It’s important to have a good website, great branding, and messaging that gets to the heart of what your campaign is about. However, the real political work happens between people while working on the issues. So here are three ways to ensure you’re walking the walk, not just spouting words.
1 - Pull on Previous Community Work
The ideal reason you should be running for any kind of office is to be a public servant — or to use a less loaded term, someone who wants to help better their community. You can do that in many ways unofficially: volunteering at a food pantry, working in a fire department, or organizing a community give-back organization.
First, examine the ways you’ve previously had an impact on your area before you start running. What good deeds did you do? What were the results? What people did you meet? What skills, lessons, or ideas can be applied to your new political goal?
If you don’t come up with anything, that means you’re either being too rigid or public service hasn’t been a priority, which means that city council seat might not be the best fit for you yet. If you have examples, tie the experience to an issue you’re running on. For example, if you worked for a nonprofit focused on finding affordable housing, you might want to run on rent control and building more housing.
2- Meet people as much as possible
It’s easy to make a charming social media post or lay out a detailed breakdown of a policy, but the real test is making sure your constituents feel seen and heard. That means you have to actually talk to your neighbors. So, get outside, have a discussion on the fly while canvassing, and pay attention to the things that come up that you haven’t thought of.
Events are your best friend, especially when you host them in the community gathering space. The environment is cozy – and perfect for questions and one-on-one talks.
3- Make your campaign interactive
We passively consume a lot of information these days. A lot of political content is seen, maybe engaged with, and likely forgotten if you can’t tack on a call to action.
There’s the less-flashy, but necessary stuff like making sure that volunteer sign-ups and events are easy to find.. But you can really make your campaign memorable by trying out fun and unusual ideas – Mamdani’s scavenger hunt being a recent example. Make sure to adjust to your area and your budget!
Think of your digital presence as a business card. It shows your style and what you’re about, but the business has to back it up.
What do you think makes a good event? What kind of public service experience do you look for in a candidate? Comment below!
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