Category Archives: Campaign Corner

Campaign Corner: How can we talk more policy?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: A strange question perhaps, but we seem to spend all the time in my local party talking about campaigning and never about policy. Maybe that didn’t matter in opposition, but it certainly matters in government! How can we get a better balance?

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Campaign Corner: How can we run our committee meetings better?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Why yes, I’ve just come out of a local party campaign team meeting. Many hours, no decisions. Please help!

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Campaign Corner: How do we get more people phoning?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: You’ve talked before about how to get more leaflet deliverers and how to doorstep canvass, but what about the telephone? How do I get more people in my branch doing phone canvassing?

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Campaign Corner: How can I best use Facebook?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: How can I get the best out of Facebook for my ward branch?

Around half the UK’s population is on Facebook, so if you’re wondering what to spend time on campaigning online, then Facebook is a very good choice (perhaps these days it is second only to email). Three pieces of advice then, as is traditional:

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Campaign Corner: How can I make my direct mail better?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: We’ve started doing a lot more direct mail in my local party, partly because there are so many shared houses and blocks with one letterbox. How can we make our letters better?

Direct mail is a very important and powerful tool, as long as you remember it’s about quality as well as quantity:

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Campaign Corner: What should I measure?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: I work in marketing for the day job, where measuring impact and altering our plans as a result is the norm. In the evenings when I become a Lib Dem campaigner however, measuring seems to go out the window and we just do what we always did. Surely we can do better than that?

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Campaign Corner: Making better speeches

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: I often get very nervous when speaking in public. Speeches at the Civic Centre may not matter much but I do want to make a good impression at local groups – and at party conference! What do you advise?

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Campaign Corner: How can we be better at handling possible new helpers or members?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: Your mystery shopper survey of local parties criticises local parties for not treating possible new members better. We’re a small, struggling local party and it’s hard enough to run the basic operation. How can we be better without exhausting overselves?

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Campaign Corner: Getting the most out of a delivery session

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: We’re organising a mass delivery session next weekend. Any last minute tips on what we should do?

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Campaign Corner: What makes for a good action photograph?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: I saw you talk about the importance of (captioned!) photos in leaflets, but what makes for a good photo?

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Campaign Corner: How do I deal with information overload?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: Aarrgh! There’s just too much information online. How do I cope?

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Campaign Corner: How do we get more people to our next campaign session?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: How do we get more people to our next campaign session?

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Campaign Corner: Is it better for a candidate to have a website or a blog?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: I’m standing in May and not sure what matters most – my website, having a blog or both?

Also posted in Online politics | Tagged | 4 Comments

Campaign Corner: How do we get more leaflet deliverers?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: We know that there is more campaigning than leafleting, but our big problem at the moment is a shortage of deliverers. How should we go about getting more?

  1. LetterboxDon’t just ask members: Asking your existing members is an obvious place to start. However, some people prefer to give money than time, and so see their membership sub as their contribution. Similarly, some people

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Campaign Corner: Should campaigning stop at Christmas?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: I can’t wait to get some rest over Christmas! But should we give all our helpers a long break without asking them to do anything or is campaigning over Christmas a good idea?

  1. Get rest – don’t burn out: politics isn’t everything. Your health, your family and your friends should get a look in, so do make sure you take a break

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Campaign Corner: Is less really more?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: In a previous Campaign Corner you wrote that “Less is more”, praising big headlines, white space etc. But don’t many issues need more explanation than you can fit in a dumbed down few words?

A very good question! To which (surprise, surprise) I once again have three answers:

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Campaign Corner: Is there such a thing as too many leaflets?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: Is it possible to deliver too many leaflets?

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Campaign Corner: How to write effective fundraising letters

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: I know I need to ask members and supporters for money to help fund our local campaigning, but I hate writing fundraising letters. What should I say?

  1. The basic formula is thank, warn, inspire: in other words, thank people for their past support, warn them of what can go wrong if there is not enough money for the campaign (e.g.

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Campaign Corner: How do I make my ward emails more effective?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: I have built up quite a large number of emails for residents in my ward and I’m expecting a close fight in May. How can I get the most out of emails to them?

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Campaign Corner: How to make Focus leaflets look better

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: I understand some of the principles of graphic design, but I’m not a professional designer. What are the easiest ways to make my Focus leaflets look better?

  1. Headlines: make your headlines big, short and clear. Put the leaflet on the floor and stand over it. If you glance down can you (a) easily read the headlines and (b) get from them the main messages? If not, make the headlines better/bigger – as a quick glance at the headlines is often all a leaflet will get before someone decides to read more or bin it. Even if they do decide to bin it, with the right headlines they will have got the main messages.
  2. Captions on photos:
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Campaign Corner: What campaigning books are worth reading?

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: I prefer learning by reading rather than by hearing people speak at training sessions. What campaigning books would you recommend?

Lots of possible answers, but in the spirit of Campaign Corner’s love of threes, here are just three, deliberately chosen as one each from the main party perspectives:

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Campaign Corner: Should you still target during a PR election?

Welcome to a new series of posts, each of which will look to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: Should you still target during PR list elections, such as for the London Assembly or the European Parliament?

A very good question – and one that I could easily write more than three tips about! But here are three:

  1. Repetition is what persuades people to change their votes: so it is much better to campaign repeatedly over a small area than to stretch thin over

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Campaign Corner: What does research tell us?

Welcome to a new series of posts, each of which will look to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: What can Liberal Democrat campaigners learn from research that academics and others have done into British politics?

There is a huge literature of potentially relevant research, especially if you also cast your net outside Britain or look at research in other fields that is also applicable to politics. But for three good starters I would pick out:

  1. Voters want “local” candidates – quite what “local” means

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Campaign Corner: What to do on the doorstep

Welcome to a new series of posts, each of which will look to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Thanks to Louise Shaw for prompting the idea and also supplying some of the questions I’ll be using in the next few weeks. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: Not many people in my local party like canvassing and when we go door knocking the ‘outs’ always seem to win by a mile. How can we make better use of our time?

1. Get more people door knocking: …

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