Go back to: General discussion
This week's topic covers the fundamentals of designing a budget. From last week, we learned the importance of the "select" (database query) that yields our "universe" (the precise voters that we are going to target).
The basic categories of the budget are:
Expenses
1. Staff salaries and benefits (paid staff)
2. Consultant expenses (usually in lieu of #1 above, but not always)
3. Rent (headquarters, phone bank operational headquarters, if any).
4. Fundraising (rent, food, drinks, publicity)
5. Voter Contact
5a. Volunteer expenses (Food for planned walks, etc...)
5b. Direct mail (this was usually my biggest expense)
5c. Phone
5d. House Parties
5e. Lawn and house signs (a controversial expenditure with me)
Income
6. Donations
6a. Mail and phone solicitation
6b. Political endorsements (that may come with money)
7. Fundraising events
The most common flaw in a campaign is to overestimate your income and underestimate expenses. A carefully managed campaign will develop a bare-bones budget, based on known money flows, and create a set of options for spending additional funds if they come in. The most dependable income flows are from friends and family, followed by organizations that have a known pattern for giving money to endorsed candidates. However, a well-run campaign that has reasonable prospects will get even unsolicited donations from interested parties. A well-run grassroots campaign can avoid overdependence on interested parties by having lots of smaller donors.
In most of the campaigns in which I was involved, we were able to overcome a 2:1 disadvantage in campaign donations.
Week Three: Campaign Budgets
This week's topic covers the fundamentals of designing a budget. From last week, we learned the importance of the "select" (database query) that yields our "universe" (the precise voters that we are going to target).
The basic categories of the budget are:
Expenses
1. Staff salaries and benefits (paid staff)
2. Consultant expenses (usually in lieu of #1 above, but not always)
3. Rent (headquarters, phone bank operational headquarters, if any).
4. Fundraising (rent, food, drinks, publicity)
5. Voter Contact
5a. Volunteer expenses (Food for planned walks, etc...)
5b. Direct mail (this was usually my biggest expense)
5c. Phone
5d. House Parties
5e. Lawn and house signs (a controversial expenditure with me)
Income
6. Donations
6a. Mail and phone solicitation
6b. Political endorsements (that may come with money)
7. Fundraising events
The most common flaw in a campaign is to overestimate your income and underestimate expenses. A carefully managed campaign will develop a bare-bones budget, based on known money flows, and create a set of options for spending additional funds if they come in. The most dependable income flows are from friends and family, followed by organizations that have a known pattern for giving money to endorsed candidates. However, a well-run campaign that has reasonable prospects will get even unsolicited donations from interested parties. A well-run grassroots campaign can avoid overdependence on interested parties by having lots of smaller donors.
In most of the campaigns in which I was involved, we were able to overcome a 2:1 disadvantage in campaign donations.