everyday social democracy

And after having encouraging people to support you, the next part of the toolkit on getting (s)elected is how you develop your campaign - deals on wheels, family values, caring & sharing - sounds like a 1950s film, but really it works.

Don’t make deals with people you don’t know, earn their trust

If you want to encourage people to vote for you, you need to build relationships and earn their trust. Even the committed activists who leaflet whatever the weather – ideologically and well…literally! They are not necessarily supporters of the status quo just because they go out campaigning and don't engage in debate.

Don’t treat them as employees, treat them like your family

Even when you are trying to encourage people to vote or campaign for you, you need to explain clearly what is on offer and what is being asked of them and what they stand to gain from campaigning and voting for you. This can take time to work out, but it is well worth the effort. If you don’t, they may become anxious and frustrated, which in turn could lead to them backing out from voting for you and being disillusioned from the whole process.

Don’t take them for granted, value them as people you couldn’t do without

When your supporters do decide to get involved and give freely of their time and energy, you need to recognise and value their efforts, however small. This can be as simple as thanking them regularly, buying a round of drinks or getting them to lead parts of your campaign.

Expect to be surprised by your supporters, they’re the people you’ve been waiting for

The best ideas for your campaign and manifesto can be found in surprising places, and this shouldn't be a linear process of you publishing a manifesto and stopping there. There should always be space for your supporters to bring in their new ideas.

Understand what you’re doing with the tools you’ve got

Using as many web channels as possible won’t work unless they are clearly connected to what you’re doing offline. Your website doesn’t only need to be updated regularly, also think about who will use your website – both your supporters who will link to it, and your audience who will be directed to it

Understand how your supporters can participate

Remember you are not looking to get as many supporters as possible, you are looking to get very specific supporters to commit to doing different things. You need to understand this in terms of when and how these different people contribute.

Share your success and they will commit even more to you

You need to think about why you are standing and who you are standing for – this means you need to accept to share in whatever success you get with the people & networks that have supported you (even if you don't necessarily support everything they individually stand for). They will be more interested in spreading your message if their ideas have helped shape it.

Thanks to madamn flick for the photos published under Creative Commons license.

Next stop, coping with your campaign.

Hope you enjoy reading and who knows, you may find the articles useful or even interesting! Please feel free to comment - I welcome criticism as much as compliments.