Training Tuesday: The 4 Key Principles of Effective Planning

cross-posted from Sum of Change

It seems self evident, but creating and following an actual tangible, usable plan is an important step any campaign that often goes overlooked. Many people think they can rely on their innate abilities and wing it, but it is clear (and seems somewhat obvious) that planning and scheduling your campaign is an incredibly important step to reaching your stated goals. Here with 4 helpful and useful tips on this necessary step in the process is Matt Blikek of Democracy For America's Campaign Academy (democracyforamerica.com/training). Matt shared this knowledge on one of the Campaign Academy's stops in Gettysburg, PA last year. To learn more about the Campaign Academy and to see their upcoming 2010 schedule please go to their website.

In the first video above, Matt will explained a bit more on why a plan is so important.  In the following 4 videos, Matt will go over his 4 Keys Principles for Effective Planning one at a time. First, Write It Down. If your plan is not on paper it does not exist. It may be a great idea, but until you can write it down and share it with other people, there is no way to effectively implement it. Secondly, Set Specific Measurable Goals. Raising 'a lot' of money (for example) is a very vague and nondescript, but raising $10,000 (again, for example) is a tangible goal that your staff and volunteers can work towards. Next, Work Backwards. This is the most counterintuitive principle, but it actually is very logical. How can you plan your initial steps until you know what your final goals are? Therefore, you should first figure out how you want everything to turn out in the end and work backwards to discover what it is going to take to achieve those goals. Finally, It's Never Done. Your plan 6 months before your election shouldn't be the exact same as your plan 6 weeks before the election. Over that span of time, you situation will change so you should be constantly adding to and updating your plan to address the changing challenges you will be facing.

These same principles apply to events (for your campaign and elsewhere) and not just to the campaign on a whole and it is equally important to schedule out these events in detail. Whether your event is a house meeting, a debate, or any other campaign stop, setting a scheduled plan and sticking to Matt's 4 key principles while doing so. will help to maximize that event's success and effectiveness.

Write It Down

Set Specific Measurable Goals

Work Backwards

It's Never Done

For more Training Tuesday posts from Sum of Change, please visit www.SumofChange.com/trainingtuesday

For More Info on DFA's Campaign Academy, please visit democracyforamerica.com/training

Training Tuesday: Prioritizing Your Campaign and The Importance of Time

For this Training Tuesday, which was filmed at a Democracy for America Campaign Academy training session, we'd like to help you focus your campaign on what is most important. As our trainer, Kendra-Sue Derby, mentions, when you have limited resources you have to know how and where to focus them. Now to many, resources equals money, but in actuality, money is never your scarcest resource- it might not be easy, but there is always more money to be raised. In reality, the most important resource to focus up on is that of time. Time machines don't exist- the most time you will ever have on your campaign is on Day 1- so it is important to plan accordingly.

In these videos, Kendra-Sue first discusses the Three Campaigns Assets- Money People and Time and how you should juggle them. Next she goes into more detail about why your campaign should be Prioritized Based on Time. Finally, she encourages you to Use a Voter File, the item that will most help you organize your campaign to fight against the clock.

--Three Campaign Assets: Money, People, and Time



--Prioritize Based on Time



--Use a Voter File




For more Training Tuesday posts from Sum of Change, please visit www.SumofChange.com/trainingtuesday