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The Personal Power of the Pen

Marnie Turman

Ah, the power of the pen! 

A personally signed letter or note can push the undecided voter into your corner, reinforce the commitment of a voter pledged to you, or cast a shadow of a doubt in the mind of someone committed to your opponent.  Studies show a personally signed letter will be read more frequently, kept longer and generate more activity than letters with digital, scanned or printed signatures.  As good as digital, scanned or pre printed signatures on a letters may look, most people can easily tell they were not hand signed.  The written signature also inc

Using the Net in your Small Budget Campaign

Jim Fleming

This article originally appeared in Winning Campaigns Magazine .

I can’t e-mail my love. I can’t fax you my heart. I can’t see your face in cyberspace. I don’t know where to start.  -Jimmy Buffet

In the first edition of Winning Big in Small Budget Campaigns, which was first published in 1997, we dedicated just a few pages to an increasingly important campaign medium. In fact, we didn’t even include it under the media chapter, but relegated it to the leadoff item unde

Blueprint for an Insurgent Campaign

William S. Bike

Incumbents always have held an advantage in elections, but that advantage has now become practically insurmountable. Over 90 percent of incumbent Congressional candidates are re-elected every two years. Percentages among incumbents farther down on the ballot sometimes are even higher, as often nobody even bothers to run against incumbent State Senators, State Representatives, and City Councilmen. 

It would be good for everyone, however--even supporters of these incumbents--if competitive elections were restored. Because competitive elections make all candidates, even the winners, more

Rules of Planning Your Campaign Budget

Jim Arnold

How Much Should You Spend and How? 

Planning a campaign budget takes cold calculation in order to avoiding winding up short of money during the closing and most critical days of the campaign.  As you begin to prepare a budget you should remember these simple rules. 

Rules of Thumb:
* Budget from Election Day backward - most people don’t make up their minds until the last two or three weeks of the campaign. Don’t make the mistake of running out of money just when people are starting to pay att

One Single Idea

Cheryl Katz
Deborah Keltner

A critical component of every campaign's outreach efforts is the development and execution of a relevant, consistent, and well-managed brand. There is, however, a lot of confusion about what a brand actually is.

A brand is not a logo, a website, or a brochure.
A brand is the promise that your campaign is making. It is demonstrated by your campaign logo, slogan, website, brochures, and direct mail campaigns. Further, it is demonstrated by the way your staff answers the phones, the way you conduct yourself during public events, and the way you thank donors. It is infused in

The Three Best Ways for Under-Funded Candidates to Get Their Message Out

Of all the hurdles that first-time candidates and lesser known challengers face when running for office, none is as intimidating as being seriously under-funded.  Money isn't everything when you run for office -- issues count, name recognition is a major bonus, volunteer manpower is important - but without the ability to raise a significant sum of money, it becomes very hard to get your message out and win your election.

There are ways, however, that under-funded candidates can use to get their message out, to persuade voters and raise their profile.  Much lik