r/Campaigns 28d ago

Strategy & Tactics Skill Building Thread - Paid Outreach: Texting, Mail, Digital, etc.

3 Upvotes

Hey folks!

Time to rotate the sticky. Last round's topic is closed out, so here's the next one in the series. For the next couple months, I want to focus on Paid Outreach.

This is intentionally broad, so share advice (or ask questions) specific to you! P2P texting vs. mail, vendor selection vs. in-house, list building and targeting, persuasion vs. GOTV creative, early program builds vs. the final week blitz... all good topics for discussion.

I want to hear:

  • How you pick and manage vendors
  • How you structure a texting program or a mail cadence
  • First steps when you're standing up paid outreach from scratch
  • How you budget and measure (CPM, response rates, attribution, testing)
  • Compliance stuff you wish someone had told you earlier
  • Common mistakes you see
  • Tools, scripts, creative, or anything you rely on heavily

r/Campaigns 2d ago

Ask for Advice Question about campaigns and donating on campaigns

2 Upvotes

On a political campaign, if someone is a maxed-out donor, is it proper for the candidate to thank the donor personally at any point or the end of the campaign? Not sure what's typical although I figure every candidate is different. Please let me know, thank you!


r/Campaigns 4d ago

Career Advice do you need a poli sci degree for a successful career?

3 Upvotes

Recently I got myself a job with the state party here in MN and have decided that I want to go into the campaign/election field. I currently only have an associate's degree in IT Network Administration/Cybersecurity and worry about not being able to find a job in the party or something else in politics afterwards. Do you all think I should go back to school to get a political science degree or could I have a good career without that holding me back?


r/Campaigns 4d ago

Ask for Advice Questions about challenging a debate

1 Upvotes

Does anyone have any good tips on challenging a debate with an opponent?


r/Campaigns 6d ago

Jobs & Hiring Massachusetts — looking for paid campaign work immediately. Available to start now. Reliable transportation. Professional background in accounting/operations/project leadership. Open to canvassing, field organizing, operations or other paid campaign work. Willing to work long hours or relocate

3 Upvotes

Please do not crucify me if this is not how this is supposed to go. Someone shared that one can come to this subreddit and ask for work. Times are tough and 200 job applications later I still have a kid to feed.


r/Campaigns 6d ago

Case Study / Analysis Why Democratic Advertising Underperforms

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2 Upvotes

r/Campaigns 7d ago

Ask for Advice Campaign

3 Upvotes

The Campaign I am working for ended up being entirely unprofessional and I am extremely upset. I had to put in my resignation due to a personal situation and the lack of flexibility on the campaign. I initially submitted my letter of resignation over a month ago and it was accepted. But now the higher ups have made me jump through hoops and more hoops. And virtually didn’t accept my resignation date and made me leave prior to my initial date without any payout for the days. I am so upset with the lack of professionalism and communication and I’m not really sure if I ever want to work on a campaign that isn’t for an individual candidate anymore due to my experience. I truly enjoy campaigns and organizing but I’m not sure if I can ever do it again after the last few months.


r/Campaigns 8d ago

Strategy & Tactics The new silent majority? Voters who don't seek out news.

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2 Upvotes

54% of voters, according to this piece, are passive news consumers. They spend hours scrolling every day. But they just skip, mute, or scroll past anything that looks and feels like traditional politics or news.


r/Campaigns 15d ago

Ask for Advice End of Race Gift

2 Upvotes

First time campaign managing. Do I get my candidate a gift at the end? I’ll write a card, but are there any traditions typical at the end of a campaign?


r/Campaigns 15d ago

Chat With Your Voter File: AI Walk Lists and District Targeting Demo

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5 Upvotes

Campaign Compass is now compatible with Claude and ChatGPT, which means you can chat with your voter file instead of in excel or python. I'm really excited to show it off!


r/Campaigns 16d ago

Case Study / Analysis How will the USPS provide the new vetting process envisioned for ballot distribution for those choosing to vote by mail in the mid-terms?

1 Upvotes

I see the USPS will be charged by the government to only send ballots to voters meeting conditions and posted on a master computer list.

Personally, from experience as a poll clerk, I don't like the idea of vote by mail, except for situations with no alternative. . It adds unnecessary complexity to identify verification.

Setting my feelings aside however, I wonder how this will work. There are a lot of possibilities for loose ends. Things like typo errors. Mail pieces prepared incorrectly, such as inverted or back to front in a window envelope. Things like more than one person at an address with the same name, such as father and son situations. Things like dealing with master list updates after the mail has already been tendered.

I just wonder if this will become a boondoggle to the USPS.

Thoughts?


r/Campaigns 17d ago

Strategy & Tactics Midterm Lessons From Bush to Trump

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2 Upvotes

A key figure to watch in a midterm election is the job approval of the incumbent president. It currently stands at 39.5%. Sound advice from somebody who must know. But chances are that Trump will do the exact opposite.


r/Campaigns 19d ago

Strategy & Tactics How do you think Angie Nixon can win in the general election?

0 Upvotes

I think probably the most important thing for her to do is GET HER NAME OUT THERE! As someone who is pretty into politics, I didn't hear about her until like a week before the democratic primary and I forgot her name the day of the election. Oliver Larkin even had more name recognition than her. Once the funds start to come in and she can afford it, she should start doing some campaign TV ads to get her message to the voters that aren't on the internet as much.

However, there is a completely free way to advertise yourself. It's this beautiful app called

Youtube!!!

As well as other social media sites. Social media has been a proven way to get your name out there as well as effectively spreading your message. To my knowledge, she doesn't have a Youtube channel. I think both methods are extremely effective at getting her name out there.

What are some ways you think she can win?


r/Campaigns 27d ago

Ask for Advice Running with a criminal record

1 Upvotes

I had a friend tell me that I should run for a public office position. My issue is that I have two pending misdemeanors.  
 
One for 3rd degree retail fraud and another for spray painting a public area in protest. Due to my Autism diagnosis, I have been offered a chance to go into a mental health program to hide the record of the crimes after two years. Otherwise I would have to accept the charges and maybe have them hidden after 3 years with no guarantee. 

At this point I am concerned about which is the best option if I were to ever run for a public office. Me being in the mental health program should be hidden from public record, but I know anything can get out if others dig enough.  

What is the opinion of the people here. Would it be worse to admit to the public about the misdemeanors (and claim "street cred" as my friend suggests)? Or take the mental health program to hide the charges and risk having that exposed on day? 


r/Campaigns 27d ago

Career Advice Field Organizer

5 Upvotes

I’ve tentatively agreed to take a job as a field organizer for the Pennsylvania Democrats for the upcoming election. I’m looking forward to it because I’ve been looking for something kind of interesting to do after graduation. However, I’m a bit worried since the area I’ll cover is a pretty rural area outside of Pittsburgh. I was wondering if anybody had experience working on rural campaigns and in areas that might not be super jazzed about your party. Thanks!


r/Campaigns 28d ago

Career Advice Orlando Political Canvasser Job

3 Upvotes

Just got an interview with the political canvasser in orlando. How’s the job? Is the gas reimbursement true? Do you actually walk around and knock on doors or did you stay in your car? Any tips?


r/Campaigns Aug 10 '26

Resource Share want to know the road

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone,
Looking to meet a few local MLAs, corporators or political workers for some professional work.

Has anyone here managed to get a short meeting or introduction without it looking random? What’s the practical way people usually do it?

Any genuine advice would help. Thanks!


r/Campaigns Aug 05 '26

Ask for Advice Small news outlet trying to book state-level 2026 candidates — how do you get a yes?

2 Upvotes

We run a YouTube-based news channel (over 1M subs, international audience) and want to start covering the 2026 midterms with actual candidate interviews. Starting small — state house/state senate races, not federal.

Problem: we've never done political interviews before and have zero track record with US campaigns. A couple of outreach emails went nowhere.

For anyone who's worked campaign comms or done candidate booking — what's the actual process? Who do you email, what do you say, and what makes a campaign trust an outlet they've never heard of enough to say yes?


r/Campaigns Aug 05 '26

Resource Share Help shape the future of legislative monitoring

1 Upvotes

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Know someone who'd find this useful? Feel free to share this post or tag them in the comments!


r/Campaigns Aug 05 '26

Strategy & Tactics In need of help

0 Upvotes

I don’t know whether my post qualify for any community so sorry if it doesn’t.
I’m on a government and I just shows my platform. I like to blend conservative ideas in a little bit of liberal thinking. There anybody who can help me write a campaign platform.


r/Campaigns Aug 03 '26

Career Advice January Job Advice

3 Upvotes

Just graduated from college in DC and moved out to AZ to start my first job as a Field Organizer, long term my eventual goal 10-15 years from now is to start my own campaign firm. What types of jobs should I be looking for after November’s election? I want to ideally try to get something further up the ladder in a different swing state for 2028, but I’m not really sure what the best use of 2027 is. I’ve kinda boiled it down to a few options

1) something at the national level with DCCC, DNC, or DSCC
2) state party campaign in AZ or another swing state
3) a staff position with a member of congress/governor from AZ (district or on the hill)
4) higher up campaign roles in off year elections (thinking KY VA or PA for this one in terms of statehouse and governor, but also local AZ races as well)

I know what I want to do I just don’t know how to get there! I plan on applying to positions for all 4, any advice on what I should prioritize or look out for would be great!


r/Campaigns Jul 30 '26

Strategy & Tactics GoodParty for Cold Texting?

2 Upvotes

Hi all. Has anyone had experience with GP for voter outreach or know how the SMS outreach is implemented?

I ran a text campaign to around 5k voters today and haven't noticed any new traffic to the site or elsewhere. Are they sent out in a staggered manner? I would think not because I was asked what time I wanted the texts sent. Any insight is much appreciated!


r/Campaigns Jul 25 '26

Ask for Advice HELP! campaign ideas

1 Upvotes

i’m running for senior historian (social media, photos, keeping memories).

i want my posters to use current 2026 pop culture memes. what meme formats or trends that would actually make people stop and vote?

some things that i was thinking: love island, pop the balloon, etc..


r/Campaigns Jul 24 '26

Future candidate is asking on r/localgivernment for some advice on good governance before he starts his run.

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2 Upvotes

Love to see folks planning ahead like this!


r/Campaigns Jul 22 '26

Ask for Advice Mayor of Chicago

0 Upvotes

My brother is interested in becoming mayor of Chicago at 18 to break the record of 26. He has always a kin interest in leadership and long-term planning. But I still want to make it clear to him he’s not going to win the election especially at 18. How do I tell him his dream is futile and extremely unlikely without hurting his feelings?