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A year ago, I started off an entry about bad vendors by stating a well-accepted reality. Whether you are a candidate, a county party, or an outside entity, it won’t take long after your formation for people to start pitching ideas at you about how to spend money. And it is tempting—after all, people gave your organization or candidate money to spend in hopes of electing more and better Democratic members, right?
A year ago, in this diary, we covered much of it—some we’ll go back over today. What are reasonable vendors for a campaign? What expenses should you expect, what are legitimate expenses that your small campaign should have? Let’s talk.
Is there a Yelp for campaigns?
Every day, when I get up in the morning and check my Gmail accounts, I will have at least ten emails about “potential opportunities” being offered by companies pitching products or services. Whether it is printing press access, shirt design, website design, polling data, focus groups, software or any other service, there are certainly vendors who will fill the market space to provide tools to any organization or political entity.
The real question is: how do you know if any of these organizations are actually any good? How do you know if they are reputable? I mean, an email from “Let’sGoBlue! Shirt Printing” seems attractive, but what exactly do you know about them?
And here is the rub. Unfortunately, most individuals don’t have a great Yelp type service for campaign services and sales. So, you need to apply standard consumer rules:
- Check the terms of the agreement. What is the exact cost?
- Is the organization I’m buying from union made, or does it support a union?
- Is this something you actually need?
- Is there a local source for this product?
- Do you know anyone who has worked with this company and how did their experience go?
Every dollar your organization spends can help people get elected or promote your cause or it can be wasted on trinkets you don’t need or efforts that don’t pay off.
What are legitimate expenses?
Every campaign starts to look at what is a legitimate expense. There are some expenses you are going to have that you simply cannot and should not avoid, no matter how small your campaign:
- one paid staffer at some level
- printed literature (palm cards, promotional material, business cards)
- transportation costs
These are the base requirements for even the smallest race. They are unavoidable. A paid staffer doesn’t mean thousands of dollars a month, it could be someone receiving less than $300 or $500 a month to just handle basic tasks. But unless your race is incredibly tiny, you need one person who has as a real job showing up and making sure the candidate is doing their job, and that deadlines are being met, a plan is being followed, or in some cases, menial tasks are being done. Having printed material that you can distribute to people at the door when you walk in is also important. And raising some money to cover your gas or any other transportation cost is also important.
Other items which pop up as important depend a lot on where you are in the country, the size of your district, and the size of your race. Small campaigns like state house, state senate, mayor or school board can rely a lot on things like yard Signs, billboards, digital advertising. I know of almost no consultant who will say “I love yard signs!” and they will tell you they don’t vote—another truth. But, small campaigns do not have the luxury of television or major media plays. And, since their districts are small, sometimes having someone vouch for them with a sign, or at least the mental reminder isn’t bad. Besides which, the smaller the race, the more your donors will demand them.
Finally, one of your expenses should be securely hosted email. Whether you are using something like Exchange (Office365, GoDaddy Exchange, etc.) or Google business mail, email services that require two-factor authentication are a must. Paying for a website hosted with SSL encryption and a strong monitoring policy is also a requirement. Don’t let your small campaign become the victim of hacks, and try to not mix your campaign business with longstanding personal email.
Is this a waste or …
You’ll find that vendors will offer you TONs of tools and services. Some of these can be great: texting programs, social media promotion, and more. Definitely talk to your state or county organization for references.
You’re also going to find offers for things that are worthless, that you should avoid. It is incredible how many campaigns get absolutely ripped off with expenses they don’t need. Less than 2,000 people will vote in your city council or school board race? Why on earth would you ever pay for polling when a canvass can give you your answer and connect with voters?!? Campaign T-shirts seem fitting, but when running for mayor in a spring election do branded, fairly expensive coats or branded jogging pants make a lot of sense?
Also, beware of too good to be true deals. Print offers that seem ridiculously cheap? Lower quality materials and inks can result in terrible output. Your print should go through a local, union operated print house—the pennies you may save for cheaper work won’t pay off in the end.
Final thoughts
Remember, donors gave you money to spend on your campaign. I always feel bad when I see a campaign lose in a primary or general with tons of cash still on hand. When you ask for donors to give you funds, you do so under the explicit promise that you need their resources to win, not that you plan to save up for a rainy day. Spending campaign money is part of the way you show people who donated that you are working hard and are fighting to win. If you spend it in the right way, people will notice that too.
Next week: Overzealous supporter is causing me heartburn
Nuts & Bolts: Building Democratic Campaigns
Contact the Daily Kos group Nuts and Bolts by kosmail (members of Daily Kos only). You can also follow me on twitter: @tmservo433
Every Saturday this group will chronicle the ins and outs of campaigns, small and large. Issues to be covered: Campaign Staffing, Fundraising, Canvass, Field Work, Data Services, Earned Media, Spending and Budget Practices, How to Keep Your Mental Health, and on the last Saturday of the month: “Don’t Do This!” a diary on how you can learn from the mistakes of campaigns in the past.
You can follow prior installments in this series HERE.