Grassroots to Lawncare: Building a Successful Campaign Part One

If you have ever seeded a yard, you know that the time can pass by at an agonizingly slow pace. Weeks or months can go by before you see significant growth and even then, one sudden, severe rainstorm or over-watering can wipe out all the progress you made within a matter of minutes. Seeding a yard requires time, energy, preparation, and patience before you will begin to see tangible rewards. The same is true of a campaign: to run a campaign, you need to invest time and energy, you need to prepare for running, and you need patience through the campaign to go from “seeding” your campaign to “enjoying the lawn” of being an elected official.

For those unfamiliar with seeding a lawn, one cannot simply throw out some seed and hope it works. If takes preparation. The soil has to be prepared to receive grass because hard, un-tilled ground is unfit for seeding. The same is true in politics: politics is a year-round business. You cannot simply “jump into” politics if you have no idea what the issues are in your community. You are also far more likely to be well received if you are involved in your community. “Tilling” has to be done in order to prepare you, and the public, for your candidacy.

This preparation leads into one of the first methods you will have for recruiting volunteers (and thus gathering resources): pre-existing networks. By recruiting and utilizing networks you are already a part of, you will have a foundational base with which you can begin your candidacy.  These like-minded people with whom you will be able to start out with can be found anywhere.

Also never underestimate the impact even one of your friend might have, they might know someone influential (or be influential themselves) who can get you many volunteers and donations that you might not directly be able to get yourself. Matt Robbins gives a full presentation on this topic which can be found here.