How to Select A Winning Treasurer

In this continuing series, we explore the results of a survey conducted among over fifty state and local candidates asking for any voluntary advice they might give to new or inexperienced candidates seeking elected office. Part 1 can be found here.

During the course of your campaign you will be faced with many decisions: from where to keep tens of thousands of flyers and advertisements to what kind of tie you will wear for an interview. One of the more important decisions you will face is in the selection of a treasurer.

A poor treasurer will make your life miserable and will add large amounts of stress to your campaign, whereas a good treasurer will be an enormous assistant in your ability to focus on other matters pertaining to your campaign. Some candidates decide to forgo having a dedicated treasurer and do everything themselves. This decision, while certainly your prerogative, is generally unwise as the time needed to keep up-to-date with campaign finance law are quite large.

A good treasurer can be anyone with certain qualities, regardless of age or relation to the candidate. Some candidates ask their wives or significant other to aid them, others bring in a local volunteer, while still others (who are personally quite wealthy) will hire a full time financial officer to keep track of everything. The treasurer should have qualities of being reliable, dependable, detail oriented and good with numbers (or at least understanding them). They should also not be overly private: most state election laws require the treasurer’s name on all financial disclosures and public advertisements.

Additionally, as the treasurer is the primary point of contact for financial inquiries, they should be able to confidently speak on the phone and generally be very personable. The time commitment for the treasurer will vary depending on the size of your campaign: in a very busy or large campaign, it is certainly possible that the treasurer will be working 15-20 hours a week. Make sure that, if the treasurer is a volunteer, they are aware of this possibility.

Finally, don’t neglect your treasurer: make sure they feel appreciated and valuable. Buy them lunch or offer to help during a busy week, whatever they need help, get it if at all possible. Not having to worry about the finer points of your campaign finances is a huge mental relief for the candidate. This does not mean that you forget about fundraising. But now you don’t need to recall if you filled out a form for every one of the 400 $30 donations you received at a fundraiser. It makes it a lot easier to get some sleep—you are going to need it.