Organise: 8 tips for a successful four weeks

By Sam Bacon

In case anyone has been sat at home with their feet up for the last few months, we can now all officially say we’re in election mode, with the polling date but four weeks away today. Obviously this means campaign organisers up and down the country will be deploying every trick in the book to get voters to pledge their ‘X’ come May the 6th. But, like anyone that truly wants to win, they’ll also be looking for every advantage possible and trying to find any new method that could add those extra few votes.

For some time now the party has been trying to learn the lessons from the Obama campaign, and thankfully some campaigns are already utilising these principles. By far the best example I’ve seen of this has been Caroline Badley’s Edgbaston campaign, and the results there clearly speak for themselves.

But some are still unsure of exactly what lessons can be learned, and people won’t have time over the next four weeks to trawl through the information that’s out there to find out. Having volunteered on the Obama campaign, and as the National Volunteer Taskforce North West coordinator and an ex-professional community organiser, I’ve managed to pick up a few ideas on the good and bad of campaigning.

As such, from my own experience and from the best examples and practice of others, here are eight simple and straight forward tips to help ensure the best possible campaign for the next four weeks.

1 – Organisers may be the head, but VOLUNTEERS ARE THE LIFEBLOOD: In such a short space of time, there is so much work to do and nowhere near enough hands to do it. We need to reach out across our communities and pull in volunteers from everywhere; way beyond simply our own members. We need to identify some key local and national issues that other groups not affiliated to the party will be affected and inspired by. It’s what organisers describe as ‘self interest’. We then need them to go out and talk to their own members and groups, and spread the message. Those people in turn will need to be encouraged do the same. This way, we can reach huge numbers of people in a short period and then ask them to both vote and volunteer for us.

2 – CHALLENGE OUR SUPPORTERS: To meet the enormous challenges of the next four weeks we need to be challenging the people who already say they support us. Every person on the phone or on the doorstep that we identify as ‘L5’ over the next few weeks should be asked if they can and will play a part in ensuring that we win this election. At a minimum we need to ask if we can take their contact details (email, mobile, are they on Facebook, Twitter etc – every possible way to get in touch) to tell them about what’s going on and build up a database of key supporters in our area.

3 – MAKE OUR STRATEGY CLEAR: Can we honestly say that every single activist in our area understands our strategy for the coming campaign? Both nationally and locally? Do they understand how that effects them, their role, and the tasks they will be performing? At the start of this campaign we need to explain what’s going on and the role they will play in it. This will focus minds and connect their small daily tasks to the wider picture of the election victory on May 6th.

4 – GIVE OUR VOLUNTEERS RESPONSIBILITY: There are all sorts of jobs that need doing over the next four weeks but often, this is kept as the preserve of a set group of professional organisers, with volunteers only ever used for the mundane legwork. This is understandable to some degree, but where volunteers are willing and able, someone needs to co-ordinate them and find the best uses for them – and this will mean being flexible and seeing what people offer and where their talents and interest lay, instead of forcing them into a mould they don’t fit. If we don’t give our volunteers an interesting and worthwhile experience, don’t be surprised if they don’t come back.

5 – TRAIN OUR VOLUNTEERS: The Obama campaign had a 75-page manual for volunteers coming from out of state – we rarely take 5 minutes to even ask if anyone has door knocked before, let alone have a full pre-session briefing, training, or debrief. Debriefing is just as important as pre-session briefing because it allows space to listen to volunteers’ stories and experiences. That not only helps us and them learn from mistakes or problems, but also makes people feel valued, and creates a team bond that people will respond to and want to come back to. And it gives us an opportunity to ask them to help again! Volunteers should never leave without knowing when they can help again.

6 – THANK PEOPLE: This can not be overstated enough. At every stage for everything make people feel wanted, be over the top in your praise and encouragement. This is not a time for British reserved behaviour.

7 – FEED PEOPLE: Related to the above. It doesn’t have to be much, but unless we treat people well, they will go somewhere they are truly valued (and there are many places that they will be)

8 – FIRE THEM UP (they are your ambassadors): The person on the doorstep is the Labour Party. They are every policy, every minister, ever supporter. For most members of the public, the 2 minute interaction they will get with the person at their door is the most human contact they will have with the party this entire election cycle. If people are poor at communicating, unsure, poorly briefed or in any way below par, they transmit the same perception on behalf of the whole party. This may be fine if they are talking to a hardcore Labour supporter, but a disaster if they are meeting swing voters.

So eight simple steps that can be implemented without much money, hassle or stress, but could make the world of different to our campaign over the next four weeks. And let’s face it, with the challenge that lays ahead of us, we need to use every technique we can if we’re going to win a fourth successive term.