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The most important thing you can say in a campaign is I don t know. Before you even begin your library campaign, there is a large swath of work that needs to be completed. You must ensure that this work is done thoroughly and in great detail in order to ensure that rest of your campaign will be the strongest and best it can be. First, you need to understand that there is a difference between your goal, your strategy, and your tactics. This understanding will help you think about how you are organizing and campaigning and make you a more effective campaign leader. Example: Goal The goal of your campaign must be quantified, explicit, and specific. If your goal is to win the library campaign, what you need to understand is that winning the campaign means you are trying to get a specified number of votes and you need to quantify that in a specific and measurable number. Strategy What will you use to accomplish your goal? Throughout your campaign you will be given a multitude of choices about how to reach your goal. You might decide to use a negative campaign or a more defensive strategy. These are decisions you need to make early. Tactic The tactic is what actions you would actually take in the campaign to achieve your goal. You can use a variety of tactics to carry out your strategies. Goal: Persuade 1,214 undecided voters by end of month. Strategy: Direct Voter Contact. Tactic: Initiate a phone bank. KNOW YOUR RESOURCES Every campaign has three resources and the bulk of your work in a campaign will be the management of these. You will work hard to make sure you maximize the outputs from these resources. These resources are: 2
Money Everything in your campaign costs money (even free resources like volunteers) and because your money will come from donations it will almost always be limited. You will work to maximize this resource through continuous fundraising and managing your budgets well. Time There will never be enough time in the day to get everything done that you would like. There will always be one more thing to do. This resource will only be maximized with effective planning. People Your volunteers and your staff. This is the resource that will help you manage the entirety of your campaign. You have to continuously recruit new volunteers and manage the ones you have. POLITICAL LANDSCAPE MEMO A strong campaign begins with a strong political landscape memo. This document is the structure for your campaign and includes the goals, strategies, and tactics your campaign will use to win. It will include a detailed analysis of the district, a description of the ballot measure and its opposition, and an estimation of the anticipated time, money, and people that are available or needed to win the campaign. It s immensely important to have a strong political landscape memo as your campaign s first product. It will help form the rest of the campaign and show the supporting community that you are serious about winning. It will also help any potential partner organizations, donors, staff and early volunteers. Typically, the Landscape Memo will capture: 3
The District The Ballot Initiative The Opposition/Support Your District You start planning your political landscape memo by studying and understanding your district. You need to know this area inside and out. In fact, there are a number of details that may seem irrelevant to your campaign until they become a problem. For example, you need to know your district down to the local climate because you can t plan a press conference outside in an area that rains everyday throughout the months of your campaign. Don t let the details go; they ll come back to get you later. Your district information is vital for planning your library campaign. This is what will help you determine your initial strategy, messaging, and targeting. If you are serious about winning your campaign, you will have these committed to memory. Some other more obvious details you should know include: Non-political Physical boundaries Population demographics (age, sex, religion, race, housing, etc..) Public transportation Major employment industries Media outlets Popular locations like bars, grocery stores, coffee shops, or restaurants Income levels Political Typical voter turnout (you ll need this later) Number of voters (you ll need this later) Voter party affiliation Percentage of voters Other local initiatives on the ballot 4
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National issues in the voter s minds Library specific Number of library card holders and as a percentage of the population Library visits per year Annual circulation Special programs Strength of the Friends of the Library Organization Library supporters Outcome of previous library ballot initiatives Allies WHERE TO GET THIS INFORMATION Knowing you need to get this information is useless if you don t know where to get it. NON-POLITICAL There are a number of resources that can help you get this information quickly and easily. You can use www.city-data.com to find information from the most recent census compiled in an easy to understand format. There are also apps like Sitegeist for your smartphone that can help you find information on local hotspots and gathering spaces. If you are looking for the biggest businesses in and the names of the executives, you can use the A to Z database or Reference USA available from many libraries. POLITICAL Typically all of this information is available from a local political Party, previous campaigns, or from various vendors as a voter file or a voter roll and they can help navigate the information. If you need help compiling this information and making it more useful, you can often contact the local chapters of political organizations and they may help you out. Of course, EveryLibrary can help you translate the data, too! 5
MOST COMMON TOOLS http://www.census.gov demographic information such as age, race, sex, income, and housing http://factfinder2.census.gov/ The US Census online tool http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/congress.html District Maps (more detailed maps are available at your country elections office) Voter Roll public document that is made available at your county elections office or town clerk s office. Voter file available from your local Party, previous campaigns, or from various vendors. A quick Google search of voter data will provide many results. LIBRARY Hopefully the information about the library has been captured in the annual reports that are released to the public or sent to the state. In California for example, the state librarian makes these statistics available through their website. It may be different in your state so be sure to ask. The Initiative In order to run an effective campaign you need to know your initiative inside and out. Is it a bond, a levy, and referendum, etc...? What is the language of the initiative? Who filed it and when did they file it and why? What is background on the creation of this initiative? Is your library looking to increase funding, start a construction project, or increase services? Maybe it s an expiring tax structure that you simply want to renew or an expansion of taxes already in place. Are you trying to create a separate tax entity? These are just a couple of questions that you need to have an answer for. After you have an answer you have to answer why. Think of a toddler who continuously is asking why after every answer. This is just the surface of the questions that you are going to get on your campaign. Be prepared to answer them. 6
workshops, staff training, speaking at your event.org/trainingandspeaking the political librarian : a peer-reviewed journal.org/tag/the-political-librarian
The Opposition Sometimes this is difficult to capture before the campaign begins. It may look at first that everyone supports the library. This is because of the typically high percentage of library supporters in a community. However, this is almost never true. You will definitely have some kind of vocal opposition and you need to know who they are or who they might be before you begin. This will help you neutralize them or create a strategy to circumvent their claims against the library. The following questions may help you identify your opposition and help you frame your messaging in the future planning of your campaign: Is there a strong anti-tax group in the area? Is there already a vocal opposition to the library measure? Is there a group against the library staff or government employees? Does the community look unfavorably on the library leadership? Does the local political body support the initiative? Were there previous initiatives that failed? Are there comments on online media or blogs in opposition? The Support Hopefully you find it easier to find supporters for your campaign than it is to find opposition. After all, YOU are the support and hopefully you know some like-minded individuals. Identifying supporters or potential supporters before the campaign begins will help you earn endorsements and quiet the opposition early. The following questions may help you find the support you need: Is there a strong Friends of the Library Group? Are people already vocal about their support? Are groups like the Rotary Club or Chamber of Commerce supporting the measure? Is the local political body supportive? Have previous measures passed and who supported those? 7
This support needs to be outlined in your landscape memo in order to show that your campaign has the potential for early donors, supporters, and endorsements. The ability to identify supporters early in your campaign planning is a signal that your campaign is viable and serious about winning. Vote Goal The most important piece of your Landscape Memo is determining your vote goal. A vote goal is the theoretical number you need in order to win your election. This is the concrete, specific number for your entire campaign and everything you do throughout your campaign is to achieve this number. To win most elections you need to win at least 50% of the votes plus one. Occasionally, you need to win slightly more or a super majority plus one which can range from 55-66% of the vote. In any of these cases, determining your vote goal is just simple mathematical equation that even a librarian can do. Simply multiply the total number of registered voters by the percentage of expected voter turnout. Then divide that number by two. If you need a supermajority you can multiply the percentage needed (IE. 60% or 66%) instead of dividing by two. (Total Registered Voters x % of Expected Voter Turnout) +1 =Minimum # votes needed to win. 2 Or, for a super majority - (Total Registered Voters x % of Expected Voter Turnout) x [percentage needed to win] + 1 = Minimum # votes needed to win. 8
SAMPLE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE MEMO In the City of Springfield, there is a 3 million dollar library bond measure to raise funds for an expansion of an existing Carnegie building on the general election ballot. The Building was constructed in 1909 and is in need of not only a renovation to fit the 21st century model of librarianship, but also a retrofit for earthquake support and an expansion to serve the community s children more effectively with a reading room and computer lab. The total costs of this project will be 3.75 million dollars and while the Friends of the Library has raised $500,000 and the city has secured a $250,000 grant, they still desperately need to raise the remaining 3 million through this bond measure. The city of Springfield is a small coastal community of 9,486 residents. These residents are mostly Asian, White, and Hispanic with a significant active living retiree community. The city did well throughout the recession with few layoffs and job losses but home values did fall significantly due to a building boom just before the recession and many homes are underwater. The climate throughout the election cycle is favorable to canvassing and outdoor meetings and there are a few gathering areas where younger 25-35 year old residents, who make up the bulk of the population, congregate. There is also a town recreation center and a few membership clubs in the retiree community. The announcement of the construction project has led to an organization of the anti-tax parties in the area. This is a small group of citizens who are not well organized or well funded but are very vocal in the community. They began to form their opposition directly after the city council meeting where the bond measure was approved. They consist of a mother involved in the PTA and three retirees. They currently have a poor unfunded website but comment vigorously on online venues about their opposition to the project. The Library began their information only campaign immediately following the announcement of the bond measure. Staff have been educated about the regulations involving an information only campaign. Brochures, flyers, and other informational materials are available at the library and on the city website. There are a number of community members and organizations who have shown support for the bond measure. Three of the five city council members including the mayor support the measure while 2 are undecided. Members of the Kiwanis club, thanks to the membership of the library director, and the local Public Worker s Union have given donations and offered volunteer time for canvassing and phone banking. The city of Springfield has 9,486 residents and 7,375 registered voters. Party registration is: 36% Republican, 33% Independent and 31% Democratic. In the last general election turnout was 2803 registered voters or only 38%. Given the contentious nature of this year s election due to a high interest vote on an amendment to the state constitution turnout may increase by a few percentage points to around 41%. We estimate that it will take 1513 votes to win the election in favor of the library bond measure. Preliminary data shows that the library bond measure is well supported in the community and has a strong chance of passing. In order to ensure this, we are going to contact habitual voters, mobilize library activists (particularly Friends of the Library members), work within the retiree community, and move every identified supporter to the polls on Election Day through an active campaign of direct voter contact. We estimate the cost of the election to be close to $10,000 due to the heavy reliance on campaign volunteers. These costs will be incurred in the purchase of yard signs, mailers, and other printed campaign materials. Other costs will be found in support for the lead campaign volunteers, canvassers, and phone bankers. 9