deputy campaign manager about anticipated problems in Florida.  That made me feel like a big wheel in the campaign.
8. Have the candidate hand out a much of the praise as possible, given their time constraints.  You’re running for election in a democracy, you’re not running for king.  A few minutes with the peeps goes a long ways.

Hopefully, these ideas will keep your volunteers motivated, who will in turn make your campaign golden.

Ideally, the political candidate has “only” three jobs:

1. Call and talk to people to raise money.
2. Call and talk to people (or be on TV or radio) asking them to for vote for them.
3. Win.

Most political candidates in my experience are Type As–they are control freaks.  They are usually ambitious and successful people and keeping their eye on the ball has brought them success.

But in a campaign, there is simply too much to do.  There are graphics to design and order, creating mailings, cutting turf, and a myriad of big and little activities.

Hopefully, the smart candidate–you–will delegate as much as you can.  About 50 percent of your campaign time should be spent trying to feed the campaign coffers by making calls, visiting contributors, and going to campaign fundraising events.  The other half should be spent meeting as many people as you can–in person, on radio or TV, or via the telephone.

Most campaign volunteers want to be useful.  And if you have the money or can find an ambitious political science major, have a campaign manager to take care of everything else.

Campaigns boil down to money and votes.  If you get those, you achieve #3–Victory!