Keep Good Records

In politics there are several sayings that are tossed around as good advice.  Whether it is, “always stay on message” or “don’t be the first to go negative” (the former is sound, the latter may be up for debate) there are few that are essential to political success.  One of them is:

If it isn’t in a database, it doesn’t exist.

Working in politics, either as a campaign operative or grassroots organizer, soon becomes all about lists, lists, and yet more lists… being able to manage all this information becomes an essential part of the operation as your list/network/database is the primary means of contacting, understanding, messaging to, and mobilizing your assets.

Therefore, simple and effective information management is a skill quickly developed… or you fail and die.

Whether you’re running a campaign or are engaged in the type of grassroots electioneering discussed by my colleague from Kansas, I always tell people, “Your two greatest sources of political capital are 1) your reputation and 2) your network.”  Put these together and you come to the conclusion that even if you have the most expansive and involved network of people and assets connected to you, but no way to effectively access them, your network becomes useless.

Your ability to access your network is key, so in the most simple of terms:  you must keep good records.  In an effort to discuss the basics of political information management without writing an exhaustive manual, here are a few simple, common sense tips I’ve picked up along the way as I’ve built and managed lists:

• Define your list’s purpose – Like anything else, set goals.  When setting up a new list, have a clear understanding of what you want it to do (and build it to suit your needs).  Is it a donor list?  Is it a volunteer list?  Is it a precinct voter turnout list? Is it a master list?

• Determine what the key data points are at the beginning – After laying out your list’s purpose, be sure to identify the most important fields of information you want to keep track of.  Ideally you want to set this thing up and run with it.  You don’t want to have to go back later to add or change data fields, complicating and possibly compromising the full potential of your list.  Decide what information you absolutely need for the list, determine what info would be nice to have, and then prioritize and develop the data fields.  Think ahead and think strategically.

• Make it work for you – Build your database/spreadsheet/list to fit the Data, not the other way around.  Keep it user friendly.  Use a program or software that isn’t overly complex.  If this is a political list, chances are you won’t be the only person editing or adding to the list, so use something that lots of folks are comfortable with (like Excel).

• Use common sense – Properly name fields and have a standard procedure for updating data.  One of the most common list mishaps is making ambiguous data fields that are populated incorrectly or inconsistently.  A simple example would be using the “Address” field to capture all location data: street, city, state, and zip.  By doing this you not only limit your ability to segment and sort your list by specific data like ‘state’, but you also set yourself up for mail-merge nightmares when you find the “Address” data is inconsistent and looks bad or you can’t target specific areas for specific messages.

• Structure it so that it’s searchable – Following on the last point… You want a list that you are able to search, segment, target, compartmentalize, slice, dice, and serve on a sushi platter by different data points.  Maybe that last part is a little too much, but you get the idea: the value and ability of your list is greatly increased by the ability to target specific points of interest.

• Keep it clean – As with anything else, you want to keep your list organized.  Keep an eye out for redundancies and regularly tidy up/scrub your list.  Also, if you ever have a request to be taken off a certain list, make sure you follow up with the request… nothing worse for building a positive relationship than for the other party to feel bombarded.

Remember, in politics, your lists are some of your most potent and effective tools.  You’d be wise to keep those tools in working order.   You’re only as influential as your network, so you want to ensure your ability to properly access, utilize, and leverage it for your purposes.