Our CampaignHQ team took a look back over the year, highlighting some of the great things that happened.
What’s your favorite memory from 2020?
Tag: CHQ employees
Counting Our Blessings
The CHQ teams knows it’s been a trying year, but we’re counting our blessings.
We asked our team members to weigh in on what they thought were their biggest CHQ blessings this year and we’ve been featuring their responses on our Facebook page during the month of December.
Make no mistake, our team feels truly blessed by their co-workers, our clients and projects, and the work we do.
I’m thankful for such wonderful employees and tremendous clients.
Nicole Schlinger
Fun Friday – Surviving!
Are we having fun yet?
Even in the midst of hectic and crazy campaigns, the CHQ team is having a blast. This week we sent out our Election Survival Kits. We might have had a fun time putting these together for you!
We’re here with you, every step of the way. Call us if we can help!
Nicole Schlinger
A Convention to Remember
Check out this great post from one of our CHQ rockstars, Marlys Popma:
I have been doing some reminiscing lately. Every four years at about this time, I think about the National Republican Conventions I have attended. I have attended as Republican Party of Iowa Staff, as Campaign Staff and finally as a National Delegate.
Every convention that I’ve attended over the past 24 years has been memorable.
I remember four women packed into a downtown San Diego hotel in 1996. I won’t expound on the trip to Lucky’s Tattoo Parlor. This was my first convention. I was awestruck by the great speeches and the excitement in the room.
Then there was Philadelphia where we had our own Republican celebrities – Bo Derek, Rick Schroder, and Connie Stevens.
The New York Convention was amazing! Standing in Times Square and visiting the Statue of Liberty were highlights outside of the convention. But I think the highlight of the convention for me was the keynote address by conservative Democrat, Zell Miller of Georgia. He said in that speech, “I barely recognize my party anymore…Today, it’s the Democratic Party that has mastered the art of division and diversion.” I don’t think much has changed since 2004.
In 2008, I went to the Minneapolis convention as the National Coordinator of Social Conservative and Evangelical Outreach for John McCain. The theme of that convention was “Country First.” Now many on the left not only would hate that theme, as it seems that they hate this country!
In 2016, I went to the National Convention as an At-Large Delegate. Donald Trump was the presumptive nominee. I admit that I was reticent about Trump’s potential effectiveness. I must tell you that I have NEVER been so happy to be proven wrong. Trump has done more for the economy, for the pro-life movement, and for religious liberty than any president in history and I will be honored to cast my vote for him in 2020.
When you work with CampaignHQ, please know that we are not just a vendor. We are a group of people who are soldiers for the conservative movement. We have the expertise and decades of experience to know what it’s really like out on the front lines.
Our advice to you comes from years of frontline campaign work.
We are strategic…. you can trust us.
Working Backward – Marlys Popma
Our CampaignHQ team is one that is hard working, reliable, extraordinary at what they do and truly experts in politics. Senior Campaign Director, Marlys Popma, knows what it takes to win and lead successful campaigns. Here’s a quick write up she put together for our clients, sharing her expertise.
The 2020 election cycle will be my 34th year working to elect conservative candidates and uphold conservative principles.
After this many election cycles, I’ve seen a great number of promising candidates fail through a lack of planning. Conversely, I’ve also seen candidates many “experts” wrote off win an election with grit, determination, and a sound voter contact plan.
So how do you begin crafting an effective voter contact strategy?
Start by working backward. What is your vote goal on election day? What steps do you need to take each week to achieve that?
Here’s an example:
Election Day Goal – Set your vote goal.
In the five days preceding the election your goal should be to physically touch at least three quarters of those voters either by door knocking, phone, conTEXT, or digital media. You should have a list of people equal to at least one half of your vote goal to call to turn out to the polls.
In the months immediately preceding the election you should be working on an absentee or vote by mail program. There is nothing worse than winning at the ballot box and losing the election. Set up a phone Voter ID program to determine which people plan to vote early. First, work with those who have done so in the past, and then select other likely suspects, like homes with 18-25-year old’s and seniors who have never voted early. For those you cannot reach on a live call, send them a text message.
Forty-five to sixty days out, start your head-to-head phone ID work. Don’t just ask who the voter supports, ask who their second choice is. If the voter has a second choice they are still up for grabs and if you are the second choice, you need to make a run at them. Again, use a smart combination of phones and text.
The two or three months prior to the election should be used to identify voters by issue. Don’t start your candidate voter ID program too early. People don’t typically make up their minds on a candidate until a month or two before the election. Use the early months to find out what people care about so you can target your direct mail and digital media at just the right issues.
Don’t forget, if you have someone ID’d by issue, you can tie their primary issues to their first and second candidate choice. If you are the second choice of an individual and you know what issues they care about, now you have something to work with.
That’s my plan in a nutshell. Of course, I am at CampaignHQ, so this is going to be heavy on phones and text, but identifying and turning out voters is done in no better way than by having a conversation. And don’t forget to use some of the latest technology for GOTV and Advocacy calls – conTEXT peer to peer text messaging. Whether you are using phones, conTEXT or both, you can be assured, it’s fast and cost effective.
If I were drafting a plan in earnest, there would be calendars, vote goals, andobjectives that say when we need to have a certain number of voters identified, etc.
And remember, a plan is not a plan unless it’s on paper.
If you have a candidate in one of the upcoming primaries and you have not yet established your turnout plan, give us a call. Not only can we help you with your calls and texts, we can help you put that plan on paper!
I look forward to celebrating your victory with you on Election Night!